What's new in the v6.2 UI

[Opus4]

Since the beta v6.2 manual won't be out for quite some time, below are some of the new features in the v6.2 UI:

1. As detailed earlier, there is now support for themed graphics sets, with many of the default graphics updated.
   
   
2. A new search menu is available at: Schedule Recordings -> Search. This new search menu can be used to search for TV content (recorded or not), Videos (recordings and imported videos), Music, or Photos. The Search command jumps to this screen and all other TV/Video/Music search menus have been eliminated. (There was no photo search previously)
   
   The search is delayed until after input stops for a short period of time, so once you stop entering text, the search results will be updated shortly afterwards.
   
   This search screen also works with the hidden One Touch Numeric Text Input search. Turn on the hidden extras for the ability to quickly search using your number pad w/o having to press the same number repeatedly to choose the letter you want.
   
   Photo Search notes: select any photo to view it. Use Play to turn the photo viewer into a slideshow of just those pictures that were found. (In the future, there will be a button you can select to view a slideshow of all those pictures w/o having to also use Play.)
   
   
3. Detailed Setup -> Customize -> Channel Entry Options has options used when entering numbers to change channels: a) whether to autoaccept channel changes after a timeout period, and b) set the max number of channel digits to be automatic or a manual setting.
   
   
4. Mouse clicks in scroll bars now immediately jump to that part of the list, rather than simply perform a page up/down. You can click on a point in the scroll bar area, or click & drag.
   
   
5. The Online Videos system has been overhauled to get its layout from properties files, display a category selection bar above the search results, and cached the search results for 5 minutes so you can switch between various categories w/o having to redownload the list of videos you had just viewed.
   
   
6. Detailed Setup -> Video/Audio has an MPEG4 Playback option, where you can choose to use the SageTV Player or a DirectShow codec.
   
   
7. The Video Detail screen now displays extended info for imported videos, similar to the info that can be shown for a recording. (If that metadata is available.)
   
   
8. If the Pause command is repeatedly used during playback, the OSD won't be displayed if it is currently off.
   
   
9. When using Media Center -> Browse Media Files, the last-used paths are remembered & browsing will start with those paths during the next browse session.
   
   
10. Video & Music folder browsers: the Play command can now be used to play all files in the folder and its subfolders, or add them to a playlist. (Previously, it only acted on files in that folder and ignored the ones in subfolders.)
    
    
11. Music browser's Playlist view: Add a pseudo-playlist called "Play All Songs". You can randomly play all the songs in your collection, play all songs in order starting with the first song, or play all songs in order starting with a random album.

These are some of the updates to the UI for v6.2.5:

1. Search: Search results are kept visible while entering a search term & while updating the search results. Status messages are displayed on top of the existing results. For the Photo Search: Added button for slideshow of all photos that were found, if more than 1 photo was found.
   
   
2. Overhauled the SageTV Recordings, Search Results, Recording Schedule and other menus that display lists of airings or recordings. These menus now include an icon bar and a category bar where various viewing and filtering options can be selected. Menus listing existing recordings can be configured to display in thumbnail mode, using a 2 row x 3 col layout. The recording schedule can be viewed with the items grouped by day.
   
   
3. Removed colored outlines around airings and recordings; instead, marker icons are now used to indicate the same info. A Fav uses the faded F marker if not recorded or scheduled; currently recording uses REC icon, etc. Scheduled recordings are marked withan M, F or recording dot.
   
   
4. Updated Program Guide, Conflict details, and Recording Schedule to use new button highlight for grid style airing displays.
   
   
5. Added button to advanced pop-up options dialog for grouped videos to disable use of that dialog. It is turned on by re-enabling Advanced mode in the pop-up options dialog for individual videos.
   
   
6. Converted video & music browsers to use a category bar for selecting the view style, instead of the old scrolling bar.
   
   
7. You can now convert portions of videos when converting a group instead of only converting all of each video.
   
   
8. Added icon markers to the TV Show Editorials and TV Show Highlight screens. The icon markers indicate whether the show is recorded or in the schedule, along with other status markers. Also, the TV Show Highlight screen displays number of future airings.
   
   
9. Added "Advanced Options" button to imported media browser options menu, where the user can choose to configure the import dirs, rescan the dirs, or to allow imported video files to be deleted.
   
