GBPVR LCD Plugin for LCDSmartie

[pBS]

cool, i was putting off upgrading just cuz i was sure this wouldn't work...
tho now i may wait till the next maint. release which should be coming soon...
although things sound like they went very smoothly for so many changes...
still hard to believe he codes all this himself !!

excellent work btw on the smartie action..i use a 24x2 and really like the graph plugin with smartie..[little bar graphs for mem/cpu etc.] even histograms available now.. [as plugin for smartie]

[fooman1]

Good to know that it's working. If anyone has a problem with it, post here so that I can offer a .NET 2.0 compiled version.

[justinmiller]

Running 0.97.7 and SQLite and seems to be working including Live TV

edit: Live TV works as well

Are you saying you're getting the Live TV info (Show Name and Description)? I still don't see those. I have the latest versions of everything.....any thoughts?

[pBS]

ooo,really? live tv names? ?
curious about this as well, only thing it needs to be 'perfect'

[fooman1]

I just got around to installing GB-PVR 0.97 and I can also confirm there are no problems with the LCD plug-in. However, I don't think the Live TV program names will show unless sub has enabled the passing of this data. At least with my brief testing I have not yet had this information displayed.

[cameluk]

Are you saying you're getting the Live TV info (Show Name and Description)? I still don't see those. I have the latest versions of everything.....any thoughts?

No I get channel name and number, but no description, I never had it on the old version on GBPVR

[pBS]

ahh,that's what i thought...no biggie tho..just glad it works with .97.7
i'm almost to where i can retrieve this info by command-line..using the parallel processing.bat i can call another program to look up the currently recording's info as parallelprocessing.bat has current filename as parameter..
unfortunately i can't cross-reference it to the info until Mr Slimm gets his gbpvrcli.exe /contains switch working better in next release..
then i'll just feed that info directly into smartie for current show/channel info.

i'd rather it were done in the plugin, but may be a decent workaround for now..

[fooman1]

I've been thinking about making this plug-in require no dependencies on third-party programs like LCDSmartie. To this end, I have written some sample code to test for myself and it works.

The advantage of this approach is that the plug-in can instantly update and display information as it occurs, rather than the slight delay it has at the moment by going through LCDSmartie. This could allow display of information like the channel numbers you enter when you want to switch channels, a volume bar when you raise or lower the volume, and even a graphical equaliser on LCDs that support it.

Unfortunately, there is a disadvantage: not everyone will be able to use their LCD display unless it is individually supported. That means that the only display to be supported initially will be the iMON display because that is the one I have. However, I intend to make it simple for people to add support for their own displays by providing the code they will need to implement, which they will simply need to update for their LCDs API.

What do people think of this idea? Would you prefer the plug-in controlling the LCD directly or going through LCDSmartie?

What type of LCD do you have (model and website of manufacturer would be great)? How many lines and how many characters (eg mine is a 2 line by 16 character), or is yours a graphical display (if so, what width x height in pixels)?

Also, what type of information would you like to see displayed? List the screens (eg Music, TV, etc) and both the information you want to see on each screen (eg Song Title, Band, etc) and how you want it shown (eg Title scrolling on line 1, line 2 alternating between band, year, genre, time).

What about fixed indicators (eg recording, pause, play, etc) -- what would you like to see in that area and in what locations?

Any other comments you can think of would be great.


Actually, it might be possible to keep the network (and thus LCDSmartie) support even if I decide to go the native way. I wouldn't mind an indication of how many people use this plug-in over the network (GB-PVR on one machine, LCDSmartie & display on another) to aid in my decisions.


I might not reply for a few weeks because I am quite busy at the moment but hopefully by then I can give some more information.

[pBS]

i use a really cheapie HD44780 comaptible...it's hooked up thru parallel port so nothing but a plug is required extra...works excellently..
it has to be the cheapest solution going [i got mine $6. bucks US] and uses same logic chip as the serial ones...tho serial is more popular i believe..
just remember to make it an option for the parallel ones too
[only real difference should be the port sent to]
i'd say the most popular would be the matrix orbital serial type..
tho iMon and a few others that come in popular cases should also be looked at...seems the HD44780 is the standard for the chips tho..

i'd love to see the volume, a 'play' triangle etc. supported...and yea,numbers as you hit them would be nice too...[as they're missing onscreen] i use a cpu and mem bar graph too...[smartie plugins]
hoping you keep the smartie option tho for it's wide hardware support also..and the plugins..but a 'native' app would be great with speed and new abilities..
the built in parameters are pretty much what i'd choose already except for those mentioned earlier and live tv info for current program..
but i hope you keep some sort of adjustability there..like an .ini or sorts to config from to make customization easy..

oh,and mine's a 2x24 display...seems the 2x16 are most prevelant..

and maybe something to display pending recordings when gbpvr is off would be nice too...

i was thinking about getting one of those spinning 3-d led displays...
saw one that used same chip so easily programmed and visible from 360 degrees ...set it on top of the tv..

can't wait to see what you've got...volume would be too cool !

[b00sfuk]

fooman1, good idea, I also have the 2x16 Imon display. Currently I'm using LCDSmartie and the SlimmBGPVRCLI utility (http://forums.nextpvr.com/showthread.php?t=13660). The key feature this gives me that I could not get with the plugin, was that I could display the "next recording" details (name,day,time)on the display while the PC was in standby. It can also display what is currently recording and when it will end. While I also use other LCDSmartie functions like time/date/diskspace etc. it would be nice to have other GBPVR info such as current channel/video/MP3 and maybe, as Imon provide with their software, confirmation of remote button presses.