[Android MiniClient] Now in BETA

[KryptoNyte]

Steve, I had it happen once or twice where I would get audio on these HDPVR files (*.ts extension) but just a black screen (no video), but after fooling with the decoder and the surfaces in the settings, it started working (and worked quite well).

I was even considering asking if the user could preconfigure the client to use a particular encoder depending on filename extension (or more complicated, the video encoding attributes) - just not sure if that's possible without a complete restart of the UI.

[stuckless]

Originally Posted by KryptoNyte

Steve, I had it happen once or twice where I would get audio on these HDPVR files (*.ts extension) but just a black screen (no video), but after fooling with the decoder and the surfaces in the settings, it started working (and worked quite well).

I was even considering asking if the user could preconfigure the client to use a particular encoder depending on filename extension (or more complicated, the video encoding attributes) - just not sure if that's possible without a complete restart of the UI.

In Beta-7 I added the ability to change players without exiting the UI. I added that because I got tired to exiting the UI to reconfigure the player

I like the idea of dynamically choosing a player based on media configuration... but, I don't always know the media configuration at the time I play it. (There server knows it, I just know it in the client). Once ExoPlayer gets MPEGPS support, it'll start handling more media types as well... and the MPEGPS stuff is being worked on, but it'll take some time.

[tvmaster2]

Originally Posted by stuckless

In Beta-7 I added the ability to change players without exiting the UI. I added that because I got tired to exiting the UI to reconfigure the player

I like the idea of dynamically choosing a player based on media configuration... but, I don't always know the media configuration at the time I play it. (There server knows it, I just know it in the client). Once ExoPlayer gets MPEGPS support, it'll start handling more media types as well... and the MPEGPS stuff is being worked on, but it'll take some time.

I realize this is nitpicking, so ignore it and laugh. But....when using the mostly fabulous app, one thing is tough: on a smaller screen, say my Samsung Galaxy S5, some of the control buttons sit right on the edge of overscan, as they do on the large-scale TV version. But on the small screen, it can be difficult to manipulate them, especially if you use a phone case that has an overhang around the edge.
Question: will there one day be a version that's graphically designed for a smaller screen, maybe bigger buttons, or a different layout?
As I said, nitpicking of what is otherwise really great

[stuckless]

Originally Posted by tvmaster2

I realize this is nitpicking, so ignore it and laugh. But....when using the mostly fabulous app, one thing is tough: on a smaller screen, say my Samsung Galaxy S5, some of the control buttons sit right on the edge of overscan, as they do on the large-scale TV version. But on the small screen, it can be difficult to manipulate them, especially if you use a phone case that has an overhang around the edge.
Question: will there one day be a version that's graphically designed for a smaller screen, maybe bigger buttons, or a different layout?
As I said, nitpicking of what is otherwise really great

By the "buttons" do you mean the buttons that I've added in my, ie, the L shaped onscreen navigation, or do you mean the actual sagetv UI?

If it's the L shaped navigation, then yeah, I can certainly add options to change the size and offset of those.

If it's the main sagetv UI, then that has nothing to do with this app (or me), but I'm hopeful that someone will eventually make a sagetv UI (STV) that is mobile and touch friendly.

BTW... I don't use cases on any of my devices... I find them clumsy... So I haven't encountered this myself

[tvmaster2]

Originally Posted by stuckless

By the "buttons" do you mean the buttons that I've added in my, ie, the L shaped onscreen navigation, or do you mean the actual sagetv UI?

If it's the L shaped navigation, then yeah, I can certainly add options to change the size and offset of those.

If it's the main sagetv UI, then that has nothing to do with this app (or me), but I'm hopeful that someone will eventually make a sagetv UI (STV) that is mobile and touch friendly.

BTW... I don't use cases on any of my devices... I find them clumsy... So I haven't encountered this myself

I was talking about the UI Sage buttons. Your L shaped are fun, but I'm still getting used to them, so I fall back on the standard ones at times. I tend to drop phones too much, hence the case

[gexi]

Wow, it just keeps getting better! Tonight I am going to box up my HD200s, I think it is finally time to retire them

I had one small feature request, I have tried to add this to the codebase myself but have been unsuccessful in figuring out how to do it. Would it be possible to add a preference for when choosing to exit sage quits the app instead of returning to the server select screen? Its not a problem for me but my wife just can't seem to get that final click on the remote to completely exit the app after exiting sage.

