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[greg.smalter]

I want to switch from WMC to MC Theater View for general Live TV viewing. I think I'm finally able to articulate the
short list of relatively tiny problems that create a big barrier (especially for other family members) to doing so:

1. Guide. WMC lets me view the guide while simultaneously watching the station I'm on. MC pauses the broadcast while I
view the guide.

2. Info. When I hit the info button (the 'i' button on a Media Center Remote), WMC shows me a nice description of the
show, and often whether it's (New) or (Repeat). MC just displays the show's progress bar (it doesn't even display the
name of the show - to get this I have to hit up/down a bunch of times). Also, hitting info again doesn't make it
disappear - I have to wait for it to time out.

3. Channel changing. If I rapidly change channels in WMC, I get an immediate response with each button press and it shows
me a bunch of good information about the channel I'm about to see if I stop clicking. In MC, it gets bogged down and
shows me (way less) info from the channel 3+ button presses ago. The time required to change from one channel to another
is about the same in both programs, but WMC feels way more responsive and shows better information.

MC does all of the big things better than WMC (rendering, network drive support, etc.). It's sad that these tiny things
are keeping me from using it.

[greg.smalter]

1. Guide. WMC lets me view the guide while simultaneously watching the station I'm on. MC pauses the broadcast while I
view the guide.

I have resolved this! Tools -> Options -> Theater View -> Behavior -> Uncheck "Pause video playback when entering Theater View".

I didn't realize that watching TV counted as Display View and going to the guide was considered to be leaving Display View and entering Theater View.

I still find it somewhat clunky, especially because when you click an item in the TV Guide it sends you to a separate screen where you have to select Watch instead of simply watching it immediately upon selection. But, this is a big improvement.

[lhwidget]

I want to switch from WMC to MC Theater View for general Live TV viewing. I think I'm finally able to articulate the
short list of relatively tiny problems that create a big barrier (especially for other family members) to doing so:

1. Guide. WMC lets me view the guide while simultaneously watching the station I'm on. MC pauses the broadcast while I
view the guide.

2. Info. When I hit the info button (the 'i' button on a Media Center Remote), WMC shows me a nice description of the
show, and often whether it's (New) or (Repeat). MC just displays the show's progress bar (it doesn't even display the
name of the show - to get this I have to hit up/down a bunch of times). Also, hitting info again doesn't make it
disappear - I have to wait for it to time out.

3. Channel changing. If I rapidly change channels in WMC, I get an immediate response with each button press and it shows
me a bunch of good information about the channel I'm about to see if I stop clicking. In MC, it gets bogged down and
shows me (way less) info from the channel 3+ button presses ago. The time required to change from one channel to another
is about the same in both programs, but WMC feels way more responsive and shows better information.

MC does all of the big things better than WMC (rendering, network drive support, etc.). It's sad that these tiny things
are keeping me from using it.

1.  This isn't much of an issue for me, I use Beyond TV and it behaves like WMC, but if the TV playback paused, I don't think it would bother me...

2.  I'm used to the same info from the info button you are.  Basically the text from the guide plus the station info plus the scheduled air time.  And I want the progress bar too.  A cluttered display is OK for the brief time I'm looking for the info.  Toggling the info display off & on with the info button is definitely a very handy thing for me.

3.  Exactly.  Leave the tuner alone and just show the guide info text for each channel as you scroll through them, when you are looking at the guide info of the channel you want, press the OK button to select the channel to change to.  And what, left arrow once or twice to abort?

4.  Is MC 17 supporting direct entry of channel numbers?

5.  IS MC 17 supporting the direct entry of an elapsed time go-to feature?

[greg.smalter]

4.  Is MC 17 supporting direct entry of channel numbers?

Yes, it does. It's actually quite good at it. If you enter "13" it will go to "13.1" for you.

[lhwidget]

Nice, thanks for the info.

[imugli]

2. Info. When I hit the info button (the 'i' button on a Media Center Remote), WMC shows me a nice description of the
show, and often whether it's (New) or (Repeat). MC just displays the show's progress bar (it doesn't even display the
name of the show - to get this I have to hit up/down a bunch of times). Also, hitting info again doesn't make it
disappear - I have to wait for it to time out.

This.

I've suggested this a couple of times in the TV thread.

Channel, Start and Finish times, Program Name and Description.

3. Channel changing. If I rapidly change channels in WMC, I get an immediate response with each button press and it shows
me a bunch of good information about the channel I'm about to see if I stop clicking. In MC, it gets bogged down and
shows me (way less) info from the channel 3+ button presses ago. The time required to change from one channel to another
is about the same in both programs, but WMC feels way more responsive and shows better information.

OP, you can use the OSD to see what's on other channels before actually changing - Up / Down arrow till you see the program info, then left and right to see what's on other channels.

I agree that this could possibly be extended to include program information as per above (for current program only, not next program as well).

[greg.smalter]

OP, you can use the OSD to see what's on other channels before actually changing - Up / Down arrow till you see the program info, then left and right to see what's on other channels.

I can. Guests and family members can't. That's the hump I'd like MC to get over.

[imugli]

I can. Guests and family members can't. That's the hump I'd like MC to get over.

Yeah, I have that problem, too. So I don't invite that many guests