Recordings screen a disaster of clutter

[perf]

The changes being made to the recordings screen are a disaster, creating a nasty clutter. It is even worse in 6.2.6.

I have fifty items in my recordings list, most items being groups of recordings. I have no use at all for all the various filtering options. I never had a problem finding my recordings.

The column of icons to left are completely unnecessary - I have no use for any of them. The options for the screen should be (consistently for the application) in the options screen.

The row of icons/text/letters above the list is also completely unnecessary. Why would anyone want to filter out only favourite recordings, or only manual recordings?

Now in 6.2.6 clutter has increased by introducing white boxes around all recordings, and by making some text semi-transparent.

Features similar to these are valuable in the media library. To be able to handle thousands of music tracks, these things are important. But the TV recordings are a different thing.

All of these changes seem to be change for the sake of change. They move the application to a geek-only audience and makes it ugly.

I want the original screen back. This "Advanced recordings search" screen could be optional for people who like to tinker.

/Per

(6.2.6 did bring back the frames around recordings in the EPG - thanks for that.)

[samgreco]

Originally Posted by perf

I want the original screen back. This "Advanced recordings search" screen could be optional for people who like to tinker.

I soooo agree. As does the wife.

[jlabrue]

You know, I was a little this way at first but it has grown on me more and more.. I REALLY like the new icon use now so when I look in the list it shows a recording icon for something recording and has a icon for something that is sheduled to be recorded. I also like the use of borders and collors on the shows in the guide. It is a little diffrent but I like it now. I would be ok with a toggle for that if that satisfied everyone.

[spacecadet]

Originally Posted by samgreco

I soooo agree. As does the wife.

My wife and I third this motion. I have no use for the extra icons and they make it harder for me to interpret the screen.

I find it hard to read the titles of the recordings amongst the clutter. I am glad for the return of the white boxes around each item because at least it makes it easier to distinguish one item from the next.

I dislike the icons on the left because I find it makes the screen hard to navigate with a remote. And I rarely, if ever, use these.

[perf]

Originally Posted by jlabrue

You know, I was a little this way at first but it has grown on me more and more.. I REALLY like the new icon use now so when I look in the list it shows a recording icon for something recording and has a icon for something that is sheduled to be recorded. I also like the use of borders and collors on the shows in the guide. It is a little diffrent but I like it now. I would be ok with a toggle for that if that satisfied everyone.

Are you really commenting on the Recordings screen? Can you see anything that is scheduled to be recorded there?

/Per

[SprDtyF350]

Originally Posted by spacecadet

My wife and I third this motion. I have no use for the extra icons and they make it harder for me to interpret the screen.

I find it hard to read the titles of the recordings amongst the clutter. I am glad for the return of the white boxes around each item because at least it makes it easier to distinguish one item from the next.

I dislike the icons on the left because I find it makes the screen hard to navigate with a remote. And I rarely, if ever, use these.

I agree also.. Way too much clutter. I use the "Hidden Extras" and switch mine to the the old "mlbdude" style. Much better. For those that don't know what the hidden extras are. Go to Setup, Help, then System Information. Enter 5309. You should get a light bluish dot appear in the upper left. Go back to detailed setup, customize, and at the bottom of the list will be more options.

[jlabrue]

Originally Posted by perf

Are you really commenting on the Recordings screen? Can you see anything that is scheduled to be recorded there?

/Per

Other than this little blurb "has a icon for something that is sheduled to be recorded." that I probably should have spelled out as being in the guide then yes, in the Recording screen. Of course scheduled recording don't show up there, I assumed that would be obvious. That plus this blurb "I also like the use of borders and colors on the shows in the guide." were meant to comment on some of the GUI changes in general since there are so many.

I was just throwing in my $.02 on the cluttered Recording menu and should have kept my comments strictly to that subject. I kind of like the changes and wanted to give my opinion on the matter. I can truly understand if others prefer the older menu look.

[sainswor99]

I like the new menus, but I think they are a bit busy. I wouldn't call it a disaster; I just think it needs more polish.

What I think works well:

* I like the customizable filters for each view. I can now show series in one view, sporting events in another, movies in a third, and everything in one final spot.

* I like the quick jump icons on the side.

* I like the simplified Sort Order options menu.


What I think doesn't work as well:

* The manual, favorite, or other quick button. As others have said in other threads, once it's recorded, it's recorded; I don't really care whether or not it was originally a manual recording or a favorite (At least not enough to have a separate button for it). To be honest, I'm not exactly sure what's included in the Other category; Intelligent Recordings and what else?

* Group sorting is still a bit funky. I wish you could sort the listing of recorded shows by title, but the shows within a group should be sorted by some other feature.

* The side bar icons don't stay in the same place, or even the same order when moving from the main recording views to a listing of shows within a group. For example, on the main recording menu, the "Jump to Imported Videos" is on the top; if you click on a group of shows, the "Jump" button moves to the bottom. I also don't really like the screen jump when you move from the main menu to a grouped view; the mid-screen bar just disappears, and the listings and side buttons move up to compensate. I'd prefer to have things stay more uniform, and just color them out.

