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[Bonex]

My HTPC has two monitors, the primary one is the 7" touch screen on the htpc case, the secondary one is the TV. When I'm listening to music I only use the 7" screen in theatre view mode to choose the music and the display view to show the track info visualization; when I'm watching a video, I detach the visualization window and make it full screen on the TV, while MC stays in the 7" screen. To control MC I only use a remote, and some of the buttons are associated to scripts run by AutoHotKey to perform some complex tasks (I also use the MC commands messages in some of them).

Some improvements I think would greatly improve the MC experience:


1. When I'm watching a video or dvd, I'd like to have some useful information shown on the small screen and make it like a powerful display of a dvd player.
Currently you can have MC in Standard mode (but it's too small and not much suitable in this context), in Theatre view (only really useful for navigation) or in Display view mode, which only shows "The display is detached. Double-click here to bring it back". I think it would be a great improvement if the Display view window could be used to display informations like title, duration, elapsed time, a progress bar, etc... while the video clip is playing on the TV.


2. I'd like an option to force the detached window to always open on a preferred monitor (unless it's disabled), and to always stay full screen.
Currently if I press stop during a video clip and MC is in Display view mode, the detached window is restored to a small window, and make it again full screen with a remote is really cumbersome (as a work around I wrote an AHK script to automate it).


3. When I'm listening to a song and I change the song rating (I have the keyboard shortcuts associated to the 0~5 buttons of the remote), I'd like the Track Info screen to automatically reload to show the change.
Currently you have to switch to another visualization and then back, to force the update. I couldn't find a MC message to force this update through an AHK script.


4. I'd like to have an option to disable the visualization in the Playing Now screen of Theatre View.
Currently I edit the xml of the Theatre View skin every time I update MC to disable it, because it cuts away half of the screen, which is already small by itself.


5. I'd like to be able to choose which files are imported using the Library Sync feature.
I tag music and videos with my work pc and then move them to the htpc in the living room. I want to keep the htpc library as clean as possible, so I don't move anything unless it is properly tagged. I use the library sync only for videos, because they can't have the tags embedded into the files. The problem is that MC imports all the new files, so I need to fix in advance all the tags for all of them if there's something I want to watch.
A good compromise would be a secondary file with only the tags in it.

[JimH]

I moved this out of the request thread because it's a use case we're thinking a lot about right now.

I assume you're using the Obsidian skin and that you've seen the thread on what we're doing to support XP MCE and Vista MC remotes.

On #4, you could rename the skin directory to something of your choice.  An option is reasonable too.

#3 could be reported as a bug in the build thread.

Thanks for all the thoughtful details on what you're doing.

[raym]

3. When I'm listening to a song and I change the song rating (I have the keyboard shortcuts associated to the 0~5 buttons of the remote), I'd like the Track Info screen to automatically reload to show the change.
Currently you have to switch to another visualization and then back, to force the update. I couldn't find a MC message to force this update through an AHK script.

Unfortunately, with the exception of Playing Now, I don't believe any screens in Theater View automatically refresh when things change. In addition to Bonex's observation, one of the most obvious examples of this relates to Auto Import. When files are added to a view you're currently in, you have to exit and re-enter the view to see the changes.

[benn600]

Just as the OSD doesn't update when it's being displayed: try showing the current time position and leaving it up there.  It doesn't update as the seconds roll by.

[ThoBar]

I moved this out of the request thread because it's a use case we're thinking a lot about right now.

Excellent news! I am about to build a new HTPC - with a touchscreen - and would really, and I do mean really, like it if MC could natively and intelligently support this type of multi-screen HTPC setup.

[JimH]

I am about to build a new HTPC - with a touchscreen - and would really, and I do mean really, like it if MC could natively and intelligently support this type of multi-screen HTPC setup.

What are the rules?  Could you state them concisely?

[Jinster]

I have this exact setup, a 7" touchscreen on the HTPC case, and a large 46" LCD screen as the monitor. The 7" is always on, as is the HTPC itself. The LCD TV is only for watching videos or browsing media files in Theater Mode in detail. I think I would like to see the small screen do the following:

1. Display the album art, current title and artist
2. Display a large'ish clock
3. Display a current temperature with a weather icon

And that's it. The 7" screen is really only good for displaying small amounts of information at a reasonable size if you want them to be readable from a distance - say, the couch.

I don't think buttons are useful on this screen - most people with this setup would be controlling things with a remote. But if you must add them, add big sized ones that work with fingers rather than mouse pointers. "Buttons" can be hidden or gesture based - so no additional room is taken up to display them. By hidden, I mean, the entire left side of the screen can be for rewind, middle part for play/pause, right side for forward - all would work simply by touching even though no button is actually displayed - the only things displayed, are the 3 things I mentioned earlier (current song detail, clock, weather).

