This one is for those with large TV Show libraries. It adds a Grid View option to the TV Show browser, it also adds a Grid view of Episodes for the Season browser as well. Sliding Menus are available now on TV Shows and Seasons. You can set the preference weather Grid View is used for TV Shows by default in the Preferences.
https://github.com/NineWorlds/serenity-android/wiki/Downloads#144-m1-available
Please provide feed back and bug reports. As a lot of things changed underneath to make this work.
Hi,
First feedback.
- I like the look.
- However from my point of view we have to improve browsing:
- When we select a show, it put the focus on displyed épisodes -> I would prefer to receive the focus on show poster and have the possibility to browse back (to the left) going directly on last season, because it is most used one. Last season is most of the time the one we watch.
Hi,
First feedback.
- I like the look.
- However from my point of view we have to improve browsing:
- When we select a show, it put the focus on displyed épisodes -> I would prefer to receive the focus on show poster and have the possibility to browse back (to the left) going directly on last season, because it is most used one. Last season is most of the time the one we watch.
Yeah, I plan a 1.4.4-M2 that will add a bit more to the navigation and improve the initial focus on the TV Show Season now that there is an extra set of focusable items on it.
Fixed a couple of issues so will have a 1.4.4-M2 sometime tomorrow.
* Fixed overscan issue on OUYA
* Fixed focus issue on Seasons browser
I too have now tested v1.4.4-M1, and have some issues to report.
Fixed a couple of issues so will have a 1.4.4-M2 sometime tomorrow.
Good, but please consider the additional issues I'm reporting on here for a possible -M3 release later.
* Fixed overscan issue on OUYA
I've been meaning to bring this up since the previous release, but didn't get around to it.
Having a mandatory overscan fix as now makes for a very ugly picture on properly working TV sets (those which do not mask ANY overscan area, but display all the 1280x720 pixels of 720p or all the 1920x1080 pixels of 1080p).
It's an unfortunate fact that many manufacturers skimp on implementing the entire LED/LCD array required, falling back on displaying only part of the theoretical picture area, similar to how it was always done back in the bad old days when CRT screens were the norm, and their 'bulging bottles' made precise pixel dimensioned screen areas impossible, so that all TV transmissions had to use an ample overscan border to avoid display of static noise on screen. Current manufacturer skimping, as well as the need for some CRT compatibility, makes it necessary to allow for some 'overscan' in modern software too, by allowing for unused borders in the full 720p or 1080p areas.
But some modern manufacturers do live up to their claimed specs and deliver full visibility of both 720p and 1080p screens, and on these TV sets mandatory overscan fixes look quite silly, with their unneeded border usage. And that's why all overscan borders in modern software should be optional or even configurable as to their size, like it's done in XBMC for example (where I use zero size for all overscan borders). But for Serenity I think a simple On/Off option would suffice.
* Fixed focus issue on Seasons browser
Good. This is one of the things I was going to include in my report too.
----- New issue with the new Show Poster grid list view -----
When browsing this list there is no indication of the title of the currently selected show, like there would be for similar browsing of a 'Movie Poster grid list'. This is a needed addition, as some show posters may not have a clearly readable title, or a distinct recognizable logo. The case is even worse for a separate show section I have for shows that are NOT scannable by the Plex media agents. Some of these have no distinct posters, so they're all displayed using the default poster image...
Apart from this lack of titles I'm very pleased with this new mode for TV shows.
----- New issue with Show Season list view -----
I find it a bit odd that the list intended for selection of a show season displays more episode thumbnails (8 fully displayed) than it does season posters (5 fully displayed). So if there are more than 4 seasons (plus the 'All Episodes' entry), I may have to sidescroll even though there is room on the screen to display all of them (if not for those episode thumbnails).
I understand that it may be convenient to access show episodes directly from this screen, so I'm not dead set against it, but it makes the show episode list view (as reached by clicking a season poster) seem a bit lame, in that it only displays 3 episode thumbnails per screen (fully).
And for shows with a lot of seasons it really would be much better to have them displayed in a grid, just like the main lists of shows and movies. That would allow for much faster selection of a mid-list season.
