DESCRIPTION
The Control L or LANC interface is an industry standard introduced by the Sony Corporation for controlling audio and video devices. It uses a bit serial data format, and requires that the controller be synchronized to the controlled device – something which is difficult to do using standard serial interfaces. There is no special formatting required, other than perhaps an understanding of the hexadecimal numbering system, nor is there a need for a powerful PC - virtually any model with a serial port will do. Since the ELM624 was designed to provide a cost-effective way for people to experiment with the Control L system, many features typically found in commercial devices, such as RS232 handshaking, variable baud rates, extra buffering of signals, etc. have not been implemented. Responses are kept to a minimum as well (eg. a single question mark is returned for a misunderstood command), but the general principles of operation are demonstrated and for many applications, this is all that is required.
ELM Electronics
