Bug 14618 - Implement full-screen album artwork in Now Playing
: Implement full-screen album artwork in Now Playing
Status: REOPENED
Product: SB Radio
Classification: Unclassified
Component: Now Playing/Audio controls
: Include FW version in comment
: PC Other
: -- normal with 1 vote (vote)
: Future
Assigned To: Unassigned bug - please assign me!
:
Depends on:
Blocks: 14877
  Show dependency treegraph
 
Reported: 2009-10-06 11:44 UTC by Weldon Matt
Modified: 2011-11-06 23:24 UTC (History)
1 user (show)

See Also:
Category: Feature


Attachments
patch for transition fix (3.14 KB, patch)
2009-10-12 12:04 UTC, Wadzinski Tom
Details | Diff
skin changes to achieve full bleed on SB Radio (1.84 KB, patch)
2009-10-12 15:36 UTC, Ben Klaas
Details | Diff
example of full bleed landscape artwork from bbc plugin (53.27 KB, image/png)
2009-10-12 15:41 UTC, Ben Klaas
Details
landscape artwork on Now Playing. this is a "worst case" scenario (49.06 KB, image/png)
2009-10-13 13:46 UTC, Ben Klaas
Details
light cover art with full bleed treatment in NP (65.81 KB, image/png)
2009-10-13 13:46 UTC, Ben Klaas
Details
dark cover art with full bleed treatment in NP (49.23 KB, image/png)
2009-10-13 13:47 UTC, Ben Klaas
Details
radio v. controller comparison: radio (25.92 KB, image/png)
2009-10-13 13:48 UTC, Ben Klaas
Details
radio v. controller comparison: controller (28.14 KB, image/png)
2009-10-13 13:49 UTC, Ben Klaas
Details
full bleed app icon artwork (18.67 KB, image/png)
2009-10-13 13:49 UTC, Ben Klaas
Details

Note You need to log in before you can comment on or make changes to this bug.
Description Weldon Matt 2009-10-06 11:44:07 UTC
Takes some investigation.  Consider making this the default.

This was a MAJOR CXR issue for 7.4, is low-risk, would match the packaging, and significantly improves the user experience.
Comment 1 Wadzinski Tom 2009-10-12 12:04:06 UTC
Created attachment 6091 [details]
patch for transition fix

Tidy up transition statusbar flash seen on NP transition (fixes existing controller issue also). Also, transition end was lingering around too long, leaving trace of cover art visible for a moment on existing controller skin and new full bleed baby skin.
Comment 2 Wadzinski Tom 2009-10-12 14:02:37 UTC
After review, applying first half (patch for transition fix), which fixes status bar misdrawing on transitions.
Comment 3 SVN Bot 2009-10-12 14:03:17 UTC
 == Auto-comment from SVN commit #7846 to the jive repo by tom ==
 == https://svn.slimdevices.com/jive?view=revision&revision=7846 ==

Bug: 14618
Description:
- Tidy up transition statusbar flash seen on NP transition (fixes existing
controller issue also). Also, transition end was lingering around too long,
leaving trace of cover art visible for a moment on existing controller skin and
new full bleed baby skin.
Comment 4 Ben Klaas 2009-10-12 15:36:44 UTC
Created attachment 6095 [details]
skin changes to achieve full bleed on SB Radio

Implications of patch:

title bar will have darker alpha layer on *all screens*, both SB Radio and SB Controller as a result of this checkin.

A few things need consideration before green lighting this checkin:

1. landscape aspect artwork from BBC listen again streams (correspondence with Triode to follow)
2. CD and Radio default art icons--are these okay in the full bleed treatment?
3. Are new assets needed for the title bar? I'm currently poaching the iconbar's assets to deliver the proof-of-concept.
Comment 5 Ben Klaas 2009-10-12 15:41:22 UTC
Created attachment 6096 [details]
example of full bleed landscape artwork from bbc plugin

correspondence from Triode re: Full bleed artwork on SB Radio:

Ben, Tom,

In general I like this, but it does look odd for several of the BBC images as the title bar overlaps with part of the image and above the image the background is shown.  An example is attached.

It may be worth positioning the image at the bottom of the screen in this case so the whole title bar is above it.  Also should it be the background which shows though as it could be distracting?

