Topic: Theater View question: how to escape from Display view? w/o mouse (Read 4007 times)

globetrotters1 · « **on:** March 30, 2009, 08:41:48 am »

I slowly get used to the new Theater View, which has a lot of good things to it - must have been a lot of work to program this! congratulations!

Now I ran into a problem I don't know how to solve:

If I once have the touchscreen on 'Display View' I can't find how to get back to my normal working screen. I have no mouse, no keyboard, just a touchscreen which generates IR commands. In the former Theater View I did an <ENTER> command and it got back to the normal working surface of Theater View. <ENTER> toggles now PLAY/PAUSE, if I generate a keyboard UP or DOWN command it shows me some functions in a little black window, with LEFT and RIGHT I can page through everything, but I have to go back to my media center computer with keyboard and mouse to escape from that view

Who knows a trick? without using a mouse? just the touchscreen...

Or is it possible to switch off Display view completely? Like that I won't run into this problem anymore

Doof · « **Reply #1 on:** March 30, 2009, 08:50:17 am »

On my MCE remote, I have to use the BACK button. It's not the same as left or right, or rewind or any of those. It's its own button.

I agree that Enter was better. I could complete navigate around Theater View with just 5 buttons. Now I need 6. Unfortunately that 6th button isn't in a very conveinent spot on my Harmony. I wonder what the logic behind the change was and if we can get it back? Or even a Return to Theater View on Stop option would work for me.

benn600 · « **Reply #2 on:** March 30, 2009, 09:06:53 am »

Quote

<ENTER> toggles now PLAY/PAUSE

Here we are talking about <ENTER> again...good piece of info.

Neville · « **Reply #3 on:** March 30, 2009, 09:27:13 am »

Quote from: benn600 on March 30, 2009, 09:06:53 am

Here we are talking about <ENTER> again...good piece of info.

I don't know if this is necessary?
I already have PLAY button for play/pause and PAUSE button for play/pause on my remote, why ENTER too?
There is currently no way to escape from Display view.

JimH · « **Reply #4 on:** March 30, 2009, 09:37:52 am »

Try Double Click (double tap?) and try F11 if you can.

On MS remotes, the green button should toggle among Home, Display, and Current.

Doof · « **Reply #5 on:** March 30, 2009, 09:46:18 am »

Quote from: JimH on March 30, 2009, 09:37:52 am

Try Double Click (double tap?) and try F11 if you can.

Doesn't really help much, in the quest to not need a mouse or keyboard.

Quote

On MS remotes, the green button should toggle among Home, Display, and Current.

True, but again, it used to be possible using just the up, down, left, right, and enter keys to navigate all over Theater View. Now you have to introduce another button into the mix, whether it's Back or the Green button. I'm not really sure I understand the need to have Enter toggle between Play and Pause when I already have Play and Pause buttons.

JimH · « **Reply #6 on:** March 30, 2009, 10:45:51 am »

Quote from: Doof on March 30, 2009, 09:46:18 am

I'm not really sure I understand the need to have Enter toggle between Play and Pause when I already have Play and Pause buttons.

It makes use of the North South East West arrow keys with the OK in the center. Navigate with the four arrows and play or pause with the center key.

But if we broke something, we'll try to find a solution.

I've said this before, but we have four use cases to try to satisfy:

1. Keyboard only
2. Mouse only
3. Touch screen
4. Remote

It makes things a little complicated.

Doof · « **Reply #7 on:** March 30, 2009, 11:13:49 am »

Quote from: JimH on March 30, 2009, 10:45:51 am

It makes use of the North South East West arrow keys with the OK in the center. Navigate with the four arrows and play or pause with the center key.

But if we broke something, we'll try to find a solution.

I've said this before, but we have four use cases to try to satisfy:

1. Keyboard only
2. Mouse only
3. Touch screen
4. Remote

It makes things a little complicated.

That makes sense. Like I said before, I can do everything I need to do with the remote. It's just that the Back and Green buttons are in semi-awkward places on the Harmony remote, so I prefered being able to just the Enter button. Honestly, if I could just check a box in the Theater View options that said "Return to Theater View when playback stops" it would absolute make my day and remove any need to have the old Enter functionality back. When playback stops, for any reason, staring at a blank Display View window doesn't make much sense.

JimH · « **Reply #8 on:** March 30, 2009, 11:24:03 am »

Quote from: Doof on March 30, 2009, 11:13:49 am

Honestly, if I could just check a box in the Theater View options that said "Return to Theater View when playback stops" it would absolute make my day and remove any need to have the old Enter functionality back. When playback stops, for any reason, staring at a blank Display View window doesn't make much sense.

I agree. We can take a look at that, but when I play a video file, and then stop it, Display View closes, and I see the Video/Movies screen.

