[mythtv-users] Merge of OSD and Main themes causes WAF to Plummet

[Raymond Wagner]

On 2/27/2011 17:32, Manuel McLure wrote:
> On Sun, Feb 27, 2011 at 2:23 AM, Justin Hornsby
> <justin0hornsby at gmail.com>  wrote:
>> What I can't help wondering in all this is that the OSD designed to
>> complement a UI theme would use an identical style to the same sort of
>> area in the UI - e.g. the description area of the OSD would be similar
>> to the description area in 'watch recordings'.  That's what I call
>> consistency.
> The problem as I see it is that there appears to be a philosophy of
> "make the theme consistent" even though in many cases consistency
> negatively affects usability. The main theme of MythTV (where the
> theme occupies the whole screen) and the OSD theme (where the OSD
> overlays the video) are different use cases. In the case of the main
> theme, eye candy does not affect usability a lot, so the theme
> designer can go hog-wild. In the case of an OSD theme, eye candy is
> much more of a negative.  I want my OSD to be as unobtrusive and
> simple as possible (hence my use of BlackCurve) while I prefer my main
> theme to be a lot flashier.
>
> I'm sometimes reminded of the saying "a foolish consistency is the
> hobgoblin of little minds." Consistency is good, but just as important
> is recognizing that sometimes consistency is not required and is in
> fact counterproductive.

You're all still missing the same key point.  There is no longer an 
independent OSD engine.  Objects that were formerly OSD elements can now 
appear while in the menus.  Menu widgets can pop up during playback.  
The fact that these elements can be intermixed is why the windows must 
appear consistent throughout the entire theme.  This is not a foolish 
consistency.  This is a necessity due to a shift in the UI design, and 
you will find the same behavior in most other media player and HTPC 
softwares.