Harmony: Smart State Technology
One advantage of Harmony remotes compared to other brands, even the most expensive ones, is their Smart State Technology (SST). Harmony remotes remember the latest state of each HT component (power on/off, selected input, etc.) and find the optimal way of switching from one state to another.
Why is this so important? Here is an example. Say, you've just finished watching a DVD, and now want to switch to watching VOOM with a single button click ("Watch TV" button on Harmony remotes). For this to happen, your remote has to do several things: turn off the DVD player, turn on the STB (in case it was off), switch the video input of your TV, switch the audio input of your receiver, etc. For this to work, your remote either needs to know the precise state of each component, or it should have a way of switching to a desired state regardless of the present state (using discrete codes).
This is why Pronto users and such are always concerned about discrete codes. If the initial state of your components is unknown, some macros simply won't work without discrete codes.
I still don't know if VOOM's STB has discrete codes for power on/off, and I am pretty sure, that my Toshiba DVD player doesn't have them. Fortunately, for Harmony this is not important. Harmony remotes do take advantage of discrete codes whenever they are available, but they can easily do without them too, thanks to the SST.