   
10. Converted Photo, Video, and Music browser thumbnail buttons to the new style.

And, I'm sure there were a couple other things changed here & there.

- Andy

[mattsm]

What about a simple screen shot?

[flavius]

While the changes don't appear to be too dramatic, screen shots that demonstrates the new capabilities would be nice.

[Opus4]

OK, I finally had time to do a few screen shots:

Search_All -- This is the new Search menu where you can search any media type by certain subcategories within the selected media type. This one happens to be searching all TV airings by all fields, and I waited until after the input timeout & the search results were updated before grabbing the screen.

MainMenu_and_Popup - This is just the Main Menu and the Options menu so you can see the current menu & popup styles. I can't even remember what v6.1 looked like, so I don't know what all has changed here. I think all graphics outside the menu header have changed.

Select_Theme - Here is the dialog in Detailed Setup -> Advanced where you can choose a theme. Note the new scroll bar style shown in the popup and in the background from the Advanced section. That's nice... I think the theme's preview needs to be updated already. Oh - sorry, but that fancy "Test" theme doesn't come with the installer.

- Andy

[Opus4]

And here are a few more screen shots:

YouTube_CategoryBar - This shows the new online video search results layout, displaying the video thumbnails and the category bar above the thumbs. I've selected the other categories one by one and then returned to the "Today" item, so for the next 5 minutes, I could switch to any of the categories w/o having to wait for the list to download again. Of course, you can't see anything on the screen to indicate that I've done that, so I might be lying.

Music_Play_All - Here is the dialog you will see if you select the new "Play All Songs" playlist. The default action is based on the current shuffle/repeat setting, and is indicated by the Play icon on one of the Play All items. If I had used the Play command while highlighting the playlist entry instead of selecting it, the item you see here would have been the action performed. You can also see that the Search view has been removed from the music browser and there is now a Search icon on the icon bar instead. I would use this option more, but Talking Heads followed by The Chipmunks is a little jarring. I get relaxed while listening to "I Zimbra" and then something with Alvin's squeaky voice comes on. But, you know what? Just hit Play while this playlist item is highlighted & it will start some other song... unless you have shuffle and repeat off, in which case it will always start with the first song.

Paused_No_OSD - Finally, several people have requested the ability to use Pause repeatedly during playback w/o seeing the OSD appear each time Pause was used. This image shows proof of this in action -- I hit Pause to start pausing, pressed Info to remove the OSD, then I repeatedly pressed Pause and no OSD re-appeared. This picture isn't really new, but I couldn't think of another one to grab.

Is there anything else on the list in the first post that cries out for a screen shot?

Some screens & graphics are still being worked on, so I'll try to post more pics as further betas are released w/changed screens.

- Andy

[kricker]

I noticed last night that the Guide hasn't been 'newified' yet. Do you plan to before release?

[Opus4]

I can't really say... any screen not changed yet could be modified, but that grid layout is pretty tight & would need special handling compared to the other new button styles.

- Andy

[Opus4]

The first post, above, now includes these changes for v6.2.5:

1. Search: Search results are kept visible while entering a search term & while updating the search results. Status messages are displayed on top of the existing results. For the Photo Search: Added button for slideshow of all photos that were found, if more than 1 photo was found.
   
   
2. Overhauled the SageTV Recordings, Search Results, Recording Schedule and other menus that display lists of airings or recordings. These menus now include an icon bar and a category bar where various viewing and filtering options can be selected. Menus listing existing recordings can be configured to display in thumbnail mode, using a 2 row x 3 col layout. The recording schedule can be viewed with the items grouped by day.
   
   
3. Removed colored outlines around airings and recordings; instead, marker icons are now used to indicate the same info. A Fav uses the faded F marker if not recorded or scheduled; currently recording uses REC icon, etc. Scheduled recordings are marked withan M, F or recording dot.
   
   
4. Updated Program Guide, Conflict details, and Recording Schedule to use new button highlight for grid style airing displays.
   
   
5. Added button to advanced pop-up options dialog for grouped videos to disable use of that dialog. It is turned on by re-enabling Advanced mode in the pop-up options dialog for individual videos.
   
   
6. Converted video & music browsers to use a category bar for selecting the view style, instead of the old scrolling bar.
   