----- Issue with Music library sections on the OUYA -----
The only thing that works for music library sections at present on the OUYA is to have their section names displayed in the main menu of Serenity. Clicking any of those names leads to an immediate crash out of Serenity to the main OUYA menu. And this happens identically regardless of how the option for music library grid view is set or cleared.
Note that this appears to be OUYA specific, as playing music works fine with this Serenity version on my "Xios DS Media Play" and on my DMTech tablet, using identical settings. (But both of those are too sluggish to use as my main media player, unlike the OUYA.)
Best regards: dlanor
Thanks for the feed back. I address most of the issues with a m2 release. For the overscan issue I’ll create a preference that can be enabled. Ideally the ouya addresses this like Google tv devices and has it built into the system. Currently overscan correction only happens on ouya devices. Thanks for the feedback.
I've been meaning to bring this up since the previous release, but didn't get around to it.
Having a mandatory overscan fix as now makes for a very ugly picture on properly working TV sets (those which do not mask ANY overscan area, but display all the 1280x720 pixels of 720p or all the 1920x1080 pixels of 1080p).
It's an unfortunate fact that many manufacturers skimp on implementing the entire LED/LCD array required, falling back on displaying only part of the theoretical picture area, similar to how it was always done back in the bad old days when CRT screens were the norm, and their 'bulging bottles' made precise pixel dimensioned screen areas impossible, so that all TV transmissions had to use an ample overscan border to avoid display of static noise on screen. Current manufacturer skimping, as well as the need for some CRT compatibility, makes it necessary to allow for some 'overscan' in modern software too, by allowing for unused borders in the full 720p or 1080p areas.
But some modern manufacturers do live up to their claimed specs and deliver full visibility of both 720p and 1080p screens, and on these TV sets mandatory overscan fixes look quite silly, with their unneeded border usage. And that's why all overscan borders in modern software should be optional or even configurable as to their size, like it's done in XBMC for example (where I use zero size for all overscan borders). But for Serenity I think a simple On/Off option would suffice.
This is being tracked as the following issue:
https://github.com/NineWorlds/serenity-android/issues/149
----- New issue with the new Show Poster grid list view -----
When browsing this list there is no indication of the title of the currently selected show, like there would be for similar browsing of a 'Movie Poster grid list'. This is a needed addition, as some show posters may not have a clearly readable title, or a distinct recognizable logo. The case is even worse for a separate show section I have for shows that are NOT scannable by the Plex media agents. Some of these have no distinct posters, so they're all displayed using the default poster image...
Apart from this lack of titles I'm very pleased with this new mode for TV shows.
Tracking as issue: https://github.com/NineWorlds/serenity-android/issues/150
----- New issue with Show Season list view -----
I find it a bit odd that the list intended for selection of a show season displays more episode thumbnails (8 fully displayed) than it does season posters (5 fully displayed). So if there are more than 4 seasons (plus the 'All Episodes' entry), I may have to sidescroll even though there is room on the screen to display all of them (if not for those episode thumbnails).
I understand that it may be convenient to access show episodes directly from this screen, so I'm not dead set against it, but it makes the show episode list view (as reached by clicking a season poster) seem a bit lame, in that it only displays 3 episode thumbnails per screen (fully).
And for shows with a lot of seasons it really would be much better to have them displayed in a grid, just like the main lists of shows and movies. That would allow for much faster selection of a mid-list season.
Tracking as Issue: https://github.com/NineWorlds/serenity-android/issues/151
The Season gallery is a center locked view, so there will always have to be a bit of scrolling. What series is giving you problems? Most series here in the US tend to only have 5 to 7 seasons at the most. There is the rare beast like ER, Simpsons, and Cheers where they exceed that amount, but that is the exception and not the norm. The reason to have the grid view at the top is so that I can easily implement another requested feature, which is to Add All to the Video Queue when a season is selected or when the pseudo, All Episodes, is selected.
The clicking of the Seasons, takes to the Detail screen for the individual episodes. If people just want to quickly play an episode or add individual episodes to the Video queue they can do so through the top grid view on the display without having to go into the Detail view to do so.
