Timeshift enhancements

While watching live TV the four ARROW buttons should become skip initiators. That is, all four ARROW buttons can be assigned an independent skip value (at least time forward and backward though extra points will be awarded if the percentages - like in the classic Beyonwiz models - can also be kept) and if pressed, presumably to execute a backward skip from live TV then timeshift should automatically be engaged. At that point all the numbered skip keys would be allowed to work in conjunction with the arrow buttons to skip around the timeshift buffer.

The ARROW buttons should only work to engage timeshift IFF (IF AND ONLY IF) the Setup option has timeshifting enabled. If timeshifting is configured to be disabled then pressing the ARROW buttons should display the Invalid Button error icon.

If the ARROW buttons become skip / jump buttons then I would be interested to see an optional extra option introduced for the NUMBER buttons. They could stay as they are now with fixed skips forward and backward but I would welcome an option to make them all percentage jumps. That is, press 2 to jump to 20% from the start of the buffer / recording, press 6 to jump to 60% from the start of the buffer / recording. 0 jumps to the start of the buffer / recording. This is a common implementation on other devices that could be welcomed by many users on the T3. The percentage jumps should be a configuration option that is not selected by default.

There was some discussion in the forum that the NUMBER buttons should not operate as skips while in timeshift mode. They should only work in media playback mode. I had not intended the number skips to be removed from the timeshift mode as I was envisioning that the media player and timeshift engine would become a single piece of code. I think a perfect solution would be to extend the configuration items that decides how the NUMBER buttons function. The options could be:

Enable NUMBER Button Jumps:

No
Yes
Not During Timeshift NUMBER Button Jumps:
Skip Forward / Backward
Jump To A Percentage These options should allow all users to use the T3 in the way most comfortable for themselves.

Given that this remote control has the PLAY and PAUSE functions on the one button their operation should be rationalised.

From live or stopped PLAY/PAUSE should initiate playback.
From playback mode PLAY/PAUSE should initiate PAUSE mode.
From PLAY mode pressing REW or FF will initiate high speed scan mode starting with the lowest speed and increasing in speed steps with every subsequent press. Pressing REW in FF mode should step the speed down one step etc.
From PAUSE mode pressing REW or FF will initiate slow speed scan mode starting with the fastest speed and decreasing in speed steps with every subsequent press. Pressing REW in FF mode should step the speed up one step etc. If chapter or bookmarks are used/available then PREV and NEXT should jump to the next previous or next marker as appropriate. This is how these buttons appear to work now.

The STOP button should immediately and always stop playback and return from timeshift to live TV (or the media menu). Tineshift should also be stopped if the user skips forward to the end of the timeshift buffer. Similarly timeshift should also be stopped if the user skips FFs to the end of the timeshift buffer.

If a remote control is used that has distinct PLAY and PAUSE buttons then the operation should be as described above with the ability that pressing PAUSE at any time will immediately pause playback. If PAUSE is pressed again then this should be considered a single step in the last direction used. If the unit was rewinding when PAUSE is pressed then subsequent presses of PAUSE would single step backwards, etc. If PLAY is pressed then regardless of the previous mode normal playback is resumed. Repeat pressing of PLAY should have no effect.

The OK button should NEVER change the playback mode or the playback position. The OK button should always bring up the information panel to allow the user to see the current status of playback. If the panel is already displayed the OK should immediately dismiss it.

In summary:

# Allow independent (separate) to existing numeric keys configuration of the four ARROW buttons as custom skips. # Allow the four ARROW buttons skip functions to initiate timeshift mode (when in live TV). # Allow custom skips to be seconds or percentage (%). # Create options for how and when to use the NUMBER buttons as skip / jump commands. # Rationalise the use of the single PLAY/PAUSE button. # Keep the PREV and NEXT buttons to jump to previous / next chapter marks / bookmarks. # STOP button should exit timeshift mode to live TV. # Reaching the end of the timeshift buffer by skip or FF should exit timeshift mode to live TV. *# OK button should display the progress / status / info bar if it isn't displayed and dismiss it if it is displayed. The OK button should never affect the current playback mode or position. This is my hope for a featured and predictable transport control UI for both the timeshift and media players.

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