Saturday, January 29, 2011

The builds 9-19

16.0.19 (1/27/2011)

1. NEW: Installing Media Center 16 for the first time on a computer with Media Center 15 will automatically migrate the library and settings from v15 to v16.
2. Changed: The installer supports an optional /NoUpgrade command line switch to disable automatic migration from v15 to v16 on a fresh install.
3. Fixed: Letter range searches / panes were not working properly.
4. Fixed: A typo on the Output Format DSP page.
5. Faster: Analyzer DSP draws much faster.
6. Fixed: Netflix movies with fullscreen aspect ratio (4:3) were not displaying correctly in Theater View.
7. Changed: Analyzer remembers customization to its frequency range.
8. Fixed: Theater View search would show untranslated field names.
9. Fixed: Netflix in Theater View would appear to freeze the UI while downloading movie lists.
10. Changed: Tuned mix ratios used with Play Doctor when selecting 'More' or 'Lots' of variety.

16.0.18 (1/26/2011)

1. Changed: Updated German language file (thanks Bytestar).
2. Fixed: The filled radio image used in Play Doctor had a visual artifact on the right edge.
3. Fixed: Library Server could unnecessarily leave requested files open for five minutes after the request finished, causing problems when deleting.
4. NEW: When files fail to be deleted or recycled, a retry / cancel dialog is shown that lists the error files.
5. Fixed: User customization to DSP ordering was not working properly (only applies to build 17).
6. Changed: When controlling a DLNA device with Gizmo or a Library Server client, the server won't show 'There was a problem controlling the selected DLNA device' errors when problems occur.
7. NEW: Play Doctor can save its rule set as a Playchart under Playlists.
8. NEW: Playcharts (from Play Doctor) can be viewed and played in Theater View, with DLNA devices, Gizmo, etc.
9. NEW: Added the ability to set what files can be included with a Playchart, to allow filtering holiday music, etc.
10. Fixed: Starting Play Doctor playback with a remote / MCC command did not work nicely (uses settings from 'Current Playchart' but uses no search so all files are played).
11. Changed: Revised 'Room Correction' channel switching system to be easier to switch channels and so that that it remembers the last used channel.
12. NEW: Added genre browsing to Theater View Netflix.

16.0.17 (1/25/2011)

1. Fixed: Performer store could appear to freeze the program if internet connection was lost.
2. NEW: Added new option Options > Video > Adjust audio rate to maintain video sync (only supported when using 'Same as device used in audio playback' as the audio device in Options > Video).
3. Fixed: Cached Wikipedia pages did not update when a new wiki language was selected.
4. Changed: Renamed the button 'Add Plug-in...' in DSP Studio to 'Manage Plug-ins...' to better represent that it can be used to uninstall, etc.
5. NEW: Added DSP Studio > Manage Plug-ins... > Reset Order to reset effects back to their default order.
6. Changed: Reverted DSP Plug-ins to their default order (drag-n-drop to order, audio flows from top to bottom except for special items 'Output Format' and 'Volume Levelling' which always happen first).
7. Fixed: Analyzer DSP could cause a crash.
8. Changed: Analyzer DSP allows entering a start and end frequency.

16.0.16 (1/24/2011)

1. Changed: Play (as radio) has changed to Play (with Play Doctor).
2. Changed: Removed Player > Play Radio... (instead, use Play Doctor in Playing Now).
3. SDK: Updated automation mixer object to support setting volume and mute for DLNA or Library Server zones.
4. Fixed: Removed NULLS from the end of tag fields for flac files when writing the tags.
5. NEW: Added 'Analyzer' DSP plugin that can show calibrated frequency information per output channel (experimental and a work in progress).

16.0.15 (1/21/2011)

1. NEW: When editing fields linked to relational fields, the program will nicely keep the relational field synchronized. (i.e. changing the artist from 'Aerosmith' to 'Bob Dylan' will also switch the Artist Biography)
2. Fixed: The OSD could show a weird volume display when the volume was unavailable instead of saying 'n/a'.
3. NEW: Added a new volume mode 'Disabled' for use in cases where you only want to use an external volume.
4. Fixed: Added DLNA server support for L16 (headerless uncompressed wave) to Samsung and Sony BD players (and perhaps others).

16.0.14 (1/20/2011)

1. NEW: Database supports relational fields that store values per artist, per album, or per series (changes database version so v15 can no longer load a v16 library).
2. NEW: The program can display artist images when browsing artists instead of a stack of album images (place artist image in the cover art folder in an 'Artists' subfolder).
3. NEW: Added Cover Art > Get Artist Images From Last.fm (still a work in progress).
4. NEW: Play Doctor uses deeper searching of Last.fm similar artists for creating better mixes.
5. Changed: Play Doctor uses a cache of Last.fm similar artists to reduce the need to make server calls.
6. Fixed: Full screen Netflix in Theater View was still having window sizing problems.
7. Fixed: Multiple fast-forward or rewind clicks during Netflix viewing would dump you out of Theater View.