[troycheek]

Originally Posted by stuckless

I don't know what version the Kindle Fire HD 7 uses, but this app has a minimum requirement of Android 4.1

Let's see. System Version 7.5.1_whatever. Google google google. "Based on Android OS 4.0.3, API Level 15." Oh, well.

[stuckless]

Originally Posted by troycheek

Let's see. System Version 7.5.1_whatever. Google google google. "Based on Android OS 4.0.3, API Level 15." Oh, well.

I'll have to see why I updated the version to 4.1... I do recall doing this during one of the beta because I needed to use an API... I'll see what that API is. Normally I try to keep the API level as low as I can... but at the same time, I don't want to create a bunch of extra work by not using an API.

[stuckless]

Originally Posted by gexi

Wow, it just keeps getting better! Tonight I am going to box up my HD200s, I think it is finally time to retire them

I had one small feature request, I have tried to add this to the codebase myself but have been unsuccessful in figuring out how to do it. Would it be possible to add a preference for when choosing to exit sage quits the app instead of returning to the server select screen? Its not a problem for me but my wife just can't seem to get that final click on the remote to completely exit the app after exiting sage.

Open a ticket on the github site, and I'll look into it. This isn't as easy as it sounds, but I think we can do something.

[tvmaster2]

Originally Posted by gexi

Wow, it just keeps getting better! Tonight I am going to box up my HD200s, I think it is finally time to retire them

I had one small feature request, I have tried to add this to the codebase myself but have been unsuccessful in figuring out how to do it. Would it be possible to add a preference for when choosing to exit sage quits the app instead of returning to the server select screen? Its not a problem for me but my wife just can't seem to get that final click on the remote to completely exit the app after exiting sage.

what are you using as a substitute to the HD200's?

[tmiranda]

Originally Posted by stuckless

Open a ticket on the github site, and I'll look into it. This isn't as easy as it sounds, but I think we can do something.

Let me know if it requires an STV change.

[Fuzzy]

Originally Posted by tmiranda

Let me know if it requires an STV change.

Shouldn't - the STV already triggers the exit command - just needs to change how it's handled in the app itself.

[Gustovier]

Team,

So Comcast in my area has converted a lot of cable channels to h.264. I use a silicondust prime cable card tuner that basically sends over what it gets from the cable provider. I'm still using sageDCT to capture the cable card feed. Recordings are coming into sage as .TS container with h.264 encoded video. Exoplayer does not seem to like this at all and it will not play video coming from these h.264 channels.

Now if I go to a channel that has not yet been converted to h.264 and still uses mpeg2 (the container is still TS) then Exo player still doesn't work :-)

If I go to a premium channel (HBO) which will then use my colossus capture card then again Exo player still doesn't work. Ijkplayer did work, but I think I uncovered some other issue. If I played one channel using ijk player sometimes I can not go to another channel unless I fully quit the client and start again.

So basically it seems for any sort of live tv source exoplayer isn't working to well for me. If I start up the client fresh sometimes I can get exoplayer to show video but I get no sound. And ijk player doesn't work all times either if I switch channels (requiring me to exit sage completely)

I'm really wondering if sageDCT might have something to do with it.

[gexi]

Originally Posted by tvmaster2

what are you using as a substitute to the HD200's?

I have the mini client installed on a FireTV which also has all of the other video apps we use. Finally everything is available in one box without having to switch TV inputs.

[gexi]

Originally Posted by stuckless

Open a ticket on the github site, and I'll look into it. This isn't as easy as it sounds, but I think we can do something.

Will do, I was hoping to add it myself but it definitely was not as easy as it sounded.

[samgreco]

Originally Posted by gexi

I have the mini client installed on a FireTV which also has all of the other video apps we use. Finally everything is available in one box without having to switch TV inputs.

I just finally tried the MiniClient on my FireTV and the interface seems slow and a bit jumpy. And seems as though the video isn't keeping up either. I get pixelation and such. I was just about to jump on a research and see that you are happy with it. I wonder what I am doing wrong.