In Options/Playback/General/Behavior, I have "Jump on play (video) set to "Display View".

Doof · « **Reply #9 on:** March 30, 2009, 11:32:01 am »

Quote from: JimH on March 30, 2009, 11:24:03 am

I agree. We can take a look at that, but when I play a video file, and then stop it, Display View closes, and I see the Video/Movies screen.

In Options/Playback/General/Behavior, I have "Jump on play (video) set to "Display View".

Oh, this is weird... I just tried this at work and it works exactly like I want it to, both for videos and audio. At home, I know it works for videos, but I don't think it was for audio. I'll try it out again at lunch and make sure I'm just not crazy.

AoXoMoXoA · « **Reply #10 on:** March 30, 2009, 12:01:39 pm »

I have used several programs which use the Space Bar to toggle Play/Pause, perhaps this could be used in MC also?

globetrotters1 · « **Reply #11 on:** March 30, 2009, 01:21:53 pm »

double tap I cannot generate by IR... F11 would be possible, but I fear to mix up other things if I re-program the touchscreen center from <ENTER> to <F11> (I just can generate one IR command per touchscreen zone - so I generate a <LEFT ARROW> in the center left part of the screen, the 'UP ARROW', 'DOWN ARROW' and 'RIGHT ARROW' in the logically respective zones - I generate a <CTRL-P> in one corner zone, a <CTRL-L> and <CTRL-N> for 'previous' and 'next' in two other corners and my famous <ENTER> in the center of the screen (one corner has to serve as the exit point for my music system controller and cannot be used for something else)

I changed the 'Hairstyle' skin to my dark red I'm used to throughout the house, so it's close to perfect. And I like the new navigation model so far.

My main problem stays... escaping out of the 'Display' mode screen to the normal navigation screen...

Could someone tell me which kind of IR command the <back> button on an MCE remote generates? which command on a keyboard?

And another question: you mention within the 'options' of Theater View that I can use an 'alternate navigation model'... I tried it and couldn't find anything different from the 'normal model' - could someone clarify this a bit please?

thanks

Doof · « **Reply #12 on:** March 30, 2009, 02:05:12 pm »

Oh yeah! That was the problem I was having. It wasn't when playback stopped, it was when it was still going on.

So like if I was listening to music and switched to "Big Screen" (Display View) but then wanted to go back to browsing music. That was when I thought it was rather cumbersome having to find the Back button when I used to be able to just hit Enter.

globetrotters1 · « **Reply #13 on:** March 31, 2009, 12:01:54 pm »

could you guys of JRiver be so kind to think about that <ENTER> topic?

we already had the function of toggling Pause/Play with <CTRL>-P, and that worked fine, so why changing the main functional behaviour of the <ENTER> key?

like this there is no way to escape out of the Display view screen without a keyboard/mouse

btw: do the keys <CTRL>-1, <CTRL>-2 and <CTRL>-3 get recognized within Display view? (can't test it here, would have to do a complex re-programming of my touchscreens)

thanks

JimH · « **Reply #14 on:** March 31, 2009, 12:07:07 pm »

Is there a way for you to test the behavior of MC on a straight up PC without any touch screen programming? Does it behave there?

Enter isn't going to change. I explained above when I replied to doof.

We will work to find a way to solve your problem, but I think your problem may be caused, in part, by the touch screen programming.

A possible solution might be to use a "flick" gesture to wipe the screen to one side.

Can you do a double click with a touch?

AoXoMoXoA · « **Reply #15 on:** March 31, 2009, 01:07:41 pm »

Quote from: JimH on March 30, 2009, 10:45:51 am

It makes use of the North South East West arrow keys with the OK in the center. Navigate with the four arrows and play or pause with the center key.

So if I understand correctly you are saying that the 'center button' is the same as the Enter key rather than mapped seperately, and therefore it mandates this change to the Enter key so as to accomodate this function on the remote (N,S,E,W, Center Button)?

Doof · « **Reply #16 on:** March 31, 2009, 02:38:17 pm »

Quote from: JimH on March 30, 2009, 10:45:51 am

It makes use of the North South East West arrow keys with the OK in the center. Navigate with the four arrows and play or pause with the center key.

But if we broke something, we'll try to find a solution.

I've said this before, but we have four use cases to try to satisfy:

1. Keyboard only
2. Mouse only
3. Touch screen
4. Remote

It makes things a little complicated.

I've been thinking about this some more and I'm not sure I understand why it's so complicated.

1. Keyboard only - Keyboards have the most buttons available and therefore the most options. Currently, keyboard users can use Enter, Spacebar and Ctrl-P. All to toggle Play/Pause. They also have Esc and Backspace to exit Display View at any point they choose.