----- Issue with Music library sections on the OUYA -----
The only thing that works for music library sections at present on the OUYA is to have their section names displayed in the main menu of Serenity. Clicking any of those names leads to an immediate crash out of Serenity to the main OUYA menu. And this happens identically regardless of how the option for music library grid view is set or cleared.
Note that this appears to be OUYA specific, as playing music works fine with this Serenity version on my "Xios DS Media Play" and on my DMTech tablet, using identical settings. (But both of those are too sluggish to use as my main media player, unlike the OUYA.)
Best regards: dlanor
I haven't done much testing with the Music library on OUYA, mainly because I personally never use the Music section in Plex. This is why the section is still disabled by default in the Preferences. Tracking the issue as: https://github.com/NineWorlds/serenity-android/issues/152
The ouya for music library will probably be planned for 1.5.x.
dlanor, most of the issues you have raised are addressed in 1.4.4-M2. Will be available for testing later today.
re: Overscan borders and Titles for TV Shows' grid list
This is being tracked as the following issue:
https://github.com/NineWorlds/serenity-android/issues/149
Tracking as issue: https://github.com/NineWorlds/serenity-android/issues/150
Those changes seem perfect to me.
re: Few simultaneously visible season posters in their list
Tracking as Issue: https://github.com/NineWorlds/serenity-android/issues/151
That change too is a satisfactory solution.
Like I said earlier, I'm not dead set against having an episode list mixed into the season list, as long as it doesn't defeat the main functionality of that list. With the old ratio of 8 episode thumbnails VS 5 season posters I felt that it did. But with a few more season posters added I withdraw that objection.
The Season gallery is a center locked view, so there will always have to be a bit of scrolling. What series is giving you problems? Most series here in the US tend to only have 5 to 7 seasons at the most. There is the rare beast like ER, Simpsons, and Cheers where they exceed that amount, but that is the exception and not the norm.
I'm well aware of this, but I have number of such exceptions in my library, including all three you mentioned and several others. And the really long-running shows are the ones that demand more sessions to 'digest', meaning that the number of 'list browsing occasions' is vastly greater for these shows than for the more short-lived ones. So they deserve more consideration, in proportion to their 'size'.
The reason to have the grid view at the top is so that I can easily implement another requested feature, which is to Add All to the Video Queue when a season is selected or when the pseudo, All Episodes, is selected.
The clicking of the Seasons, takes to the Detail screen for the individual episodes. If people just want to quickly play an episode or add individual episodes to the Video queue they can do so through the top grid view on the display without having to go into the Detail view to do so.
I agree with all of this, and even in my first post on this I commented on how it would be a convenient access method. I just wanted to decrease its conflict with the convenience of season access for long-running shows.
re: Music library problems on OUYA (only)
I haven't done much testing with the Music library on OUYA, mainly because I personally never use the Music section in Plex. This is why the section is still disabled by default in the Preferences. Tracking the issue as: https://github.com/NineWorlds/serenity-android/issues/152
If you never use the music section then you've done a surprisingly good job of preparing for it, as it works perfectly on 2 out of 3 Android units where I've installed Serenity. It's only on the OUYA that it fails.
I'm mystified by this, as there is no such effect on the other Android units, and on the OUYA no other Plex client has any similar problem (XBMC+PlexBMC, Pre-Kepler 'Plex for Android', Kepler 'Plex for PlexPass').
The ouya for music library will probably be planned for 1.5.x.
Good, but it's not a critical issue for me, as I already have many other ways of playing my music.
Let me know if you want any development tests done on my OUYA to solve this.
Best regards: dlanor
@dlanor and @moscard here is 1.4.4-M2. It should address most of the issues raised. I've decreased the size of the Season posters, and decreased the spacing between the posters in the Season view. In effect this should give the same number of Posters that you would see in a Movie detail view. Which is 8 - 10 depending on the resolution the view is rendered.
https://github.com/NineWorlds/serenity-android/wiki/Downloads#144-m2-available
Here are the complete changes in this version.
- Add All episodes in a season or a series through Seasons view to Video Queue
- Add TV Show Title to TV Show Grid view browser
- Increase number of viewable seasons on Season view.
- Add Overscan preference setting. Enable if screen elements are being cutoff due to TV overscan.
- Enable context menu keys and remote buttons on Seasons view.
