Disable auto-preview/playback??

[Opus4]

The first new feature I would like to immediately disable is the auto-play of live TV when viewing the guide and the list of recordings. It also starts playing whatever recording I happen to click on when viewing that list. Is there some way to have this OFF & _only_ start a preview if a show is actually selected for playing?

Simply clicking on a show in the guide or on a recording in order to see the show's description starts playback of live TV or the recording, respectively. Do that to several recordings & then next time you want to actually watch any of those shows, they could be marked as being some time into the program.

- Andy

[dkardatzke]

This will be an option in a future release. For now just hit "Info" on the show to go right to the Program Information screen instead.

[Opus4]

Well, since there is no Xcard OSD yet (as I expected), I might as well look at something as a benefit... the preview plays full screen on the TV when I'm still looking at the recording list, so there is almost no reason to ever go to the playback display. Only 2 things are missing on the listings screen -- volume control & feedback to say how far into the show I am.

As a completely unrelated aside... I noticed I just hit 100 posts and am now a "Sage Aficionado" instead of a "Sage Expert". That makes me wonder: at what point do you become a "Sage Sage" ??

- Andy

[trevorst]

problem with having to hit info is that you need to use keyboard for this. I have a gyration mouse that I use to control my setup and clicking on a show starts the playback in the preview window. It would be nice to be able to set a single click to just go to the program and require a double click to start playback.

[Opus4]

Yes, but the first comment in the release notes states the need to "Create Mouse Friendly skin with Icons". So, I expect more mousiness to arrive later -- there aren't context menus available when you right-click on an item yet either. I suppose the interface could skip having pop-up context menus, but they just seem too useful.

That said... I agree that there should be some other way to get the preview to begin playing other than to left click once on a title. I think my preference would be to have icons on the screen somewhere to do such things as: view info, start preview, play, etc. Single left-click would simply highlight the title; double left-click/return/remote's play key would begin full playback immediately (not preview). Right-click would bring pop-up menu to manage that recording. Upon first entering the TV guide or recorded program list screens, no preview would automatically begin.

- Andy

[White94Cobra]

Perhaps an option to either show a still from the first frame of the video or show a video preview.

[Opus4]

Originally posted by White94Cobra
Perhaps an option to either show a still from the first frame of the video...

I don't know about that one. I can just see myself scrolling through the list of recordings, viewing one frame of a commercial each time I select a show...

BTW -- has anybody else noticed you can simply hit "pause" on your remote so the preview stops? That's halfway there.

(Yes, I really do like the idea of having the preview available... I'm simply looking forward to that feature's operation being tweaked.)

- Andy

[Opus4]

Hurray! I can turn off the preview in beta 12!

So... I was testing out the new "Show Preview Window" setting of "Never"... as I mentioned elsewhere, a preview can still be turned on through the Options command when viewing a recording listing screen even though it is set to never be turned on. (Unless I'm missing the meaning of "never" in this case.) I bugged this, but I guess I'll hear if I'm simply misunderstanding this.

However, I did find one screen where the preview on/off switch seems to have been missed. Go to: Media Library -> Archived Shows Recorded with SageTV. The preview is always turned on there & the Options command does not turn it off. I'll file a bug report when I can access the bug reporting page, but I thought I would also mention it here. (None of the freytechnologies web pages are loading at the moment, but the forum still works.)

- Andy

[falchulk]

What I would like is an option for the recordings preview to show a paused window of where playback stopped automatically. Of course with the option to hit play to start the preview. That would allow me to see what half watched show I wanted without having the prview fully enabled.

[ErsatzTom]

opus4: I think that the behavior of the interface is consistent with the notes about the interface changes but it doesn't seem ideal. I can't remember if it was in the forum post or the release notes but he said that hitting the option key/button would change the setting in setup. I guess that wouldn't be terrible for the screens where there are only two options but I REALLY think that under Sage Recordings the setup setting should control whether or not the 3 preview formats are in the rotation. Even on the screens where there are only two options, I think it would be better if you were just temporarily overriding the setup setting.

t

[ErsatzTom]

falchulk: I like that.

t