If all your lounge room gear bears the same brand name, your TV's remote can probably control everything.
Such superpowers are granted by a feature known as AV Link. It's a protocol which passes commands between devices using the Consumer Electronics Control wiring built into the HDMI specification. For example, using AV Link your TV could wake up your DVD player and start a movie without the need to find the separate remote control for the DVD player.
The many flavours of AV Link
While Consumer Electronics Control is a standard, every manufacturer has its own flavour of AV Link with a fancy name - Sony calls it Bravia Link, Panasonic calls it VIERA Link and Samsung calls it Anynet. Don't expect these different versions to play nicely with each other, especially gear from the likes of Sony - a company obsessed with proprietary formats.
How AV Link compares to Logitech's Harmony remote
To be honest I've never really seen the point in technologies like Bravia Link, because I'm more interested in building a "best of breed"
solution rather than ensuring all my gear bears the same shiny badge.
It makes more sense to invest in a decent universal remote, like a Logitech Harmony that will play nicely with all your gear and can be programmed with complicated macros which fire off a string of commands at once.
Tricky situations - controlling the PlayStation 3
The fly in the ointment here is the PlayStation 3, because it uses a Bluetooth remote control rather than your typical infrared - so a Logitech Harmony can't control it. It seems the new slim-line PS3 supports Sony's Bravia Link, which means you should get some control over the PS3's media playback using your television's infrared remote rather than the expensive optional PS3 Bluetooth remote.
Controlling the PS3 using your TV's remote sounds great, but course this still relies on you owning a Sony Bravia television. Rather than chucking your old TV on the nature strip and upgrading just so you can use Bravia Link, it would be far more practical to spend a few dollars on a USB adaptor for the PS3.
AV Link is a handy little feature, but don't let it have much sway on your buying decision when it comes to a new TV. Instead just focus on great picture quality and plenty of inputs.
Buying a flat screen TV? Have a question you'd like us to answer? Add your comments or questions about flat screen TV issues to the discussion below.
Also in this series, How to Pick a Great Flat Screen TV, And Not Get Sucked In By Marketing Hype:
Part 7: Should you upgrade your TV for DLNA?
Part 6: TV tuners and "Digital Capable"
Part 5: HDMI and component ports
Part 4: LED and backlighting
Part 3: Screen size
Part 2: Refresh rates
Part 1: Brightness and contrast ratios
Also see our 5 tips for buying a digital TV set top box
And also see the lowdown on Freeview, and whether you should care
If you're new to Digital TV, or have yet to make the leap, start by reading Prepare yourself for Digital TV