2.0.14 Initial Impression

[mikejaner]

First of all. The video background is a nice touch. Also the OSD and TV Guide tweaks are nice, like opening the guide to the channel you are currently watching.

A couple of things I noticed right away.

First. The interface response on the 350 out is really sluggish now when in the guide and shows screen. It's as slow as the interface from .13 and lower when ther was no video being played.

After deleting a show, it does not disappear.

Sometimes after deleting a show, it still appears in the list, and I can't navigate out of the show to the left column, in column mode.

Oh yeah, no Tivo FF and REW yet ;-(

[mikejaner]

Nevermind about the 350 Guide and Recordings speed. It seems to speed up to the normal speed after a few minutes.

[Opus4]

I'm still waiting for my kids to stop watching TV, but I installed the client. It seems that not everything is available until the new server is installed, but I like the scrolling detailed info for the recordings now. It shows original airing date, but not every show has it. I'm not sure if that is because the EPG data isn't there, my server hasn't been updated yet, or if there is a problem. Just to pick one at random... Bewitched reruns, for example, used to show the original date in v1.4 (as far as I recall), but it isn't listed now. Anyone with an updated server able to look at the TVLand listings to see if your Bewitched info shows an original airing date?

- Andy

[pheitman]

It does not show original airing date for Bewitched on TVLand.

[White94Cobra]

I do like the transparent background video, but personally I would prefer it be limited to just the Sage Recordings and the LiveTV menus. Depending on the video playing, it can be difficult to see the text. Maybe an option on what screens to have it on? Or at least disable it on the main menu and the setup screens.

So far I really like this release - the text seems much cleaner, I can now use VMR (in prior releases I would get a blank background screen with no text after exiting a video). Thanks guys!

BTW - my main outstanding issues - - smooth variable-speed ff/rw, a delete button, and the ability to assign functions to the navigation buttons for use in video playback (left, right, up, down, etc).

[Opus4]

Originally posted by pheitman
It does not show original airing date for Bewitched on TVLand.

Thanks, at least I know it isn't just my current installation.

I wonder what those new "Custom1" -> "Custom5" commands do.

- Andy

Edit - The Multimedia -> Video Menu Setup options look nice.

[brad98]

i'm having the same problem with after deleting a show it not allowing me to navigate out of the list of episodes into the left column of show listings

[malore]

It's nice to see transparency working with overlay and not just VRM9. The preview window sounded like a nice idea, but I hated it. Full screen in the background is much better. I might actually use it.

It seems pretty easy to get stuck in the right column, it can also happen if you start a show and the press menu and go back to Sage Recordings. Sometimes scrolling down gets you out of this.

[davey_fl]

Is there a way to disable the transparancy over liveTv for the description, volume control, channel and show progress bar. I'm finding it very difficult to read them with the transparancy on. I wish it would only be partially transparent. I have tried VMR9 but with the ati cards there is a lot of tearing...

thx

[mwhitlock]

I am having that issue too. I am using VMR9 and with 3d Accel enabled, the translucent effects work, but the text is much smearier and there is a lot of tearing in the video. With 3d Accel disabled, the areas that are supposed to be translucent become totally clear, but there is no tearing whatsoever and the text on the menus is much crisper. I too have an ATI card. I guess it's an issue with the drivers, no? I haven't installed Catalyst 4.3 yet, but it's waiting on my desktop for a time when Sage isn't busy recording something.

I guess it isn't possible to do alpha blending over the VMR9 surface without having 3d Accel enabled?

Oh, and the menus in software rendering are much more sluggish now than they were in .13, though hardware accelerated menus seem as responsive as ever, though the text is still smudgier than in software rendering.

[mwhitlock]

Nevermind about the smeary text. I fixed that by tuning my Direct3D quality settings in the ATI Control Panel back to the defaults. Evidently you don't want hardware anti-aliasing or anisotropic filtering on.

[davey_fl]

Actually I'm not using VMR9 due to the tearing. I'm having problems using Overlay with 3D acceleration enabled. Like you say it's completely clear rather than some level of transparancy.

[fidget]

Originally posted by malore
It's nice to see transparency working with overlay and not just VRM9. The preview window sounded like a nice idea, but I hated it. Full screen in the background is much better. I might actually use it.

I actually liked the preview window. Unfortunately, it will be another hour before I have a chance to see how the new behavior works.

[brad98]

very sluggish indeed...

sage is locking up for minutes at a time when scrolling through "sage recordings"

methinks i should have not upgraded today

[fidget]

Originally posted by fidget
I actually liked the preview window. Unfortunately, it will be another hour before I have a chance to see how the new behavior works.

Now that I have finally been able to get Beta 14 installed, I like using the new overlay. It is nice that I can go into the detailed setup and toggle between the old and new behaviors. I have not had any sluggishness with the PVR-350 output, but I am using hardware decoding only.

The only issue that I have found with the UI is that the font used for the descriptions, etc., is a bit thin (only one pixel wide) and can be slightly hard to read.

I likey! Now I will have to make another demo VCD for my friends

[gplasky]

I'm impressed. I've upgraded both the server and the client. The video background is awesome. Hats off. I've switched between overlay and VMR9. Both are working better for me than .13. I understand with overlay that the menus would be completely clear. It's the same reason why you didn't get the translucent menus in overlay. It can't be done. If you want the translucent effect you have to use VMR9. Picture library is looking good. One thing I don't like though is I went and defined another import directory for my pictures. Unfortunately not only do you get your picture directories, you see your music directories too. We need to either somehow set them seperately or have the picture module filter the directories. Maybe somehow not to show directories that contain mp3s. Or instead of it being an import directory have it in options to explicitly define your picture directory and a music directory. Excellent job. Definitely worth waiting for.

Gerry

[falchulk]

AWESOME!!!!! There is that nav bug in certinn views but switching to the normal cat view fixes that. WE FINALLY HAVE WORKING PICTURE MODULE. The search in the music now works!!! I love the trasparent stuf with overlay. I thought I was happy with the interface at .13......this blows me away.

[spacegoat]

I am very impressed. The OSD looks great. I am happy to see that the conflict screen works properly and the recurring recordings seems to be working so far too.

Kudos!

[falchulk]

Oh, I forgot to mention that I realy ove the new manual conflict resoloution in recording information. I forgot how much I missed it.

[Opus4]

Is the "menu over the video background" supposed to look different when VMR9 is on? On my client, it looks the same as when I use overlay. Maybe it is just my video card?

I really like the toggle for the scheduled recording list, thougj I wish there was a way to toggle between them w/o it turning the video background on or off eventually. And, I like the video background much better than the preview window for some reason.

- Andy