* Although I like having the customizable separation of recordings, I wish could alter the number of categories. Instead of having four, why can't I just have three?

My .02

Stu

[sainswor99]

I just switched back to the standard theme (I had been experimenting with a new one), and now noticed the white bar around the favorites. I'm not a fan of it, either; I think it breaks up the flow, and when you click on a group of favorites, it's a bit overwhelming.

I do like the new color for the icons, however.

Stu

[pjaffray]

This may belong in a different thread, but I second the idea of applying a different sort to items within a group on the Recordings screen. Specifically, I have my recordings grouped by show title, however within a group I would like to sort by original air date. That way if an episode of a show gets missed when it first airs and then gets picked up later as a rerun, it will appear in the list in the original sequence it aired.

I tend to record many many episodes before my wife and I sit down to watch them. It makes cliff hangers less painful, but the "previouslys" a bit annoying.

[koelec]

Originally Posted by perf

The changes being made to the recordings screen are a disaster, creating a nasty clutter. It is even worse in 6.2.6.

I have fifty items in my recordings list, most items being groups of recordings. I have no use at all for all the various filtering options. I never had a problem finding my recordings.

The column of icons to left are completely unnecessary - I have no use for any of them. The options for the screen should be (consistently for the application) in the options screen.

The row of icons/text/letters above the list is also completely unnecessary. Why would anyone want to filter out only favourite recordings, or only manual recordings?

Now in 6.2.6 clutter has increased by introducing white boxes around all recordings, and by making some text semi-transparent.

Features similar to these are valuable in the media library. To be able to handle thousands of music tracks, these things are important. But the TV recordings are a different thing.

All of these changes seem to be change for the sake of change. They move the application to a geek-only audience and makes it ugly.

I want the original screen back. This "Advanced recordings search" screen could be optional for people who like to tinker.

/Per

(6.2.6 did bring back the frames around recordings in the EPG - thanks for that.)

I totally agree with you.
Hopefully they will reconsider. Otherwise I'm gonna modify the STV myself.

[tfurlong]

My wife's response to the new recordings UI what "what did you do?". So, I am in agreement with the folks above. Also, I like the return of the white outline on the favorites.

[jlindborg]

My opinion, for what it's worth.

At first I thought it was pretty busy, too, but I've been forcing myself to use the icons on the left with the remote and now I kinda like the speed of being able to flip around between recordings and imported media - we watched ripped videos a lot, especially during the summer and jump back and forth between these modes quite a bit. I'm not sure I understand the gripe about the icons on the left getting in the way of your remote navigateion - why? were you going to the left before when there was nothing there? I find the complaint odd...

It would be nice if the order of the icons were consistent - things move around and it can throw you.

I can see folks wanting to hide this bar to reduce the busy-factor, but I find the model has grown on me at least.

I also like the filter options myself - I also don't see a big need to filter the manual vs. favs vs. other stuff, but maybe someone does - you've burned the row up there for the feature anyway, it's not hurting anything leaving those options there. Again, though, I can see the clutter factor annoying folks - my wife does not care for this.

I like the white boxes.

I like the new info icons (manual, fav, first recording etc...) in this last beta.

As for sorting - perhaps a basic "cascade sort" option would work - sort first by X then by Y then by Z. For instance you can sort first by show name, then by recording date then by episode number or whatever. Not sure which properties can be sorted against but things like episode number, episode title, first airing date, recording date etc... would all be super-cool items. Seems like the "intelligent" option is just a hard coded version of one such sorting scheme. Just a thought.

[Fluffdaddy]

Originally Posted by jlindborg

My opinion, for what it's worth.

At first I thought it was pretty busy, too, but I've been forcing myself to use the icons on the left with the remote and now I kinda like the speed of being able to flip around between recordings and imported media -

Yeah, what he said

[spacecadet]

Originally Posted by jlindborg

At first I thought it was pretty busy, too, but I've been forcing myself to use the icons on the left with the remote and now I kinda like the speed of being able to flip around between recordings and imported media - we watched ripped videos a lot, especially during the summer and jump back and forth between these modes quite a bit. I'm not sure I understand the gripe about the icons on the left getting in the way of your remote navigateion - why? were you going to the left before when there was nothing there? I find the complaint odd...

In terms of the Remote Navigation, I was going to the left to exit the screen. Now when I go left to exit the screen, it takes an extra click.

I personally don't use the "Sage Recordings -> Imported Videos" icon as I have both "Sage Recordings" and "Imported Videos" mapped to hard buttons on the remote. When I want to jump between them, I use the remote buttons. I realize that probably everyone is not configured this way, but that is how I have chosen to set up my remote (since these are the two screens I use most often).

[snipeman]

I like all the new changes - I hope they won't be removed in the final release. I know people get used to something working one way; when it changes it might take some adjustment. I'd just say give it a shot for a while and see what happens.

I used Sage on several systems and sometimes find myself with a mouse but not a keyboard etc. I find some of the new buttons very helpful for the lazy in these situations.

Hey, we're playing with beta versions. If you were really worried about WAF, you should probably stick with release versions.

[perf]

If I waited for the release version, it would be too late to complain