Anyway you can try the BBC images more just by installing the BBCiPlayer plugin on your server - all the listen again streams will show an image of the BBC aspect ratio.  Depending if they have important content in the top part of the screen they look ok to slightly strange.  I think they will look strangest if the user has a bright wallpaper (which they should not?)

Adrian
Comment 6 Wadzinski Tom 2009-10-12 16:36:16 UTC
Patch looks good. Unless anyone opposes, I suggest Ben checks in the change so that Matt/Noah/others can see it in action on baby. We can revert if need be.
Comment 7 Weldon Matt 2009-10-12 16:44:53 UTC
I would like to check it in, then try to "break" it by seeing how it looks on a bunch of different apps.

There will probably be some "gotchas" like the one Triode pointed out.
Comment 8 ndijulio 2009-10-12 17:50:07 UTC
Ben/Tom great job on the proof of concept BTW.  Couple of comments:

1. Move the images/album artwork to top or bottom justified.  My experience (not exhaustive:)) is that top alignment will be better.  Usually albums have more padding at the top.  Ben, do you have a strong opinion on this?  I assume you have the most logged time with the full-bleed artwork.  I have only tested ~100 static albums.

2. Consider adding a black-out background for images that do not fill the screen.  We will need to implement a similar approach for the image mash-up.  Could we simply replace the existing wallpaper for nocturne in these situations?  Black would be my second preference for the skin.  As we have seen on Controller when the wallpaper is only partially showing through the alpha it is little value added.

3. We will need to think about situations when app icons and "no artwork available" are used.  We do not want to cut-off partner logos...  This is were defaulting to a VU or Spectrum will be key.

4. We will want to consider darkening the alpha more for Now Playing.  This is a TBD based on evaluation.  It would be an enhancement for worst case scenarios and not a showstopper.
Comment 9 Ben Klaas 2009-10-13 13:45:13 UTC
summary of discussion with Noah from earlier today and in response to points in earlier comment points.

1. It's not really a solution to either top or bottom justify these images. It would solve some issues but open other ones. Current thought is that we leave the "centered" treatment, as it is the best one for the most common case, square artwork, and the next most common case, radio logos.

2. Changed background of Now Playing to black. Screenshots to follow.

3. App icons being cutoff-- Screenshot to follow. I don't know if this is an issue enough to hold this change back from 7.4.1.

4. Alpha should be darkened for the titlebar (and if needed, statusbar). Noah to provide that change.
Comment 10 Ben Klaas 2009-10-13 13:46:10 UTC
Created attachment 6107 [details]
landscape artwork on Now Playing. this is a "worst case" scenario
Comment 11 Ben Klaas 2009-10-13 13:46:48 UTC
Created attachment 6108 [details]
light cover art with full bleed treatment in NP
Comment 12 Ben Klaas 2009-10-13 13:47:18 UTC
Created attachment 6109 [details]
dark cover art with full bleed treatment in NP
Comment 13 Ben Klaas 2009-10-13 13:48:04 UTC
Created attachment 6110 [details]
radio v. controller comparison: radio
Comment 14 Ben Klaas 2009-10-13 13:49:21 UTC
Created attachment 6111 [details]
radio v. controller comparison: controller

note that title bar is black background, not wallpaper (this can change back to bleeding wallpaper through, just for controller, as required)
Comment 15 Ben Klaas 2009-10-13 13:49:48 UTC
Created attachment 6112 [details]
full bleed app icon artwork
Comment 16 Weldon Matt 2009-10-14 09:40:48 UTC
Recommendation for BBC (In reply to comment #9)
> summary of discussion with Noah from earlier today and in response to points in
> earlier comment points.
> 
> 1. It's not really a solution to either top or bottom justify these images. It
> would solve some issues but open other ones. Current thought is that we leave
> the "centered" treatment, as it is the best one for the most common case,
> square artwork, and the next most common case, radio logos.

In this case, we should bleed the artwork fullscreen (stretch image to top and bottom edges of screen).  The result will be a slight cutoff of the left and right of the image, but we're already doing the same thing with album artwork and have decided this is acceptable.

> 2. Changed background of Now Playing to black. Screenshots to follow.