- Improved focus when entering Seasons view for the first time.
If everything works well. This will probably be the 1.4.4 release version for later in the weekend. If you find major bugs please let me know or anything that is a show stopper.
Nice,
- Poster and pictures are displayed a lot faster – nice
- The browsing bug entering in season – fixed.
- At season level – still not possible to browse left (1st to last season) that should be nice
- Overscan – works fine, (no needed for me)
- A new bug appears: everywhere but at season level. When we press the dpad up or down the focus, get lost. Then no way to retrieve the focus and no way to browse anymore. We have to press exit (ESC) button and return back
Ok I’ll see if it can track down the focus bug.
I've just downloaded 1.4.4-M2 and will be testing it some this evening. I'll be back with my feedback on it later tonight, or possibly tomorrow. (Swedish time.)
Edit:
About that new focus bug, this reminds me of a similar problem several versions ago, when using DPad_Up + DPad_Left in sequence could lock the focus in an off-screen menu. So back then the focus wasn't completely lost (those menu commands still worked), but locked in a menu not made visible, causing it to 'seem' lost. This new bug could be something similar to that.
Best regards: dlanor
Hi,
I discoverd something strange because I suposed that ther video position was reminded by the server.
In fact if I start a video from one device (TV) and go on another device (tablet) it restart at the beginning. Stragely, if I retur to the TV it restarts on last TV position and not the last one (tablet.
In clear it acts like the last position is reminded on the device and not on Plex server. Is that correct ?
It depends on the player you are using and how you have mx player settings configured on both devices. Internal player will always use the servers recorded position.
It depends on the player you are using and how you have mx player settings configured on both devices. Internal player will always use the servers recorded position.
The setting are both the same -> Mx player & Force MX to start at the plex position.
Some more info : If I start it on another client (Samsung TV) it starts at the right position. So, the position is well stored on PLex server, but perhaps not correctly interpreted by MX player.
The Player is MX Player Pro
As promised I'm now reporting on my initial tests with Serenity 1.4.4-M2.
Most things work very well for me in this version, including menu focus in DPad operation.
Unlike what Moscard reported I've been unable to reproduce his problems on any of my devices.
Attempts to move focus below the bottom objects on a screen simply have no result, with focus remaining on an object in the bottom row.
Attempts to move focus above the top objects on a screen simply moves the focus to the foldout menu items at the top left, from where I can then again move the focus back to the list objects with DPad_Down.
In short: I see no trace of the focus problem that Moscard reported.
I'm not saying he's necessarily wrong, but only that this issue doesn't affect my devices.
(It could also be that it affects other ViewModes than icon grid, which I use everywhere.)
The only remaining problems I see are:
Attempts to browse a Music-type library section still crashes Serenity on my OUYA, but not on the other devices.
(Expected to remain so since it wasn't a planned fix for this beta.)
On the other devices browsing music with icon grid suffers from lack of displayed artist names and album titles.
Updates of the 'Watched' status don't always 'bite' properly, making manual 'toggle' necessary.
I appears as if a video may sometimes be considered only partially played at exit from MX Player, even after playing to the very end.
And even when the status does 'bite' after playback, it isn't reflected in the on-screen thumbnail until browsing back and forth.
That's except for manual toggling, which is directly reflected unless the original state is 'partially watched', in which case it takes two 'toggles' to fix the state as fully watched. (Apparently the first toggle makes it fully unwatched.)
----- Suggested Improvement (unrelated to the above) -----
When a playable object is in focus (whether thumbnail or text list entry) the context menu should have a command entry for opening the details page for that object, whether it's a movie or a show episode.
Best regards: dlanor
Yes the partially watched toggle is a Plex issue. Basically the api considers something watched even if it is in progress because it has been viewed. Toggling the watch status basically resets the view count on the server back to 0 or 1.
I’ve found one situation that can cause focus to be lost with the menu so will try and address that before release.
Not true. If the server gets a timeline API at 90%+ it considers the item watched, not before.
Elan thanks I'll check my code to see. I may be missing an indicator.
Update: I sent an email with the behavior I'm seeing, so I may be using a couple of APIs the way you aren't expecting them to be used. If so, let me know and I'll look into updating the code if I have too.
