LG webOS Binding

The binding integrates LG WebOS based smart TVs. This binding is an adoption of LG's Connect SDK (opens new window) library, which is no longer maintained and which was specific to Android.

Supported Things

LG webOS smart TVs

LG webOS based smart TVs are supported.

TV Settings

The TV must be connected to the same network as openHAB. Under network settings allow "LG CONNECT APPS" to connect.

Note: Under general settings allow mobile applications to turn on the TV, if this option is available. On newer models this setting may also be called "Mobile TV On > Turn On Via WiFi". If channel power receives ON, the binding will attempt to power on the TV by broadcasting a Wake on Lan packet.

Binding Configuration

The binding has no configuration parameter.

Discovery

TVs are auto discovered through SSDP in the local network. The binding broadcasts a search message via UDP on the network in order to discover and monitor availability of the TV.

Please note, that if you are running openHAB in a Docker container you need to use macvlan or host networking for this binding to work. If automatic discovery is not possible you may still manually configure a device based on host and access key.

Thing Configuration

WebOS TV has three configuration parameters.

Parameters:

Name	Description
host	Hostname or IP address of TV
key	Key exchanged with TV after pairing (enter it after you paired the device)
macAddress	The MAC address of your TV to turn on via Wake On Lan (WOL). The binding will attempt to detect it.
useTLS	Enable Transport Layer Security. This is required by latest firmware versions and should work with older versions as well. In case of compatibility issues it can be disabled.

Configuration in .things file

Set host and key parameter as in the following example:

Thing lgwebos:WebOSTV:tv1 [host="192.168.2.119", key="6ef1dff6c7c936c8dc5056fc85ea3aef", macAddress="3c:cd:93:c2:20:e0"]

Channels

Channel Type ID	Item Type	Description	Read/Write
power	Switch	Current power setting. TV can only be powered off, not on, via the TV's API. Turning on is implemented via Wake On Lan, for which the MAC address must be set in the thing configuration.	RW
mute	Switch	Current mute setting.	RW
volume	Dimmer	Current volume setting. Setting and reporting absolute percent values only works when using internal speakers. When connected to an external amp, the volume should be controlled using increase and decrease commands.	RW
channel	String	Current channel. Use the channel number or channel id as command to update the channel.	RW
toast	String	Displays a short message on the TV screen. See also rules section.	W
mediaPlayer	Player	Media control player	W
mediaStop	Switch	Media control stop	W
appLauncher	String	Application ID of currently running application. This also allows to start applications on the TV by sending a specific Application ID to this channel.	RW
rcButton	String	Simulates pressing of a button on the TV's remote control. See below for a list of button names.	W

The available application IDs for your TV can be listed using a console command (see below). You have to use one of these IDs as command for the appLauncher channel. Here are examples of values that could be available for your TV: airplay, amazon, com.apple.appletv, com.webos.app.browser, com.webos.app.externalinput.av1, com.webos.app.externalinput.av2, com.webos.app.externalinput.component, com.webos.app.hdmi1, com.webos.app.hdmi2, com.webos.app.hdmi3, com.webos.app.hdmi4, com.webos.app.homeconnect, com.webos.app.igallery, com.webos.app.livetv, com.webos.app.music, com.webos.app.photovideo, com.webos.app.recordings, com.webos.app.screensaver, googleplaymovieswebos, netflix, youtube.leanback.v4.

Remote Control Buttons

This is a list of button codes that are known to work with several LG WebOS TV models. This list has been compiled mostly through trial and error, but the codes applicable to your model may vary.

Code String	Description
LEFT	Left button in cursor control group
RIGHT	Right button in cursor control group
UP	Up button in cursor control group
DOWN	Down button in cursor control group
ENTER	"OK" button in the center of the cursor control group
BACK	"BACK" button
EXIT	"EXIT" button
0-9	Number buttons
HOME	"HOME" button
RED	"RED" button
GREEN	"GREEN" button
YELLOW	"YELLOW" button
BLUE	"BLUE" button
PLAY	"PLAY" button
PAUSE	"PAUSE" button
STOP	"STOP" button

A sample HABPanel remote control widget can be found in this GitHub repository. (opens new window)

Console Commands

The binding provides a few commands you can use in the console. Enter the command openhab:lgwebos to get the usage.

Usage: openhab:lgwebos <thingUID> applications - list applications
Usage: openhab:lgwebos <thingUID> channels - list channels
Usage: openhab:lgwebos <thingUID> accesskey - show the access key

The command applications reports in the console the list of all applications with their id and name. The command channels reports in the console the list of all channels with their id, number and name. The command accesskey reports in the console the access key used to connect to your TV.

Example

demo.things:

Thing lgwebos:WebOSTV:3aab9eea-953b-4272-bdbd-f0cd0ecf4a46 [host="192.168.2.119", key="6ef1dff6c7c936c8dc5056fc85ea3aef", macAddress="3c:cd:93:c2:20:e0"]

demo.items:

Switch LG_TV0_Power "TV Power" <television>  { autoupdate="false", channel="lgwebos:WebOSTV:3aab9eea-953b-4272-bdbd-f0cd0ecf4a46:power" }
Switch LG_TV0_Mute  "TV Mute"                { channel="lgwebos:WebOSTV:3aab9eea-953b-4272-bdbd-f0cd0ecf4a46:mute"}
Dimmer LG_TV0_Volume "Volume [%d]"           { channel="lgwebos:WebOSTV:3aab9eea-953b-4272-bdbd-f0cd0ecf4a46:volume" }
Number LG_TV0_VolDummy "VolumeUpDown"
String LG_TV0_Channel "Channel [%s]"         { channel="lgwebos:WebOSTV:3aab9eea-953b-4272-bdbd-f0cd0ecf4a46:channel" }
Number LG_TV0_ChannelDummy "ChannelUpDown"
String LG_TV0_Toast                          { channel="lgwebos:WebOSTV:3aab9eea-953b-4272-bdbd-f0cd0ecf4a46:toast"}
Switch LG_TV0_Stop "Stop"                    { autoupdate="false", channel="lgwebos:WebOSTV:3aab9eea-953b-4272-bdbd-f0cd0ecf4a46:mediaStop" }
String LG_TV0_Application "Application [%s]" { channel="lgwebos:WebOSTV:3aab9eea-953b-4272-bdbd-f0cd0ecf4a46:appLauncher"}
Player LG_TV0_Player                         { channel="lgwebos:WebOSTV:3aab9eea-953b-4272-bdbd-f0cd0ecf4a46:mediaPlayer"}

demo.sitemap:

sitemap demo label="Main Menu"
{
    Frame label="TV" {
        Switch item=LG_TV0_Power
        Switch item=LG_TV0_Mute
        Text item=LG_TV0_Volume
        Switch item=LG_TV0_VolDummy icon="soundvolume" label="Volume" mappings=[1="▲", 0="▼"]
        Default item=LG_TV0_Channel
        Switch item=LG_TV0_ChannelDummy icon="television" label="Channel" mappings=[1="▲", 0="▼"]
        Default item=LG_TV0_Player
        Default item=LG_TV0_Application
    }
}

demo.rules:

// for relative volume changes
rule "VolumeUpDown"
when Item LG_TV0_VolDummy received command
then
    switch receivedCommand{
        case 0: LG_TV0_Volume.sendCommand(DECREASE)
        case 1: LG_TV0_Volume.sendCommand(INCREASE)
    }
end

// for relative channel changes
rule "ChannelUpDown"
when Item LG_TV0_ChannelDummy received command
then
    val actions = getActions("lgwebos","lgwebos:WebOSTV:3aab9eea-953b-4272-bdbd-f0cd0ecf4a46")
    if(null === actions) {
        logInfo("actions", "Actions not found, check thing ID")
        return
    }
                
    switch receivedCommand{
                    case 0: actions.decreaseChannel()
                    case 1: actions.increaseChannel()
    }
end

Example of a toast message.

LG_TV0_Toast.sendCommand("Hello World")

Rule Actions

Multiple actions are supported by this binding. In classic rules these are accessible as shown in this example (adjust getActions with your ThingId):

Example

 val actions = getActions("lgwebos","lgwebos:WebOSTV:3aab9eea-953b-4272-bdbd-f0cd0ecf4a46")
 if(null === actions) {
        logInfo("actions", "Actions not found, check thing ID")
        return
 }

showToast(text)

Sends a toast message to a WebOS device with openHAB icon.

Parameters:

Name	Description
text	The text to display

Example:

actions.showToast("Hello World")

showToast(icon, text)

Sends a toast message to a WebOS device with custom icon.

Parameters:

Name	Description
icon	The URL to the icon to display
text	The text to display

Example:

actions.showToast("http://localhost:8080/icon/energy?format=png","Hello World")

launchBrowser(url)

Opens the given URL in the TV's browser application.

Parameters:

Name	Description
url	The URL to open

Example:

actions.launchBrowser("https://www.openhab.org")

launchApplication(appId)

Opens the application with given Application ID.

Parameters:

Name	Description
appId	The Application ID. getApplications provides available apps and their appIds.

Examples:

actions.launchApplication("com.webos.app.tvguide") // TV Guide
actions.launchApplication("com.webos.app.livetv") // TV
actions.launchApplication("com.webos.app.hdmi1") // HDMI1
actions.launchApplication("com.webos.app.hdmi2") // HDMI2
actions.launchApplication("com.webos.app.hdmi3") // HDMI3

launchApplication(appId, params)

Opens the application with given Application ID and passes an additional parameter.

Parameters:

Name	Description
appId	The Application ID. Console command lgwebos applications provides available apps and their appIds.
params	The parameters to hand over to the application in JSON format

Examples:

actions.launchApplication("appId","{\"key\":\"value\"}")

(Unfortunately, there is currently no information on supported parameters per application available.)

sendText(text)

Sends a text input to a WebOS device.

Parameters:

Name	Description
text	The text to input

Example:

actions.sendText("Some text")

sendButton(button)

Sends a button press event to a WebOS device.

Parameters:

Name	Description
button	Can be one of UP, DOWN, LEFT, RIGHT, BACK, EXIT, ENTER, HOME, OK or any other supported value.

Example:

actions.sendButton("HOME")

sendKeyboard(key)

Sends a keyboard input to the WebOS on-screen keyboard.

Parameters:

Name	Description
key	Can be either DELETE or ENTER.

DELETE will delete the last character when on-screen keyboard is displayed with focus in the text field. ENTER will remove the keyboard when on-screen keyboard is displayed with focus in the text field.

Example:

actions.sendKeyboard("ENTER")

increaseChannel()

TV will switch one channel up in the current channel list.

Example:

actions.increaseChannel

decreaseChannel()

TV will switch one channel down in the current channel list.

Example:

actions.decreaseChannel

Troubleshooting

In case of issues you may find it helpful to enable debug level logging and check you log file. Log into openHAB console and enable debug logging for this binding:

log:set debug org.openhab.binding.lgwebos

Caught a mistake or want to contribute to the documentation? Edit this page on GitHub (opens new window)