I'm not opposed to this, bt wonder if it's still necessary if we did the above change.

> 3. App icons being cutoff-- Screenshot to follow. I don't know if this is an
> issue enough to hold this change back from 7.4.1.

If the actual graphic isn't being cut off, I'm ok with it.  If we had more time I'd like to do a different treatment of these icons - Pandora in particular will probably immediately ask us to use a different logo for them.  But there's no time for this release.

> 4. Alpha should be darkened for the titlebar (and if needed, statusbar). Noah
> to provide that change.

I like this...
Comment 17 Weldon Matt 2009-10-14 09:57:35 UTC
My other major comment (apologies for chiming in late, maybe it can't be fixed for this release) is that I would avoid expanding any internet radio logos beyond their actual pixel size.  (This is actually a bigger concern to me than the landscape image problem, though both problems are a bit nasty).

If the result is that radio logos are not as large as they could be, so be it.  Since a huge number of them have transparent backgrounds and are not rectangular, no "fullscreen effect" is gained by stretching them anyway.  Also, while we can get away with stretching the occasional rectangular photo (Rhapsody etc), things like logos etc just look very poor if pixelated/over-expanded, IMO.
Comment 18 SVN Bot 2009-10-14 13:57:28 UTC
 == Auto-comment from SVN commit #7857 to the jive repo by bklaas ==
 == https://svn.slimdevices.com/jive?view=revision&revision=7857 ==

Bug: 14618 +12
Description: "Full-bleed" NP artwork for SB Radio in 7.4.1
NP background now fills with black to not allow wallpaper to bleed through at all (typical case is that art fully fills the screen though)
asset slurp from Noah from erroneous Fab4 branch checkins, including new asset for titlebar with higher opacity
controller also has black background by default

reviewed extensively by many, including Tom, Weldon, and Noah
Comment 19 ndijulio 2009-10-14 14:14:31 UTC
Ben,

Can we start to keep track of the cases where a service provider is displayed by default (app icon treatment)?  If it is more than 10% of the time we should consider providing icons formatted and sized appropriately for the Now Playing screen.
Comment 20 Ben Klaas 2009-10-14 14:25:41 UTC
Pretty much all of the music services except Pandora default to the app icon when not delivering cover artwork. The question is what defines "10% of the time".

With the last checkin this is no longer a 7.4.1 bug. Retarget for 7.5.0/P1

Specifically left to do is:
1. a better solution for landscape aspect artwork, particularly BBC listen again streams
2. radio logos. may need to bug RadioTime to provide better resolution logos
3. app icons
Comment 21 Weldon Matt 2009-10-16 10:07:56 UTC
> Specifically left to do is:
> 1. a better solution for landscape aspect artwork, particularly BBC listen
> again streams

We need to display this artwork as full-bleed, as we've done with album art on baby.  This requires the ability to detect the pixel height/width of the image before rendering.

> 2. radio logos. may need to bug RadioTime to provide better resolution logos

I doubt RadioTime will ever have logos in a resolution suitable for fullscreen view (most of these logos come from tiny small-town radio stations).  This will be an even bigger issue for fab4.  We need a different fullscreen solution for this case - either no artwork at all (show a visualizer instead, such as a VU meter) or perhaps a logo next to a generic radio-tower icon, etc.

> 3. app icons

We need to produce full-screen app artwork for NP screens.  These probably need to be "landscape" type icons that would be noticably different from the square icon-based art.

----------------------------

For Fab4, we'll have to also deal with the fact that certain providers, such as Napster and Pandora, deliver artwork too small to render at 480x480 px.  (source art is 150x150 or 170x170, pixelation will be too great if expanded fullscreen)
Comment 22 Weldon Matt 2009-10-26 14:46:39 UTC
moving to p2
Comment 23 Chris Owens 2010-01-04 16:00:37 UTC
Changing priorities due to management guidance.
Comment 24 Chris Owens 2010-03-08 11:26:51 UTC
Moving lower-priority bugs to next target
Comment 25 Chris Owens 2010-05-06 16:05:08 UTC
Matt Weldon isn't available to us any more.  Please vote for this bug to make sure it appears in our priority list!
Comment 26 Alan Young 2011-11-06 23:24:55 UTC
Unassigned bugs cannot have a priority.