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Author Topic: Now and Next info in TV OSD  (Read 3186 times)

raym

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Now and Next info in TV OSD
« on: March 14, 2009, 06:29:11 pm »

I really like the way the currently showing/upcomming EPG info appears in the OSD during channel changes.

A couple of ideas that might make this perfect though:

- When the info is shown, could a distinctive "Now: " and "Next: " in bold text be used to prefix the program names? When there's long program names and a limited (too limited?) time to read them, this would make things clearer.

- Would it also be possible to have this info available in the "Playing Now" OSD item during normal fullscreen viewing? Arrowing right / left could show the up-comming programs from your other favorites channels list too! Sort of like Vista's excellent mini-guide idea. Hitting Enter could then switch to that channel/program. This would be superb as you could quickly see what's comming up and switch to that channel without needing to drop back to Theater View from fullscreen just to check the guide.

Nice work on this one so far!
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raym

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Re: Now and Next info in TV OSD
« Reply #1 on: April 29, 2009, 05:23:23 am »

*BUMP*

Any love for these? With respect to the second point, imagine how cool it would be to see what's showing on your other fave channels (now and next) without interrupting your show. Like I said, I think Vista does this well (refer attachment). Windows 7 does it even better by showing you info for a couple of channels at once. MC could do it best! Especially if you also allow the Enter key to switch channels... Yes!!!

Cheers.
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raym

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Re: Now and Next info in TV OSD
« Reply #2 on: May 01, 2009, 09:26:59 pm »

Quote
13.0.163 (05/01/2009)

2. NEW: Added a "Programs" OSD menu item for television.  Left/right arrows cycle through Favorite Channels (or all channels if you have no favorite channels) with Now/Next program info.  MC automatically switches to the last channel you stop at.

First of all, thankyou! This is a fantastic feature.

The only slight issue I have with the current implementation is with the automatic channel change logic. You guys are really determined to have MC control everything aren't you!!  ;D  Seriously though, the problem is there's not enough time to read the channel info for a given channel before MC makes up it's mind to switch. Some of my tuners are not the fastest channel changers in the biz either so it's painstakenly frustrating to have to wait for MC to change to a channel you didn't even want to watch before you can continue.

Did you consider using the Enter key for the channel changing? It's used successfully in other areas of the OSD and would give this channel change control back to the user. I saw this feature as a really nice way of checking the guide easily and quickly. It should be more about this. 
 
Once again, a really nice feature though so thanks!
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rpalmer68

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Re: Now and Next info in TV OSD
« Reply #3 on: May 03, 2009, 04:53:56 pm »

First of all, thankyou! This is a fantastic feature.

The only slight issue I have with the current implementation is with the automatic channel change logic. You guys are really determined to have MC control everything aren't you!!  ;D  Seriously though, the problem is there's not enough time to read the channel info for a given channel before MC makes up it's mind to switch. Some of my tuners are not the fastest channel changers in the biz either so it's painstakenly frustrating to have to wait for MC to change to a channel you didn't even want to watch before you can continue.

Did you consider using the Enter key for the channel changing? It's used successfully in other areas of the OSD and would give this channel change control back to the user. I saw this feature as a really nice way of checking the guide easily and quickly. It should be more about this. 
 
Once again, a really nice feature though so thanks!

I agree, great feaautre but using the ENTER key would be much more user friendly than the auto changing.

Richard
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raym

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Re: Now and Next info in TV OSD
« Reply #4 on: May 04, 2009, 07:20:13 pm »

I agree, great feaautre but using the ENTER key would be much more user friendly than the auto changing.

Hey guys. I've played with this for a couple of days. I absolutely love it but something REALLY needs to be done about this auto channel changing behaviour.

Again, the whole point of this feature, to me, was to be able to check the NOW/NEXT guide items without having to stop watching your current program. I just don't get enough time to check the guide before MC changes channels.

Arrrghhh!!!!

The Enter key would work perfectly..... please?
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raym

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Re: Now and Next info in TV OSD
« Reply #5 on: May 08, 2009, 05:16:04 am »

*Bumping* this again while it's still hot.

This is soooooo close to perfect it's not funny but sadly, it's just unusable for me the way it is  :(

Cheers.
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Yaobing

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Re: Now and Next info in TV OSD
« Reply #6 on: May 08, 2009, 09:22:08 am »

I am working on it.

