Can not use media or lighting map on UI2-Alpha blended MD??

[bulek]

Hi,

I use UI2 on daily basis on home theater MD and we like it. But can imagine that it confuses some users... I'd propose to make UI2 less transparent (I spot problem with visibility of some folders in media browser....)... That would make it more convenient for all users...


Regards,

Bulek.

[totallymaxed]

I can confirm the issue on my system also.  It is a shame because even though i've read a couple post stating that alpha-blending is overrated, every individual i have showed linuxmce off to has negative reviews for the ui1 and ui2 overlays. They say that they prefer alpha blending for aesthetics and it helps to hide the fact that the "selections don't fit in the rows"

Our feedback is not just based on a few minutes exposure to UI2 + Alpha during a demo. Our feedback was obtained after, in some cases weeks of usage. At that point users have got over the 'eye candy' effect that you get with any UI to some extent and are now focussed on the real everyday usability... and thats when in almost all cases feedback has been negative about UI2 + Alpha - it adds nothing to usability based on our user feedback. That is not to say by any means that UI1 or UI2 were deemed perfect either... they were'nt. But on the whole they were received much better after they had been in real use for a reasonable period of time.

To be frank we a little surprised by this but it was a very consistent response with approx 80+ % responding this way.

Andrew

Andrew - I understand, but I think from what you and others have said previous (and from using it myself) that it is mostly a visibility thing, beyond the tearing (lets just pretend that's been fixed for now)... perhaps all that is needed is a change to the alpha map? Perhaps make it more opaque? Still get the eye-candy, without the visual confusion?

Colin to some extent thats true... except as with all 'eye candy' it only makes a real impact when you first experience the UI... very quickly you dont notice the UI per se... a good UI disappears over time and this is why the alphablended UI gets a bad response... it doesn't. Its in 'your face' shouting 'look at me' ;-)

Andrew

[widescreen]

Andrew,
I understand your stance on the alpha blending but i do agree with compaqpresario and those who do think that UI2 alpha blending is the best UI aesthetically. I have been using UI2 alpha and overlays for a good while now, and other than the tearing issue and the floorplan issue, i don't find alpha to be confusing at all. Those who have spent a considerable amount of time using linuxmce in my home have negative reviews of UI2 overlay. The "eye candy" effect is still in full effect in the 4 households i have turned onto to linuxmce.  That could be do to the fact we all migrated from windows mce. As for usability, we only have the two above mentioned problems.  To me it's a matter of opinion, i think it's good to give everybody the option to choose for themselves but the floorplan issue hampers use a little.  That's why i wanted to know if it could be fixed in 8.10.  Thanks

[totallymaxed]

Andrew,
I understand your stance on the alpha blending but i do agree with compaqpresario and those who do think that UI2 alpha blending is the best UI aesthetically. I have been using UI2 alpha and overlays for a good while now, and other than the tearing issue and the floorplan issue, i don't find alpha to be confusing at all. Those who have spent a considerable amount of time using linuxmce in my home have negative reviews of UI2 overlay. The "eye candy" effect is still in full effect in the 4 households i have turned onto to linuxmce.  That could be do to the fact we all migrated from windows mce. As for usability, we only have the two above mentioned problems.  To me it's a matter of opinion, i think it's good to give everybody the option to choose for themselves but the floorplan issue hampers use a little.  That's why i wanted to know if it could be fixed in 8.10.  Thanks

I think you need a bigger sample to be frank. I am not suggesting that UI2 + Alpha should be removed from LinuxMCE at all... I am just relating feedback we get from a large (90 +) sample of users.

As to whether it will be 'fixed' in terms of tearing in 0810... from current tests I would suggest that the answer is 'no'. So video performance is far more important to us than anything else and I would imagine this is probably true of most users... and this therefore means that an Alpha blended UI is a 'trade off' too far even if you can't get enough 'eye candy' ;-)

All the best

Andrew

Andrew