Xcard plugin (alpha 0.0.8 - Jan 16)

[ErsatzTom]

Originally Posted by jptaz

I took a look at the XCard log after I added the missing drive and it is actually using the Server path ( G:\<Video Name> ). So when using this on a client I need to have g: as mapped drive.

You shouldn't NEED to have that mounted. For instance, I usually have S: mounted on all my machines as the drive with my recordings but I unmapped it on my dev box and then loaded up a live show. Here is the relevent section of the log file:

10:57:13 - <XCARDAPI>: load maj=1 min=31 hint='Hauppauge WinTV PVR PCI II Capture #2 DVD Standard Play' file='S:\TV\PaidProgramming-1631828-0.mpg' host='192.168.1.12'
10:57:13 - <openFile>: Setting shared async file hostname to '192.168.1.12'

As you can see, the recording is on S: which is no longer mapped on my dev box but the video played fine. Were there any other errors in your log file?

t

[DFA]

Tom:

OK. Working now.

I had cut and pasted the params from your first post into the Sage.Properties file and then edited the arguements. As stated in the previous post, Sage added the back slashes of its own volition.

The problem it seems was I did not quite run the highlighting all the way across when I cut and pasted the path params for "media_player_plugin_class" and "osd_rendering_plugin_class" (too late at nite and bleary eyed). My bad. I did drop the comments as well.

Thanks again for your hard work. It looks like there was much more to it than originally advertised.

DFA

[ErsatzTom]

Great! I'm glad you got it working!

t

[jptaz]

Originally Posted by ErsatzTom

You shouldn't NEED to have that mounted. For instance, I usually have S: mounted on all my machines as the drive with my recordings but I unmapped it on my dev box and then loaded up a live show. Here is the relevent section of the log file:

10:57:13 - <XCARDAPI>: load maj=1 min=31 hint='Hauppauge WinTV PVR PCI II Capture #2 DVD Standard Play' file='S:\TV\PaidProgramming-1631828-0.mpg' host='192.168.1.12'
10:57:13 - <openFile>: Setting shared async file hostname to '192.168.1.12'

As you can see, the recording is on S: which is no longer mapped on my dev box but the video played fine. Were there any other errors in your log file?

t

I am not having the issue with the .5 update. The .4 issue happened when I hit stop so maybe I was having one of the race conditions.

John

[ErsatzTom]

Probably. Everything else working okay now?

t

[jptaz]

Yeah no more problems so far.

I don't have any of my drives mapped and it is playing live tv.

John

[ErsatzTom]

Excellent! BTW, there will probably be yet another update soon. The current version has one mother of a memory leak. I've got that fixed I think but I want to do a little more testing before I release it.

t

[RobDMB]

I'm extremely interested in this plugin I'm thinking about purchasing an xcard now. I'm just curious since it has to dither down to 256 colors for the OSD how does the OSD display look. Does it look noticeably worse than the full color OSD display or does it still look pretty good?

[justme]

I'm extremely interested in this plugin I'm thinking about purchasing an xcard now. I'm just curious since it has to dither down to 256 colors for the OSD how does the OSD display look. Does it look noticeably worse than the full color OSD display or does it still look pretty good?

I too am considering an Xcard now, as it seems like it may be the way to go to avoid the last few quirks of my 350. Besides I can leave the 350 where it is and use the Xcard with my new SageTVclient, or viceversa.

Anyway, do any of you guys own a digital camera that you could snap a few comparison shots? Maybe even showing a 350's output in comparison if you have one, as well as an Xcard. I'd ideally like to see a few shots with a non default STV. ie mlbdude's SageMC or Cayars. I'm actually currently using Opus4's STV but the 2 above would give a good general idea of how it handles different color themed STV's UIs.

Great work. Maybe I'll be joining your little group soon.

[Stuntman]

If Frey was smart (not saying they are not!!!), they could now bundle an X-Card with the SageClient!

Mine is working great now, and I've not noticed any color issues when used with Cayars 16

[mikejaner]

I'm extremely interested in this plugin I'm thinking about purchasing an xcard now. I'm just curious since it has to dither down to 256 colors for the OSD how does the OSD display look. Does it look noticeably worse than the full color OSD display or does it still look pretty good?

It looks really good. There are no parts of the OSD conversion to 256 colors that make me cringe. Since Sage uses a pretty easy pallette it doesn't look different.
Mike

[justme]

Originally Posted by Stuntman

If Frey was smart (not saying they are not!!!), they could now bundle an X-Card with the SageClient!

Oh no, not right after I just purchased a client license(right before Xmas). Seriously I'm not sure Frey should get any deeper into the hardware area than needed. Still it would have been a package I would've considered, now that this plugin is out.

Stuntman and mikejaner,
Thanks for the feedback on the appearance of the UIs. I'm especially glad to have heard from someone who has a 350 to compare to. I guess I'll start keeping my eyes open for a decent deal on an Xcard.

[Opus4]

Originally Posted by justme

I guess I'll start keeping my eyes open for a decent deal on an Xcard.

I got mine a long time ago at Provantage; they have been reliable for me & have a decent price too.

- Andy

[DFA]

As most people predicted, 256 color is adequate. I really can't notice the loss in color depth. I have not looked at it very long though. As said, Sage color scheme is simple to begin with.

DFA

[ErsatzTom]

If you look carefully, you can definitely see banding. I've implemented dithering to improve the situation but you can only get so good when you have reduced the number of colors. What would really help is an STV that didn't use as many colors. Especially gradients. I'm thinking, though, that I can get the dithering a little better. Right now I'm using Floyd-Steinberg on a serpentine path. There is a lot of literature suggesting that using space-filling curves, such as Hilber'ts, can decrease the visual artifacts. ImageMagick uses such an algorithm.

t

[RobDMB]

Before I take the plunge and order this card is it correct that the xcard will allow me to play back avi and mpeg files back through sagetv which I cannot do with my pvr 350. Also is anyone using an xcard with this plugin that has also used a pvr 350 with the OSD? Does the xcard seem more stable? Lastly does the xcard experience any audio synch issues or does it seem pretty solid. I'm having a terrible time with the audio going out of synch with my pvr 350. Thanks I know its alot of questions but I appreciate the help.

[ErsatzTom]

I'll defer the subjective questions to other users but I'll answer about functionality. Currently, only MPEG files are supported. Supporting other file formats is possible and very high on my list of priorities. However, if this is important to you, I would hold off until it is implemented. I'm not entirely sure at this point which file formats are really supported as I have only used mpegs generated by my 250s.

If you want to know if your files are compatilble with the Xcard, however, you can make one available to me via ftp (or whatever) and I'll run it through the Xcard's supplied AVI Check program which checks compatibility.

t

[kevthor]

Since Mpegs are support, or MP3 files supported?

[jptaz]

Kevthor,

I did a test and it would appear that MP3 files are not currently supported. The Xcard does support them so it looks like tom just needs to figure out why they fail.

Tom,

I have attached the trace files that were generated. My SageTVClient Crashed when trying to play them.

John

[RobDMB]

Well I took the plunge and ordered an xcard. I'm looking forward to testing this plugin as it progresses. The pvr 350 may have had a real nice UI but it was just too unstable. I'll gladly deal with a 256 color UI for some stability.