I'm curious what you find out Rat. I'm pretty sure I tried using the IR plugged input on a component or two, and I didn't have success. I don't know why. Flashers work just fine though. So, I thought maybe the signal must be trasmitted/coded differently, or something, but then I haven't found anything that specifically says that. Lemme know what you find out!
FWIW, my brother has a couple of displays, one of which is a Sammy DLP, with the worst place ever for IR sensor, smack dab in the middle of the large bezel. (It also doubles as large power button). I guess it does make it look a bit more streamlined, but c'mon . . . I ran an emitter around the neck/bezel of the TV, and it works perfectly.
You might* have to be logged in to see these results, but here are some search results:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/search.php?searchid=15422834
I see Dawg has replied. I wish I could just use input plugs rather than flashers . . . . hmmm . . . .