It has been done.
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raym

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Re: Now and Next info in TV OSD
« Reply #7 on: May 12, 2009, 07:04:13 am »

I am working on it.

It has been done.

Briliant! Just one problem though .... If you don't hit the Enter key within one or two seconds, the channel won't change. Even though the OSD is still on screen. Similarly, when you cycle (right/left arrow key) thru the now and next programs, if you don't arrow through the items within a few of seconds, the programs won't change - again, even though the OSD is still shown.

You've obviously extended the time the OSD stays on-screen which is just perfect! I think the problem may be related to this. It's as if the max time permitted for trapping keypresses (arrows/Enter) is less than the max time the OSD is shown for ??

Let me know if you need more info. This was difficult to explain  :P
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Yaobing

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Re: Now and Next info in TV OSD
« Reply #8 on: May 12, 2009, 10:42:01 am »

When build 169 or later comes out, it will contain the following fix:

Code: [Select]
Fixed: Changing television channel using OSD menu did not work unless Enter key was pressed within 2 seconds of displaying the channel info.  Now it should work as long as the channel info is in display (5 seconds).
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raym

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Re: Now and Next info in TV OSD
« Reply #9 on: May 13, 2009, 06:16:54 am »

When build 169 or later comes out, it will contain the following fix:

Code: [Select]
Fixed: Changing television channel using OSD menu did not work unless Enter key was pressed within 2 seconds of displaying the channel info.  Now it should work as long as the channel info is in display (5 seconds).

Thanks heaps Yaobing!
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imugli

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Re: Now and Next info in TV OSD
« Reply #10 on: May 13, 2009, 09:19:25 pm »

I used this for the first time last night and love it! Thanks!

rpalmer68

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Re: Now and Next info in TV OSD
« Reply #11 on: May 13, 2009, 09:53:58 pm »

If I bring up the "Programs" OSD (which is 4 lines) and then use the up/down arrows to change to a different OSD item, the top lines of the larger "Programs" OSD lingers on the diaplay with the new 2 line OSD on top. 

It just looks a  bit odd.

Richard

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raym

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Re: Now and Next info in TV OSD
« Reply #12 on: May 14, 2009, 05:39:43 am »

If I bring up the "Programs" OSD (which is 4 lines) and then use the up/down arrows to change to a different OSD item, the top lines of the larger "Programs" OSD lingers on the diaplay with the new 2 line OSD on top. 

It just looks a  bit odd.

Richard



I bet you're using the VMR7 renderer on XP, right? Try switching to Haali or VMR9 and you'll find this will fix it. I spent the better part of a Saturday afternoon working this out. I think like you, for some reason, VMR7 with ATI cards running on XP works the best in terms of PQ. Unfortunately, I've recently had to resort to a different video renderer to address this problem. I wish there was something JR could do to fix it.

EDIT: I actually raised this issue some time back also in this thread: http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=50256.0  It relates to different OSD messages but the problem's the same.

EDIT 2: JRiver, it would be great if you could take a quick look at this just in case there *is* something that can be done in MC to address the probelm?
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rpalmer68

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Re: Now and Next info in TV OSD
« Reply #13 on: May 18, 2009, 07:31:50 am »

I bet you're using the VMR7 renderer on XP, right? Try switching to Haali or VMR9 and you'll find this will fix it. I spent the better part of a Saturday afternoon working this out. I think like you, for some reason, VMR7 with ATI cards running on XP works the best in terms of PQ. Unfortunately, I've recently had to resort to a different video renderer to address this problem. I wish there was something JR could do to fix it but I really don't think it's their problem.


EDIT: I actually raised this issue some time back also in this thread: http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=50256.0  It relates to different OSD messages but the problem's the same.

EDIT 2: JRiver, it would be great if you could take a quick look at this just in case there *is* something that can be done in MC to address the probelm?

Thanks Ralf, yup I'm still on VMR7 (well remembered) as it gives the smoothest video playback of all the renderers.

Strange it can't be fixed, it looks like the 4 line OSD just needs to be turned off/hidden before writing the  2 line one but no doubt it's a lot more complicted than that.
 

R
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rpalmer68

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Re: Now and Next info in TV OSD
« Reply #14 on: May 22, 2009, 03:44:11 am »

One more things for the Now/Next OSD.

Any chance we coud have the current time or time remaining for current program displayed in the OSD as well?


Cheers
Richard
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