The zoom feature could be improved further. I have gathered experience with several Plasmas, LCDs, CRTs and different kinds of connection while using MP.
My suggestions for a killer-zoom, would be:
- Continous zooming
When I switch through all the zooming modes, I always the miss the mode I would love best. I even went to the menu to adjust pixel ratio to "force" it to allow some squeezing but reduce black bars at top/bottom.
So, why not bulding a continues zoom, where vertical and horizontal can be zoomed independantly. So the user could decided on its own which degree of squeezing he likes, .. how much he wants to be cut away right and left.. got the idea?
Ideally one could save the zooming to presets, that can later be recalled.
From memory I think I have seem this on XBMC (Xbox), and immiediatly loved this feature.
- Black bar detection
From my previous plasma I learned that it was able to detect black bars (top/bottom) and adjusted the screen so it fits the entire panel. It even detected the bars correctly when there was a small logo.
Together with the feature mentioned above this automatic zoom would be perfect.
Imagine you are watching a movie, then there is commercial, then news, then again a movie.. the picture will be automatically adapted. GREAT!
- Plasma protection
Some Plasma screen tend to burn in or at least to glow a while after having displayed static displays like OSD a lot. This also applies to the black bars at the top/bottom durring a movie.
Suggestion: Add a feature to periodically move the screen around. There could be a setting for movies where the "film strip" (=the area where the film is an the screen, not the black bars at top/bottom) is moved completly up (so the bar at the bottom is double) and then slowly moves it down (so top bar becomes double). If you do this 1pixel per minute, nobody will really notice.
You could also a add a mode for when OSD or main screen is displayed to move the graphical elements around along a circular path with radius of 10 ..20 pixel (e.g.) So even Plasma users can leave the OSD and main screen on the panel almost forever..
What do YOU think about these features? They would be really unique to a HTPC software and I have seen them nowhere else!
I see that there are lots of feature requests here.. but - my two cents - the main objective of HTPC is to give best TV / movie watching experience.
My suggestions for a killer-zoom, would be:
- Continous zooming
When I switch through all the zooming modes, I always the miss the mode I would love best. I even went to the menu to adjust pixel ratio to "force" it to allow some squeezing but reduce black bars at top/bottom.
So, why not bulding a continues zoom, where vertical and horizontal can be zoomed independantly. So the user could decided on its own which degree of squeezing he likes, .. how much he wants to be cut away right and left.. got the idea?
Ideally one could save the zooming to presets, that can later be recalled.
From memory I think I have seem this on XBMC (Xbox), and immiediatly loved this feature.
- Black bar detection
From my previous plasma I learned that it was able to detect black bars (top/bottom) and adjusted the screen so it fits the entire panel. It even detected the bars correctly when there was a small logo.
Together with the feature mentioned above this automatic zoom would be perfect.
Imagine you are watching a movie, then there is commercial, then news, then again a movie.. the picture will be automatically adapted. GREAT!
- Plasma protection
Some Plasma screen tend to burn in or at least to glow a while after having displayed static displays like OSD a lot. This also applies to the black bars at the top/bottom durring a movie.
Suggestion: Add a feature to periodically move the screen around. There could be a setting for movies where the "film strip" (=the area where the film is an the screen, not the black bars at top/bottom) is moved completly up (so the bar at the bottom is double) and then slowly moves it down (so top bar becomes double). If you do this 1pixel per minute, nobody will really notice.
You could also a add a mode for when OSD or main screen is displayed to move the graphical elements around along a circular path with radius of 10 ..20 pixel (e.g.) So even Plasma users can leave the OSD and main screen on the panel almost forever..
What do YOU think about these features? They would be really unique to a HTPC software and I have seen them nowhere else!
I see that there are lots of feature requests here.. but - my two cents - the main objective of HTPC is to give best TV / movie watching experience.
United Kingdom