   
7. You can now convert portions of videos when converting a group instead of only converting all of each video.
   
   
8. Added icon markers to the TV Show Editorials and TV Show Highlight screens. The icon markers indicate whether the show is recorded or in the schedule, along with other status markers. Also, the TV Show Highlight screen displays number of future airings.
   
   
9. Added "Advanced Options" button to imported media browser options menu, where the user can choose to configure the import dirs, rescan the dirs, or to allow imported video files to be deleted.
   
   
10. Converted Photo, Video, and Music browser thumbnail buttons to the new style.

I'll try to get some screen shots later tonight.

- Andy

[Opus4]

A few new screen shots for v6.2.5:

Rec_Rows - The updated SageTV Recordings menu using a single-column x 5 rows layout. The markers have been updated. The space to the right of the channel logo is used to indicate when an airing is currently recording or if that airing is not going to record due to a scheduling conflict, when appropriate.

Rec_Thumbs - View your SageTV Recordings list in a 2 row x 3 col thumbnailed layout. The markers are to the left & right of the thumb & the channel logo is in the top area. Grouped recordings scroll through the group's contents, updating the markers & logo as needed, and highlighting the current item in the top area's grouped list.

To the right of the recordings is the icon bar containing various options for this menu.

Above the recordings is a bar containing choices to view all recordings, non-archived recordings, archived recordings, or recorded movies. The bar also contains the MFO filter icons, which you can use to filter Manual Recordings, Favorites, or anything that isn't a Fav or MR.

The sorting, grouping, and filtering options are remembered separately for each of the All, Recordings, Archives, and Movies choices.


Rec_Shed_By_Day - The Recording Schedule is now consolidated into a single menu and now also includes an option to list the scheduled recordings by day. The menu also has the standard icon bar to the left & category bar above the list. Each of the category bar options for Interleaved, Group By Day, and Parallel store their filtering options separately, so each view can have its own listing style.

- Andy

[Opus4]

A few more new screen shots for v6.2.5:

Search_Results - Like the SageTV Recordings screen, the search results screen (shown here as Additional Airings for a series) has been updated with an icon bar to the left and a category bar above the airings list. On this screen, the category bar has options to not filter, filter to include, or filter out by Watched, Don't Like, First Run, HD, and Archived status, along with the regular MR/Fav/Other filter.

Browser_Thumb_and_Bar - The music and video browsers use the new standard category bar style for the viewing style options across the top. The thumbnail display style has also been updated.

Group_Turn_Off - When the options dialog for individual videos is in advanced mode, selecting a group of airings/recordings/videos results in a pop-up dialog for the group options. If you don't want to see the group options, but want advanced options for individual videos, you can now turn off just the group options dialog. To turn it on again, set the individual video options dialog to Basic & then back to Advanced.

- Andy

[thatdude90210]

The new recordings menu looks great. Plus I really like being able to easily jump between recordings and imported videos. Nice job!

[jpwegas]

Originally Posted by Opus4

Group_Turn_Off - When the options dialog for individual videos is in advanced mode, selecting a group of airings/recordings/videos results in a pop-up dialog for the group options. If you don't want to see the group options, but want advanced options for individual videos, you can now turn off just the group options dialog. To turn it on again, set the individual video options dialog to Basic & then back to Advanced.

Andy,
Does this apply just to the currently selected group, or to all groups?

The times I want to do anything to "all" is rare (well, actually, never so far), so if I can turn off that group menu that is great.

Thanks,

--John

[Opus4]

It applies to all grouped videos.

- Andy

[Opus4]

Screenshots for v6.2.6:

SageTVRecordings - The SageTV recordings menu has some updated marker icons and outlines for Favorites and Manual Recordings. In this version, Favs & MRs both have the same outline overlay image (they can be themed) and are more easily distinguishable by the red background recording type indicator.

A change that is not obvious in the screen shot is that the four built-in recording views (All, Recordings, Archives, and Movies) can be fully customized and renamed. If you wish to return to the default setup for a view, it can be reset in the Options dialog for this menu.

RecordingsFilter - As part of the ability to cusotmize all four recording views, there is a new Filter options dialog. As shown in the picture, you can choose to include/exclude Manual Recordings, Favorites, and Other types of recordings. You can also choose to filter out, filter in, or not filter according to the Archived First Run, HDTV, Watched, and Don't Like status of recordings. In addition, multiple categories can be filtered into or out of the list. (Caution: selecting MANY categories may slow down the menu if you have a lot of recordings.)

