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TVWatcher

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January 9, 2020
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We really miss the ability to skip a few seconds (both forwards and backwards) when watching recorded TV. I know we can click anywhere on the time line but, especially in long recordings, however close we click to the current position we end up too far back or too far forward.
Microsoft WMC had butons for this and JRiver MC allows you to skip forward or backwards with the mouse wheel which was really nice! The amount of the skip was configurable in settings but 10secs seems about right..
 

HTPCSourcer

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    Well, MP2 is designed as a HTPC software. A HTPC is normally controlled with a remote. Using a mouse implies that there is also a keyboard...
     

    TVWatcher

    Portal Pro
    January 9, 2020
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    Using a mouse implies that there is also a keyboard...
    Does it? Then why does an on-screen keyboard pop up when entering the date format string in Settings? Why can everything be done with a mouse (in the WMC skin at least) except scroll the TV Guide horizontally and skip while watching TV? Why do both of the other media centre application I've tried allow everything (well, apart from text entry) to be done with the mouse?
    Our HTPC is a laptop that sits in the corner of the living room connected to our hi-fi and projector. The only time we touch it is to turn it on. Everything else is done from the confort of our settee using a wireless mouse, using Window's on-screen keyboard for the limited amount of text entry we perform. Using the keyboard on the computer is impractical because of its inaccessible position and the fact that its screen has a habit of turning completely white.
    We can't use one of the other media centres referred to above - one of them was Microsoft's Media Center which no longer provides EPG information and the other doesn't run on our HTPC - we tried it on a different machine - and anyway we much prefer Media Portal to that one (apart from the mouse problems...).
     

    TVWatcher

    Portal Pro
    January 9, 2020
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    Can you please explain, in best case with screens shots, how it was done in WMC.
    I'll see then what I can do.
    Thanks. Unfortunately I can't give you any screenshots as we've disabled WMC to avoid any conflict with MP. What happened with the guide listing was that if you moved the mouse to the left or right side of the grid in which the programmes were displayed (i.e. not the list of channels) a chevron would appear and clicking on that would scroll the guide. I'm not particulary attached to this behaviour - the permanent display of left and right arrows anywhere in the guide window (maybe above the guide listings?) would be at least as good, and I suspect a lot easier to program.
    As for skipping during TV playback, as well as the double left and right triangles at the bottom of the display (the right one of which doubled the speed of playback, the left of which seems to do nothing) there were left and right single triangles that did the skipping. In JRiver Media Center you could skip forward and backwards with the mouse wheel which was even more convenient; would this be easier to implement?
    [EDIT] Since posting this I see you've added buttons to the Guide. Great! Thanks!![/EDIT]
     
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    CyberSimian

    Test Group
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  • June 10, 2013
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    We can't use one of the other media centres referred to above - one of them was Microsoft's Media Center which no longer provides EPG information
    This might sound like a brush-off, but it is not intended to be. You should use the media-center application that best meets your particular preferences. If you are satisfied with WMC, why not continue using it? The absence of a Microsoft-provided EPG is not an excuse for ceasing use of WMC.

    WMC on Windows 7 can receive the UK broadcast EPG. This a 7-day EPG, so worse than the 14-day Microsoft EPG. On the other hand, the broadcast EPG is present for all channels, whereas the Microsoft EPG omitted some/many of the "lesser" channels (at least, it did when I used Vista WMC).

    What WMC on Windows 7 cannot do is receive the broadcast EPG for the HD channels. This is because the HD EPG is encoded in a way that WMC does not understand. So WMC can receive only the EPG for the SD channels. However, most of the HD channels are duplicates of SD channels, so you could use WMC's EPG mapping facility to map the EPG for the SD channel to its corresponding HD channel. For example, "BBC1 HD" would display the EPG for "BBC1 SD". So the EPG would be in error only for the regional programmes which are not broadcast on HD (but those programmes are few in number).

    An alternative would be to pay for a "Schedules Direct" subscription, and use the "EPG123" tool to load the downloaded EPG into WMC. (The "EPG123" tool is discussed extensively on the Green Button web site.) A "Schedules Direct" subscription is about £25 per year for the UK, and less than buying the cheapest weekly programme guide ("TV Choice" at 65 pence per issue). I have never used "Schedules Direct", but it is reputed to be of high quality.

    Finally, the discontinuation of support for Windows 7 is not an excuse for stopping use of Windows 7. My HTPC currently runs Windows 7 (with MP1), and I intend to continue to use Windows 7 for the indefinite future.

    -- from CyberSimian in the UK
     

    ge2301

    Lead Design MP2
  • Team MediaPortal
  • January 11, 2014
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    Thanks. Unfortunately I can't give you any screenshots as we've disabled WMC to avoid any conflict with MP. What happened with the guide listing was that if you moved the mouse to the left or right side of the grid in which the programmes were displayed (i.e. not the list of channels) a chevron would appear and clicking on that would scroll the guide. I'm not particulary attached to this behaviour - the permanent display of left and right arrows anywhere in the guide window (maybe above the guide listings?) would be at least as good, and I suspect a lot easier to program.
    As for skipping during TV playback, as well as the double left and right triangles at the bottom of the display (the right one of which doubled the speed of playback, the left of which seems to do nothing) there were left and right single triangles that did the skipping. In JRiver Media Center you could skip forward and backwards with the mouse wheel which was even more convenient; would this be easier to implement?
    [EDIT] Since posting this I see you've added buttons to the Guide. Great! Thanks!![/EDIT]
    I implement it as follows. The skip buttons will appear on right side and left side as overlay in video screen, when the mouse moves there.
    I implemented the base concept already and it works. I just need to set some more visibility conditions.
     

    TVWatcher

    Portal Pro
    January 9, 2020
    65
    5
    Home Country
    United Kingdom United Kingdom
    I implement it as follows. The skip buttons will appear on right side and left side as overlay in video screen, when the mouse moves there.
    I implemented the base concept already and it works. I just need to set some more visibility conditions.
    That sounds good. Thanks. Any idea when the next release will be available?
     

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