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Sweden
J
joostzilla
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- #63
but keep you eyes on this thread for new mockups
As a quick note, those look really nice but please keep in mind that MP is a HTPC application and small font sizes are quite unusable. At least many of the screen shots have already too small fonts, almost as small as the 10 pixel Windows default font. This is definitely a usability killer. Please take it into consideration that the smallest font size would be much bigger (as the skin itself doesn't seem to have any big usability issues, graphics are nice on the contrast etc.)
2nd issue that popped up is that mini EPG shows only three channels, it will cause lot of scrolling when user tries to look for the specific channel. It would be good if that could be extended to 6 or even 7 rows.
Thanks for your remarks.
All screenshots you see here are actually build and tested on a 32 inch LCD screen from a distance of approx. 3 mtr. I have not experienced any readability problems sofar. And...because the background is blue it will provide enough (but not to much like on black) contrast.
But we will offcourse take your concern into account.
The mini epg is deliberately designed to be scrolled. Otherwise it will block most of the currently watched programme. If you want more channels at once you could better use the tv guide. With this miniguide you can scroll and watch the programme at the same time.
Even the current default MP skin is having too small fonts in few places with 32" and 3,5 meters distance (and the screen shots show much smaller font sizes in few places
). People need to remember that not all people are equal when it comes to eye sight. Also limiting the font sizes to only a few different sizes is going to boost the usability as you don't have to switch between different font sizes (it takes always a little effort from eyes & brain when hopping between different text sizes and in the long run it causes some stress / burden).
Please keep in mint that usability should come first and then the appearance when we are talking about HTPC application environment.
Using full EPG is really cumbersome (first, the button might not even be available on all remotes) compared to the mini EPG (same key is used to open the EPG and to select the channel). So, at least it would be good idea to provide an user selectable mini EPG layout, if it is not suitable to use 5, 6, or 7 row layout as the default.
Going thru a long channel list with 3 rows visible is time consuming (just going thru 21 channels are requiring 6 key presses to get to the last page.)
J
joostzilla
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- #67
That a great idea! Thanks!
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- #68
A small tip for those WITH an EPG button, is to set up a condition in the remote mapping to show epg when watching fullscreen tv, and show fullscreen tv when viewing the epg. This way you can toggle between tv and epg. I have done a similar mapping to another button to switch between fullscreen tv and recorded tv. I got tired of the back, select, click, enter, back, back etc.
I rarely use the miniguide myself, either it is the epg or my favorite 9 channels mapped to the numeric buttons.
I rarely use the miniguide myself, either it is the epg or my favorite 9 channels mapped to the numeric buttons.
J
joostzilla
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- Thread starter
- #69
Even the current default MP skin is having too small fonts in few places with 32" and 3,5 meters distance (and the screen shots show much smaller font sizes in few places
Also limiting the font sizes to only a few different sizes is going to boost the usability as you don't have to switch between different font sizes (it takes always a little effort from eyes & brain when hopping between different text sizes and in the long run it causes some stress / burden).
Please keep in mint that usability should come first and then the appearance when we are talking about HTPC application environment.
I started this skin with usability in mind. Thats why there is less info per window so that you can focus on whats important to control your system. And bigger fonts not always mean better readibilty. We try to prioritize through graphics and fonts. Smaller fontsizes in our skin almost always mean less important items.
But... we will secondguess our current status and perform the neccesary adjustments.
Thanks for your professional comments.
A small tip for those WITH an EPG button, is to set up a condition in the remote mapping to show epg when watching fullscreen tv, and show fullscreen tv when viewing the epg. This way you can toggle between tv and epg. I have done a similar mapping to another button to switch between fullscreen tv and recorded tv. I got tired of the back, select, click, enter, back, back etc.
I rarely use the miniguide myself, either it is the epg or my favorite 9 channels mapped to the numeric buttons.
I use a Harmony One to control MP. So that means that all controls are hardbutton and on the touchscreen. I find it the most ideal remote control for MP sofar. And... the epg button toggles fullscreen/epg out of the box
True, it is always a good way to prioritize the content with different font size, but it is not a good thing when the font size falls too small (and the reading the text needs to be done twice when you cannot be 100% sure what you are reading / seeing).
So, the idea is really good, but it shouldn't cause any side effects (as it's main idea is to improve the usability). I think the only way to judge such will be to use some of those screen shots on a real TV and then check if the text is readable (without any effort or feeling like you are doing a eye sight test at the doctor's office).
I'll try to check if I have some free time to test those font sizes on the 32" tv (wouldn't be bad idea if other users could do the same as well).
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