why not connect the logic to the remote itself and test it to see the pulses it sends and calc from there?
Good idea, but I'm not sure I can get that remote apart without destroying the case. I want it to stay looking and working good for now. It's the original remote that came with the TV. It sucks bad, but it's the only way I have of programming the TV. The universal doesn't do all the setup stuff that the OEM remote does, and you can't do it from the TV front panel (more idiotic engineering by electronics manufacturers).
And regarding bad design, just don't get me started on the Logitech 880.
What a stupid design! It spits out IR codes just fine, but it's a TOTAL PIG to use daily (the case/keyboard was designed by chimps) and to program (programmable only by plugging into USB on a PC - the original, very cryptic, programming code was IE-only (FAIL!) - now it at least works with Firefox (better)).
Part of why I'm doing all this tinkering is that I want to build my own universal remote that's comfortable (unlike the 880), easy to use and program (unlike the 880), smart as hell (the 880 is pretty smart, but could be a lot better) and fast (unlike the 880 - I understand they wanted to prevent callbacks on it, what with all the various equipment it can control, but it's slow!). The 880's very pretty, but power-hungry, color screen is wasted on stupid little icons instead of real information.