InstantSearch - A brand new feature is Instant Search, available on the navigation menus -- menus such as the Main Menu, which have navigation choices. Simply start entering text or numbers and a pop-up dialog will open where you can continue entering a search term. When done, you will jump to the Search menu, starting at the last-used search style. If you didn't mean to start a search, just choose cancel in the pop-up.

In Detailed Setup -> Customize -> Instant Search mode, you can choose to 1) open a dialog, as shown in the picture; 2) immediately jump to the Search menu when a character is entered instead of opening the dialog; or 3) disable Instant Search.

- Andy

[waynedunham]

Originally Posted by Opus4

[*]Overhauled the SageTV Recordings, Search Results, Recording Schedule and other menus that display lists of airings or recordings. These menus now include an icon bar and a category bar where various viewing and filtering options can be selected. Menus listing existing recordings can be configured to display in thumbnail mode, using a 2 row x 3 col layout. The recording schedule can be viewed with the items grouped by day.

Opus,
Any way to make this revert back to the old screens? Mainly in the recording schedule menu.

I use a combo of Fav's and IR basically as reminders of upcoming programs and then use the recording schedule to set them up as manual recordings.

I use the mouse sparingly and could really fly through the menus setting up recordings, padding, etc. Now every single screen forces me to do 2 left arrow keys to get back to the previous screen. That's a lot of extra keys when you're setting up 30-70 recordings in a week.
I noticed that the new menus don't show up on the MVP, it still uses the old style menus. Any way I can have the server default to using the old/mvp menus?

[Opus4]

Originally Posted by waynedunham

Any way to make this revert back to the old screens? Mainly in the recording schedule menu.

Not unless you use a pre-v6.2 STV, or a customized STV.

I use the mouse sparingly and could really fly through the menus setting up recordings, padding, etc. Now every single screen forces me to do 2 left arrow keys to get back to the previous screen.

BTW: Alt+Left/Right can be used for the Back/Forward commands, just like in IE.

I noticed that the new menus don't show up on the MVP, it still uses the old style menus. Any way I can have the server default to using the old/mvp menus?

That means your MVP is still using an old customized STV. The MVP's STV doesn't automatically revert to the new default STV when you install an upgrade.

- Andy

[waynedunham]

Ok thanks Andy. That answers some of my questions. I wasn't aware of the Alt left/right option. I'll have to give that a try.

I tried turning the animations option on, and as suspected I didn't care for it. I'm pretty impatient when it comes to, well most anything. "I said show me the recordings screen, not an "interminable" wait while you fade out/in!"

But then again that's just me. Of course that's what makes SageTv so great, is the configurability of it.

[Opus4]

Originally Posted by waynedunham

I tried turning the animations option on, and as suspected I didn't care for it. I'm pretty impatient when it comes to, well most anything. "I said show me the recordings screen, not an "interminable" wait while you fade out/in!"

That sounds like you didn't really turn on the new animation system. You have to set a proeprty for that yourself, currently. The menu fade in/out is an old animation that won't be active if the new system is active.

- Andy

[waynedunham]

Originally Posted by Opus4

That sounds like you didn't really turn on the new animation system. You have to set a proeprty for that yourself, currently. The menu fade in/out is an old animation that won't be active if the new system is active.

No, I did turn it on in the properties file. I just didn't realize that the menu fade was part of the old system since I had that shut off previously. I had the same qualms about the other new anims also. I want my HTPC lean and mean, but again as I said that's what's so great about Sage. It is very skinnable/configurable.

[teedublu]

Originally Posted by waynedunham:
Any way to make this revert back to the old screens? Mainly in the recording schedule menu.

Opus: Not unless you use a pre-v6.2 STV, or a customized STV.

Does this work? Can I use the 6.1 STV over the 6.2 STV?
Or will the next version (when?) allow these extra icons and filter buttons to be disabled like the malore customization allows.

If not, what happens when I revert back to 6.1 -- I assume I have to use the backed up 6.1 wiz.bin, so there will be a few days worth of recordings that won't be there, etc...

TW