[mythtv-users] Slightly OT: MythTV as Senior Project?

[Brad Templeton]

On Fri, Mar 04, 2005 at 10:39:09AM -0500, Joseph A. Caputo wrote:
> On Friday 04 March 2005 0:11, Brad Templeton wrote:
> > If you don't already, get one of the super cheap lite-on or acer
> > IR keyboards.  Under 30 bucks and work great, I am typing on one
> > at my tv set right now.
> 
> (a) All of Myth core feature should be easy to operate with only a 
> remote.  It's kind of a design principle.

Excepting, of course, the search facilities which use a keyboard, and
even playing video, which has too many different possible keys for most
remotes, especially if people are to remember them.

I understand the desire to allow operation from a remote.  I think
that myth (unlike say Tivo which only has a remote) should take advantage
of the fact that you can expect users to have, if not a keyboard by
the TV, at least mythweb elsewhere.    I feel a good approach would be
to decide what types of UI make sense when seated at the TV, and what
types should be left to the browser, which is really much better at
certain things.    For example, even I, as a heavy user of the system,
don't remember where all the different config screens are.  I would
strongly push to do at-the-tv config of only the most important and
frequently changed config choices, and not confuse users' memories with
the others there.

However, my main point was that for this fairly obscure feature (obscure
because most of us aren't even watching the commercials and thus aren't
going to feel the need to be inspired to record by them) is decently handled
by having a keyboard arround.   My TV is hi-res, so mythweb is good for
me.  For those who have a lower res TV, myth does have search in its
built in menus, though it is not very usuable from a remote, though
unfortunately you can't access it while watching live tv if that was
your situation.

> (c) alt-tabbing to a browser window would obscure the playing video

You would pause it, presumably.
> 
> (d) ever try to do *anything* in a browser with sub-par TV-out?  It'll 
> make you go blind faster than... well, you get the idea.

Actually, yeah, before I got my HDTV I did.  Bumping the font size makes
it workable, though never that pleasant.