Configuration idea for EPG in MP (make it simple but still powerful)

Lyxalig · 2006-11-09, 17:34

Utilizing my idea of "country-templates" found here: WebEpg feature request
We would have the possibility of grouping EPG by country eliminating the not-so-user-friendly steps to get a working epg using webepg/xml-tv.

A picture says more than thousand works regarding gui, so I fired up my VS2005, made a dummy gui, and did a little bit of photoshop modifications... I don't have the skill to program it---

During tv tuning mp should capture a frame, and use it as an icon for the channel. That should make it easy for everyone to identify a channel regardless of teletext names, or the lack of them..

The black square containing a channel name is a "drag and drop" in action. So the idea is to drag the channel name over the image, and drop it to make the channel to epg connection, and thus giving the channel a friendly name.

Hope you like the idea. Now we need someone who can code it..

jawbroken · 2006-11-09, 18:49

The frame grab idea won't work if the channel doesn't have an watermark, or if ads are showing (usually the watermark is disabled when ads are showing) but it sounds like a good idea. Maybe show the name grabbed from the DVB stream as well, as it is easy to identify channels from that name.

Lyxalig · 2006-11-09, 19:22

Jawbroken: If you have a closer look at the screenshot you'll see a button "get new channel image" that button is supposed to grab a new frame.
But showing dvb-name, teletext-name, or simply the channel frequency/cabel-number is a good idea. Maybe there should be two textfields on each image "EPG: #####" AND "Channel: #####"...

jawbroken · 2006-11-10, 12:29

Yeah, I saw the get new channel image thing, but sitting there, hitting that button, for up to four minutes until an adbreak finishes (or longer for channels that aren't watermarked at all) isn't exactly ideal in most cases.

Maybe it would be better to just display the channels tuned and as video one by one, allowing people to pick a name from a list of Guide channels and rename if they want. This would probably be a better workflow in my mind, and there will also not be the (possibly) long wait to grab a frame from each channel at the start.

Lyxalig · 2006-11-10, 13:13

jawbroken: Yes good ideas. but tweaks imo. The general concept is to allow for visual interaction, and put the whole process of creating a epg-guide in one dialog..
hmm... you're the only one commenting.. is it a bad idea, or is something else already planned? Would be good to hear from a developer..

jawbroken · 2006-11-10, 17:10

Maybe it would be better off in Feature Requests?

2006-11-09, 17:34	#1 (permalink)
Lyxalig Portal Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Norway Age: 24 Posts: 268 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Country: My System	Configuration idea for EPG in MP (make it simple but still powerful) Utilizing my idea of "country-templates" found here: WebEpg feature request We would have the possibility of grouping EPG by country eliminating the not-so-user-friendly steps to get a working epg using webepg/xml-tv. A picture says more than thousand works regarding gui, so I fired up my VS2005, made a dummy gui, and did a little bit of photoshop modifications... I don't have the skill to program it--- During tv tuning mp should capture a frame, and use it as an icon for the channel. That should make it easy for everyone to identify a channel regardless of teletext names, or the lack of them.. The black square containing a channel name is a "drag and drop" in action. So the idea is to drag the channel name over the image, and drop it to make the channel to epg connection, and thus giving the channel a friendly name. Hope you like the idea. Now we need someone who can code it.. Attached Thumbnails __________________ If the MP community isn't able to do it... Who are?

2006-11-09, 19:22	#3 (permalink)
Lyxalig Portal Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Norway Age: 24 Posts: 268 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Country: My System	Jawbroken: If you have a closer look at the screenshot you'll see a button "get new channel image" that button is supposed to grab a new frame. But showing dvb-name, teletext-name, or simply the channel frequency/cabel-number is a good idea. Maybe there should be two textfields on each image "EPG: #####" AND "Channel: #####"... __________________ If the MP community isn't able to do it... Who are?

2006-11-10, 12:29	#4 (permalink)
jawbroken Portal Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Melbourne, Australia Age: 22 Posts: 707 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts My System	Yeah, I saw the get new channel image thing, but sitting there, hitting that button, for up to four minutes until an adbreak finishes (or longer for channels that aren't watermarked at all) isn't exactly ideal in most cases. Maybe it would be better to just display the channels tuned and as video one by one, allowing people to pick a name from a list of Guide channels and rename if they want. This would probably be a better workflow in my mind, and there will also not be the (possibly) long wait to grab a frame from each channel at the start. Last edited by jawbroken; 2006-11-10 at 12:31.

2006-11-10, 13:13	#5 (permalink)
Lyxalig Portal Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Norway Age: 24 Posts: 268 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Country: My System	jawbroken: Yes good ideas. but tweaks imo. The general concept is to allow for visual interaction, and put the whole process of creating a epg-guide in one dialog.. hmm... you're the only one commenting.. is it a bad idea, or is something else already planned? Would be good to hear from a developer.. __________________ If the MP community isn't able to do it... Who are?

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2006-11-09, 18:49	#2 (permalink)
jawbroken Portal Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Melbourne, Australia Age: 22 Posts: 707 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts My System	The frame grab idea won't work if the channel doesn't have an watermark, or if ads are showing (usually the watermark is disabled when ads are showing) but it sounds like a good idea. Maybe show the name grabbed from the DVB stream as well, as it is easy to identify channels from that name.

2006-11-10, 17:10	#6 (permalink)
jawbroken Portal Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Melbourne, Australia Age: 22 Posts: 707 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts My System	Maybe it would be better off in Feature Requests?

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