3.2 Tuner Profile Name: (textbox)
* Give this Tuner Type a friendly name.
* Pre-filled with the name of the selected tuner type (ATSC, DVB-T, etc) but you can change it to something nicer.
3.3 Assign Devices: (grid view with checkboxes)
* List each detected tuner capable of receiving the Service Type selected in Step 2. Hide or disable those that can't possibly be relevant.
* If the user selects a Tuner Type (3.1) that precludes a particular hardware device, it should be grayed out (but still visible)
* Allow the user to select multiple devices
* Devices sometimes will be capable of using multiple Tuner Types, so you can't pre-filter this list against already assigned devices.
* Next in the wizard is disabled until you select at least one hardware device to assign to this Tuner Type.
What:
Reverse the sequence of 3.2 and 3.3.
Prefilled the Tuner Profile Name with the name that the device returns itself, or from Device Manager, suffixed by the Tuner Type. i.e. In my (simple) case, with my "DigitalNow Quad DVB-T Receiver", the reported name in Device Manager and MC System Information is "QUAD DVB-T". So the Tuner Profile Name would become the awkward "QUAD DVB-T DVB-T". Well, unless a little logic could be applied to the naming to make that nicer. But that doesn't really matter.
Why:
People know what they bought, or had installed. They should know the tuner type as well, but may not. Hence, use a name that is more likely to be recognised. In my case, the word "Quad" differentiates the device. For some of the Hauppauge and similar devices this naming would work even better, I suspect.
BTW I am not convinced about the Tuner Profile Name thing. Wouldn't it only be of value when a device can capture more than one type of source? For example, if a device had both Digital and Analogue capture capabilities? Maybe it is worthwhile for this alone, but mostly it would seem to just add another layer of naming, especially if the "Capture Device" is going to be listed in the edit channel dialogue.
* Favorite/Unfavorite and Hide/Unhide should be Checkbox Columns in the channels grid-view, not discreet buttons.
Yes. Please put the check boxes to the left on the name, so that the remaining width is available to the name without resizing columns. Of course, keep them just wide enough for the check box, and work out some simple way of identifying them. Simple F and H, perhaps with a question mark next to them for a popup description of both.
It would help if this dialogue window was resizable as well, along with quite a few other dialogues in MC. Some channel names are long. Some Capture Device names are long. Seeing the maximum number of channels vertically by expanding the dialogue window would be good.
* The Edit button, for mine at least, doesn't seem to do anything not shown in the Right-Hand pane of the dialog. If there are "advanced edit" things for a channel, it should only list the stuff that can't be done in-line, and the button should be over on the right-hand side.
The right hand panel is for display. The Edit dialogue is for changing parameters. It shouldn't be required I guess, but what if the details are being detected incorrectly, if there are multiple audio streams in the Transport Stream, if the frequency is a little off the official frequency. I don't know if these things are possible, but I have used that dialogue in setting up and reviewing my channels. As we are no longer in a Wizard, I wouldn't like to see this capability removed. Not to forget, if you need to add a channel with the Add button, it needs to look pretty much like the Edit dialogue. If you can add a channel manually using the Add button, you can make a mistake doing it, so you need an Edit button.
If it could all be done inline, with a new Apply button to save any changes to an existing channel, that would be fine. However, differentiating between a display of channel details, and editing those details, isn't a bad thing.
* What does Save Channel Order do? Doesn't Done do this too? If you really want to have separate Apply and Done buttons, then do an OK, Apply, Cancel "standard bottom-right" button panel instead.
However it is done, the ability to save the current channel sort, without being forced to leave the dialogue, is a must have. I used it and I only have 34 channels. How would you feel if you had 300 channels, had spent two hours sorting them, and then for whatever reason, lost the edits? Bad, I would guess. Standard OK, Apply and Cancel buttons would be okay though.
* * Next/Previous Uses Favorite Channels Only should not be in that dialog, and only in Tools > Options > Television.
I disagree, at least given the current "Favorite Channels" and "Hidden Channels" drop down lists in Tools > Options > Television. There is no dialogue box currently in the "Favorite Channels" drop down list to add such a check box. Any check box should be close to a visible list of favourite channels. If it was just a tick box at the top of the current drop down list it would be confusing to users, who use that list to tick favourite channels. I'm not wedded to the idea of keeping the drop down lists as they are, but they do provide a quick way of changing both Favorite and Hidden channels. The Advanced > Edit Channels dialogue is an advanced version of doing the same, showing more information about the channels. Maybe the Favorite drop down list needs to become a dialogue, with the "Next/Previous Uses Favorite Channels Only " check box at the top. Then the Hidden drop down list could be removed altogether and that functionality left in the Advanced > Edit Channels List dialogue.
Actually, I think that both the Favorite and Hidden Channels drop down list have limited use, as the list scrolls off to the right of the dialogue anyway. Remove them both and leave the "Next/Previous Uses Favorite Channels Only " in the Advanced > Edit Channels List dialogue.
While on Favorite Channels list though, I have previously used a system that allowed me to have multiple favorite lists, and to select which list I wish to use, for example in the Guide. So I could have Sports Favorites, Documentary Favorites, or Mary's Favorites and John's Favorites. Maybe whatever you do in this favorites area should consider providing that capability, if not now then in the future.
* * Attributes is nice, but can be hidden under a button (especially since it is almost all duplicates of the things shown above). That gives you much more room to move things on the right-hand side, since the Channel List grid-view will be taller and wider.
No, for me Attributes shows a lot more than what is above, and it helps me understand what the channel is, without going into an edit dialogue. I looked up this information
a lot while I was getting XMLTV working, and most often I used it by clicking on channels on the left, check the parameter, click on the next channel, check the parameter, etc. I would not have wanted to add an extra click on a button to see the parameters, which would then change focus, cover other information, etc. I would not like to see it go, and I would not like to be forced to open an Edit dialogue to see it. But whatever is done here, it needs to be worked out with my comments on the Edit and Add buttons above.
In fact I think that everything except Favorite Channels management is an advanced function, including Scan for Channels, Group, Hidden, Add/Edit, IR Emitter for STB, etc.
Show Status (how useful is that in diagnosing recordings? Lots!) is a nice feature that many users would like to find and use easily as well. Maybe there should be a "Show TV Status" menu item outside the Options dialogues for this.
Maybe the whole General and Advanced sections of the Television dialogue needs to be rethought from the perspective of the user of those sections. Also obviously the Country, Zip/Post code and Load Program Guide need to be kept together, since they are set together or should be, and the LPG is a regular process unless it has been fully automated. EDIT: As I read on I see this is also planned.
