A remote control device detects that a command has been chosen. A command may, for example, have been chosen by a user pressing a key on the remote control device. In response, the remote control device generates a mark/space table and a string of timing information. The string of timing information includes entries that refer to mark time values and space time values in the mark/space table. The string of timing information also may contain special control portions (for example, a control portion can indicate that a portion of the string of timing information should be repeated a given number of times). The mark/space table and the string of timing information are then used to generate an operational signal that is transmitted from the remote control device. The mark/space table and string of timing information is a particularly compact way of describing an operational signal for a remote control device.