I personally think any descent navigating through the media files can only be done on a big screen if you want to do it in comfort - as a HTPC should allow. So I don't think putting the main MC screen on the small 7" LCD VGA screen on the HTPC case is a good idea. The main screen should still go to the big LCD screen, with the previously aforementioned setup (current song detail, clock, weather) automatically displayed on the 7" screen regardless of what is being displayed on the big LCD screen (the main screen).

[ThoBar]

My thinking for the 7" screen is along these lines:

• I don't want to turn on the TV/Projector to access music - I want to use the 7"
• I don't want the 7" displaying anything while watching a movie - or at least a dark, non-attention grabbing info display
• Slideshows may be an exception to the above.
• If the large screen is on (and not watching a movie), I support Jinster's suggestions for displayed elements
• I see Jinster's POV wrt navigation issues, but I think the 7" should definitely be usable for nav.

In terms of rules.. my initial braindump is:

• If Large screen is OFF, Small Screen is ON - in Nav mode
• If Large screen is ON, Small Screen is in INFORMATION Mode
• If playing video through Large Screen, Small Screen is OFF
• If playing anything BUT video through Large Screen, Small Screen is displaying relevant additional info
• If the Small Screen is always on, options for screen saver like functionality (slideshows etc) would be very nice

I'm sure there's more to come, but its back to the grindstone for now....

[maxxsid]

If MC supported a 2nd "info" monitor (e.g. a 7" installed in some HTPC cases) in the way confishy stated, that would be wonderful!
I used to have this 2-monitor setup, using girder, netremote and ultramon to move things around and show the right stuff. But it was too much of a hassle.. For now I just stick to a single monitor (46" TV) setup (using a harmony remote control via girder/usb-uirt to control everything).

--max

My thinking for the 7" screen is along these lines:

• I don't want to turn on the TV/Projector to access music - I want to use the 7"
• I don't want the 7" displaying anything while watching a movie - or at least a dark, non-attention grabbing info display
• Slideshows may be an exception to the above.
• If the large screen is on (and not watching a movie), I support Jinster's suggestions for displayed elements
• I see Jinster's POV wrt navigation issues, but I think the 7" should definitely be usable for nav.

In terms of rules.. my initial braindump is:

• If Large screen is OFF, Small Screen is ON - in Nav mode
• If Large screen is ON, Small Screen is in INFORMATION Mode
• If playing video through Large Screen, Small Screen is OFF
• If playing anything BUT video through Large Screen, Small Screen is displaying relevant additional info
• If the Small Screen is always on, options for screen saver like functionality (slideshows etc) would be very nice

I'm sure there's more to come, but its back to the grindstone for now....

[benn600]

It would be a very powerful feature, no doubt!  All of the power of MC is exponentially better when you combine the various features.  Just like Photoshop.  Just using MC for importing songs and clicking play is like applying a single filter in Photoshop.  Ha!

P.S. I am not pleased with the time of this post I'm working on a video project and waiting for it to finish encoding.

[Mike Noe]

@Bonex:
When using AHK with MC, do you have MC "minimizing to tray"?  If so, how do you get to it?  When MC minimizes to tray, the class MJFrame obviously goes away....

I guess I could pull window title and look for the substring "media center...".

?

[Bonex]

My thinking for the 7" screen is along these lines:

    * I don't want to turn on the TV/Projector to access music - I want to use the 7"
    * If the large screen is on (and not watching a movie), I support Jinster's suggestions for displayed elements
    * I see Jinster's POV wrt navigation issues, but I think the 7" should definitely be usable for nav.

I totally agree with you about these, in particular with the first point, which is what made me choose a case with a 7" screen.

    * I don't want the 7" displaying anything while watching a movie - or at least a dark, non-attention grabbing info display

I agree with the "non-attention grabbing info display". I like to see the current playing time while watching a movie, but this can be made into an option, I think. Making the info display customizable, like you can do with music, would be great.

When using AHK with MC, do you have MC "minimizing to tray"?  If so, how do you get to it?  When MC minimizes to tray, the class MJFrame obviously goes away....

Sorry, I always keep MC maximized, in either theatre view or display view.
I have no idea how to find its window when minimized, I think you need a more powerful tool than the Window Spy of AHK to see what happens. I know, for example, that C++Builder has a tool that shows a list of every window and all their relative child windows, not only the active one.
Anyway, you can try to pass commands to mc running the executable with the MC command as a parameter. See here.

[Mike Noe]

A little investigating....

AHK has a setting:

DetectHiddenWindows, on