To be fair, it seems that the interface on my HD200 and PC client are both sluggish as well. A bit different, but slow.

I am using Gemstone on an OLD install. I've been using Sage since 2004 with the same Wiz.bin and properties file on it's 3rd server. Maybe it's just time to clean things up. Although that doesn't explain the video playback stuff I'm seeing.

[troycheek]

Originally Posted by stuckless

I'll have to see why I updated the version to 4.1...

Please don't go into any great effort. I didn't realize how many new versions of the Kindle or Android OS had come out since I bought this thing. No wonder half the apps I've tried lately didn't work. I may just root this thing and install a recent Android OS. That was actually the plan from the beginning, but I got addicted to Prime free videos there for a while (until Comcast started enforcing the data caps).

[stuckless]

Originally Posted by Fuzzy

Shouldn't - the STV already triggers the exit command - just needs to change how it's handled in the app itself.

Keep in mind, triggering the "exit" command to the client just means the sagetv closes the connection. I have no idea "why" a connection is closed. It could be a network blip, it could be sagetv has killed me because I'm taking to too long, it could be the user clicked Exit

As I said, it's doable, but it's not entirely simple. You also have to understand how Android manages Activities, etc. ie, I can't call System.exit() because I want to close it down. So there are ways to manage this, but, it's not a trivial task.

Originally Posted by samgreco

I just finally tried the MiniClient on my FireTV and the interface seems slow and a bit jumpy. And seems as though the video isn't keeping up either. I get pixelation and such. I was just about to jump on a research and see that you are happy with it. I wonder what I am doing wrong.

To be fair, it seems that the interface on my HD200 and PC client are both sluggish as well. A bit different, but slow.

I am using Gemstone on an OLD install. I've been using Sage since 2004 with the same Wiz.bin and properties file on it's 3rd server. Maybe it's just time to clean things up. Although that doesn't explain the video playback stuff I'm seeing.

Are you running the BETA-8 version? The User Interface in BETA-8 should be on par with the HD200 and HD300. (your description of the UI sounds like an older release) Are you wired, or wifi? If you are on WIFI comparing this to your HD200 connected over ethernet, there are going to be differences. Depending on your WIFI strength and type, MiniClient connected over wifi will not be as responsive as an HD200 over ethernet.

The Video problems sounds like you are using mpeg2 recordings. The default player doesn't have hardware decoding for MPEG2, so the pixelation is likely the fact that it's using the software decoder to play it. You can try switching to the ExoPlayer (you can do this in BETA8 without leaving the UI, just bring up the on screen nav, and select the video camera with horz arrows icon, and then select ExoPlayer.

Also, one last thing about the UI. In beta 8 you should make sure that "Surfaces" is enabled in the preferences. But also, keep in mind that until the client gets and caches all the bitmaps, the first few mintutes may seem sluggish because we are requesting and caching bitmaps from the server (this is true for any HD200, HD300, etc). But after that, it should be fine. I run Gemstone on my FireTV and Shield TV... both are wired (like the HD300), and I can't see a difference in performance of the UI.

[stuckless]

Originally Posted by gexi

Will do, I was hoping to add it myself but it definitely was not as easy as it sounded.

Actually the more I think about this... There is a "trivial" way to do this. When you start an Activity in Android, you can give it a set of flags. One of the flags is to clear the history stack, so the new Activity is the ONLY activity in the stack. When that activity ends, since there isn't anything in the stack (it was cleared), it would just exit to the Android TV launcher. You can selectively do this, by using a preference (as you suggested).

[Fuzzy]

Originally Posted by stuckless

Keep in mind, triggering the "exit" command to the client just means the sagetv closes the connection. I have no idea "why" a connection is closed. It could be a network blip, it could be sagetv has killed me because I'm taking to too long, it could be the user clicked Exit

As I said, it's doable, but it's not entirely simple. You also have to understand how Android manages Activities, etc. ie, I can't call System.exit() because I want to close it down. So there are ways to manage this, but, it's not a trivial task.

Interestingly, I think the HD-300 actually goes into standby when the exit command is used, but I don't think it does when the network connection is pulled - Guess I'd have to check on that to make sure.