Hey Sub, thought I'd share some ideas for features and improvements I've accumulated over a few months. Right now GBPVR works great for me and I'm very impressed with how consistently (both in terms of quality and stylistically) you have implemented your vision for it. It's simple but to the point, looks great and just works.
But here's some ideas anyway
:
Features:
1) Auto detect cable box aspect ratio from special markers in the image.
I have a 4:3 screen but a cable box that can be set to output 16:9 when broadcast, and 4:3 otherwise. That way you get the best quality widescreen shows, but it means I'm always switching aspect ratios manually. There is a marker in the frame that signals which aspect is being sent. I don't know if this is UK/Europe specific, but Dscaler4 can detect this and automatically switches aspect ratios to suit.
It requires a small area of the decoded frame to be examined, I guess this could be done with a DShow filter? (I've dabbled in DShow briefly a while back for video->3D texture work).
Any chance you might look into this? I can get you specifics if you're interested, and obviously the DScaler4 code is available. The Dscaler guy(s) were planning to integrate the DScaler4 features into the DScaler5 DShow-based code (which at the moment is only an mpeg2 codec), but movement there seems very slow. You could argue this should be done in the decoder, but then if GBPVR did it it would work with all of them.
2) I'd also like to see on-screen volume displays. It's frustrating never knowing when max is reached (especially when like me you sometimes change the system volume accidentally when GPBVR doesn't have focus, and then wonder why you hit a volume ceiling inside GB).
3) ... and a clear indicator that the app is recording, visible on all screens. Just a little red circle (ideally flashing slowly) would be enough. You could also extend this to represent various states: a yellow circle could mean a recording is imminent (within say 5 minutes), green would be idle etc. When you're navigating this can be useful info, or serve as a warning that you should change channels on your box for the next recording (my PVR150 blaster doesn't support my box and I don't always have time to program it manually - it's godawful slow).
4) ... and following on, I'd like to see a dedicated line of text on the front screen that always shows the currently recording show (rather than cycling through future schedules), ie. something you can see in one glance. I realise this is probably just a skin issue but it would be handy in the default skin. In fact, maybe show the circle and just the name of the show being processed below it (small font) somewhere on all screens. It's just good to know what the machine is up to at any given moment.
5) when skipping during playback (mpeg2), the frames here don't update at all. I can hear snippets of sound, but the frame is stuck until I stop skipping. It would be great to see occasional updates.
6) option to hide the overlay (show details, progress bar etc) during pause, + the ability to single-step frames in pause mode. I often pause to examine something, but of course half the frame is obsured by the overlay.
Improvements:
1) The Manual Recording 'Stop' time entry would be better as 'duration in minutes'. If you're recording something that's many hours away, you have to scroll the start time a lot - and then the end time too, which takes twice as long. Setting eg. '30mins' from start instead is much faster. Of course you could still show the resulting end time too.
2) Show a recording's actual start time and duration, instead of (or in addition to) the times the show was listed as. If I record just a 10 minute subsection a show, or cancelled a recording early, that info is much more relevant to me than the scheduled times.
3) Avoid buffering remote buttons-repeats.
I've set my remote to button-repeat quite quickly which is great generally, except in places where the app can't keep up and then buffers a lot of repeats and then insists on carrying them out (slowly). For example when setting manual recording times, which frequently overshoot for me and I'm bouncing forwards and backwards. Perhaps the easiest solution is to ignore repeats specifically if they are already some buffered (that way you can still buffer other buttons).
4) One tiny but suprisingly irritating thing: can you change the remote button handling so that Play gets you out of Pause? Right now only Pause can cancel Pause, which intuitively doesn't work for me - I keep hitting Play and wondering why nothing happens. After all I want it to play again.
In fact, why not use Play to resume, and Pause to single-step?
5) Speaking of buttons, how about using Play to instantly play a recording from a list without having to go through any menus (resume etc)? Maybe use another button to instantly Resume (Stop? Pause?).
(Well, I remembered more than I thought I would...)
But here's some ideas anyway
:Features:
1) Auto detect cable box aspect ratio from special markers in the image.
I have a 4:3 screen but a cable box that can be set to output 16:9 when broadcast, and 4:3 otherwise. That way you get the best quality widescreen shows, but it means I'm always switching aspect ratios manually. There is a marker in the frame that signals which aspect is being sent. I don't know if this is UK/Europe specific, but Dscaler4 can detect this and automatically switches aspect ratios to suit.
It requires a small area of the decoded frame to be examined, I guess this could be done with a DShow filter? (I've dabbled in DShow briefly a while back for video->3D texture work).
Any chance you might look into this? I can get you specifics if you're interested, and obviously the DScaler4 code is available. The Dscaler guy(s) were planning to integrate the DScaler4 features into the DScaler5 DShow-based code (which at the moment is only an mpeg2 codec), but movement there seems very slow. You could argue this should be done in the decoder, but then if GBPVR did it it would work with all of them.
2) I'd also like to see on-screen volume displays. It's frustrating never knowing when max is reached (especially when like me you sometimes change the system volume accidentally when GPBVR doesn't have focus, and then wonder why you hit a volume ceiling inside GB).
3) ... and a clear indicator that the app is recording, visible on all screens. Just a little red circle (ideally flashing slowly) would be enough. You could also extend this to represent various states: a yellow circle could mean a recording is imminent (within say 5 minutes), green would be idle etc. When you're navigating this can be useful info, or serve as a warning that you should change channels on your box for the next recording (my PVR150 blaster doesn't support my box and I don't always have time to program it manually - it's godawful slow).
4) ... and following on, I'd like to see a dedicated line of text on the front screen that always shows the currently recording show (rather than cycling through future schedules), ie. something you can see in one glance. I realise this is probably just a skin issue but it would be handy in the default skin. In fact, maybe show the circle and just the name of the show being processed below it (small font) somewhere on all screens. It's just good to know what the machine is up to at any given moment.
5) when skipping during playback (mpeg2), the frames here don't update at all. I can hear snippets of sound, but the frame is stuck until I stop skipping. It would be great to see occasional updates.
6) option to hide the overlay (show details, progress bar etc) during pause, + the ability to single-step frames in pause mode. I often pause to examine something, but of course half the frame is obsured by the overlay.
Improvements:
1) The Manual Recording 'Stop' time entry would be better as 'duration in minutes'. If you're recording something that's many hours away, you have to scroll the start time a lot - and then the end time too, which takes twice as long. Setting eg. '30mins' from start instead is much faster. Of course you could still show the resulting end time too.
2) Show a recording's actual start time and duration, instead of (or in addition to) the times the show was listed as. If I record just a 10 minute subsection a show, or cancelled a recording early, that info is much more relevant to me than the scheduled times.
3) Avoid buffering remote buttons-repeats.
I've set my remote to button-repeat quite quickly which is great generally, except in places where the app can't keep up and then buffers a lot of repeats and then insists on carrying them out (slowly). For example when setting manual recording times, which frequently overshoot for me and I'm bouncing forwards and backwards. Perhaps the easiest solution is to ignore repeats specifically if they are already some buffered (that way you can still buffer other buttons).
4) One tiny but suprisingly irritating thing: can you change the remote button handling so that Play gets you out of Pause? Right now only Pause can cancel Pause, which intuitively doesn't work for me - I keep hitting Play and wondering why nothing happens. After all I want it to play again
.In fact, why not use Play to resume, and Pause to single-step?
5) Speaking of buttons, how about using Play to instantly play a recording from a list without having to go through any menus (resume etc)? Maybe use another button to instantly Resume (Stop? Pause?).
(Well, I remembered more than I thought I would...)