2. Mouse only - Wiggle the mouse and you get all of the playback and window controls. They can click the Play button to toggle Play/Pause and click the X button to exit Display View.

3. Touch Screen - I would assume this would be the same as using the Mouse. But even if it's not, I'm not sure what the Enter key has to do with anything.

4. Remote - We generally have dedicated play and pause buttons. If we're using an actual MCE remote, then we can hit the Back or Green buttons to exit Display View. I, unfortunately am not using a dedicated MCE remote, but rather a Logitech Harmony remote. I have the Back and Green buttons, but they're kinda buried in the menu of soft buttons. So exiting out of Display View, for me, is doable, but kind of a pain. I imagine some of the less capable universal remotes are even worse off.

Maybe I'm just being short sighted or am biased or whatever, but I really don't see why Enter needs to be mapped to the Play/Pause command.

Matt · « **Reply #17 on:** March 31, 2009, 03:05:43 pm »

I really like the arrow keys and enter controlling basic playback functionality. It's great with a remote, since it's normally really comfortable to have your thumb sit above the directional pad.

As for touchscreens, shouldn't there be a double-click? Otherwise, what if the display borders appeared on single click (tap) so you could tap the close button?

globetrotters1 · « **Reply #18 on:** March 31, 2009, 03:09:10 pm »

Jim,
I can't "double click" on our touchscreens - the touchscreen has a separately programmed invisible overlay, deviding the screen surface into different zones - every zone generates an IR command if touched - the only caveat is that it has to be the same throughout a media program showing on the screen - I divided the surface into 9 different zones and the center has always been <ENTER> or <mouse-click> - it worked like that before and I see no reason why it should change - in all other functions it works just fine, just the Display View is different?
With a keyboard on the PC and with the use of the mouse it's easy to get around this problem... but on my touchscreens I have no mouse and no keyboard, just IR commands

AoXoMoXoA,
the center zone is programmed like that and behaves correctly in all other Theater View functions - just in Display view it suddenly starts to mean "toggle Play/Pause" (which I have mapped to my left upper corner zone) - I might not be able to explain this in your kind of english, but it has been written in detail above

Doof,
sorry, but you're wrong with your No 3... modern touchscreens (like Xenarc screens) have a USB connection and behave like a mouse... other touchscreens (like mine) just display NTSC video and have to be connected to a special Media Center controller which transports a IR command (generated by the special touchscreen program) to a central IR management unit - this unit forwards the IR signal to the computer and the iMon IR program, which is connected to JRiver Media Center 13... sounds complicated? it is... but it works just fine and does exactly what it should do

Matt,
if you read my statements above you know that it's impossible what you propose... it's just not the touchscreens you may know of... they are programmable and not just usable like a USB connected mouse

If you guys don't want to map <ENTER> to the former "escape Display View" then you please be so kind and tell me which keyboard buttons I should use to exit that darn display view and I'll re-program my touchscreens with another "special" zone just for exiting that screen... and if all other keyboard shortcuts (as mentioned in the menu options) get fetched correctly by the program - also in Display View mode - then I know what to do myself (it's just a hell of a work to re-program all these screens)

Doof · « **Reply #19 on:** March 31, 2009, 03:11:01 pm »

Quote from: Matt on March 31, 2009, 03:05:43 pm

I really like the arrow keys and enter controlling basic playback functionality. It's great with a remote, since it's normally really comfortable to have your thumb sit above the directional pad.

As for touchscreens, shouldn't there be a double-click? Otherwise, what if the display borders appeared on single click (tap) so you could tap the close button?

The thing is, the arrow keys and enter are navigational controls. There are already playback controls on the remote.

Matt · « **Reply #20 on:** March 31, 2009, 03:12:59 pm »

I think you might consider adding Back (backspace key) to your touchscreen. It's useful in Theater View and for exiting Display View.

JimH · « **Reply #21 on:** March 31, 2009, 03:55:10 pm »

Quote from: globetrotters1 on March 31, 2009, 03:09:10 pm

If you guys don't want to map <ENTER> to the former "escape Display View" then you please be so kind and tell me which keyboard buttons I should use to exit that darn display view and I'll re-program my touchscreens with another "special" zone just for exiting that screen...

Escape exits Display View already. Would that work?

globetrotters1 · « **Reply #22 on:** March 31, 2009, 04:17:39 pm »

ok, now I have several choices, but I think <ESC> would be the most logical choice, ok, I'll re-program the touchpanels with a new touch zone - I keep you posted if that solved this little problem

just a question: what does <BACKSPACE> do else than the left arrow button in navigation?

JimH · « **Reply #23 on:** March 31, 2009, 04:21:14 pm »

Backspace moves you back through the places you've been.

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Author Topic: Theater View question: how to escape from Display view? w/o mouse (Read 4007 times)