16.0.13 (1/19/2011)

1. NEW: Play Doctor music selection algorithms revamped, can now include tracks from Last.fm.
2. Changed: Reworked how Play Doctor works so that it generates a playlist that plays as opposed to being a program mode.
3. Fixed: Scheduling recordings and doing file deletes from a library server client would not always sync back to the server.
4. Fixed: In certain cases, deleting files from a library server while the files were in 'Playing Now' could cause a crash.
5. NEW: Ability to browse Netflix movie recommendations in theater view. More browsing categories to come...

16.0.12 (1/18/2011)

1. Fixed: Search for an empty value in a list-type field was not working properly.
2. Faster: Fuzzy matching engine used by search suggestions, Theater View, and Gizmo is faster.
3. Fixed: The database could use more memory than necessary in some cases.
4. NEW: Netflix TV shows are now grouped by collection in Theater View.
5. Fixed: Netflix aspect ratio handling wasn't working at certain resolutions.
6. Changed: Netflix movies are listed alphabetically (episodes within a TV series are still listed in original order).
7. Changed: Added series descriptions to Netflix TV series.
8. NEW: Enabled Samsung BD players (and perhaps TV's) to go directly to media categories (like Audio, Image and Video) instead of having to step through those items when one has already selected the category.

16.0.11 (1/14/2011)

1. NEW: Theater View search uses new and improved search engine.
2. Changed: Composer is a default search field (only applies to a fresh library).
3. Fixed: When the Theater View keyboard was focused, backspace would navigate back instead of delete characters.
4. Changed: Theater View search uses a no-case keyboard (no caps, no automatic titlecase).
5. Changed: Theater View keyboards use 'Space' instead of '_'.
6. Changed: Improved Netflix aspect ratio handling.

16.0.10 (1/13/2011)

1. Changed: More tuning to search suggestion system.

16.0.9 (1/13/2011)

1. Changed: More improvements to Netflix full screen playback control in Theater View.
2. Changed: Improvements to search suggestion system.
3. Changed: Gizmo (and MCWS) use new search suggestion system.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

The builds 4-8

16.0.8 (1/12/2011)

1. Changed: WebPlay / WebRemote 'Customize views...' have merged into a single 'Customize views...' for all of Library Server, which is also shared by MCWS and Gizmo.
2. Fixed: After auto-matching channels when loading the EPG, the list would not redraw to show the matches.
3. Fixed: RFC-822 date generation was not working, causing problems with EPG loading.
4. Faster: Improved cover art lookup system to better handle files with no metadata or TV programs with no series (makes EPG import much faster).
5. Fixed: Displaying a duration like '2 hours 7 minutes' was not working properly.
6. Changed: Switching libraries or starting to restore a library will cancel a pending empty library auto-import.
7. Changed: When loading a library once the program has started and loaded a library, picking 'Cancel' on the failed to load of the new library dialog will load the last library instead of close the program.
8. Changed: Added 'Add Library...' item to libraries in tree so a library can be added without a right-click.
9. Changed: When adding a library, the dialog asks for a library name.
10. Changed: After a server receives changes from a client, it starts any necessary background file tagging (previously only happened on UI interaction).
11. Changed: When acquiring images from a camera, the file system dates of the acquired files are set to exactly match the dates of the files on the camera.
12. SDK: Improved performance of MCWS/v1/File/GetImage call when requesting a thumbnail (makes Gizmo faster).
13. SDK: MCWS/v1/File/GetImage allows requesting different thumbnail sizes using a ThumbnailSize parameter (makes Gizmo faster when using a v16 server).
14. NEW: Improved Netflix full screen handling in Theater View. Experimental - some things may not work in this build.
15. NEW: Search box suggestion system got smarter: sorts matches by quality, handles misspellings, returns relevant matches even if their name doesn't match what was typed (i.e. typing 'jewel christmas' returns 'Joy - A Holiday Album').

16.0.7 (1/11/2011)

1. Changed: The OSD window will show 'shifted 2.5 hours' instead of 'shifted 2 hours 28 minutes' when crossing the one hour boundary.
2. NEW: It's possible to create user-created fields with a data type of 'Date'.
3. Changed: When entering a date with no year, if the date entered is close to the previous or next year, that will be used. (i.e. entering 12/28 early in January resolves to the previous year instead of the new year)
4. Fixed: Playback would not silently advance to the next track after a Windows Media DRM error inside a playlist.
5. Changed: Made automatic import countdown shown in the Action Window after loading an empty library more prominent with a longer countdown and larger text.
6. SDK: MCWS/v1/Control/MCC allows targeting a specific zone using zone parameters instead of requiring the zone index get embedded into the parameter.
7. Fixed: Television Playing Now OSD info showed incorrect next program start time if it was over an hour.
8. Fixed: Some digital television devices with combined tuner-capture filter (such as REALTEK DTV Filter) did not work.
9. Fixed: MPEG2 conversion wasn't streaming in DLNA server.
10. NEW: Added user configurable overrides (in Advanced DLNA server options) for video mimetype and DLNA type when MPEG hack is selected.
11. NEW: Add DLNA server profile for Sony BD and TV's. Makes video work.
12. NEW: Add DLNA server profile for Samsung BD and TV's.
13. NEW: Add DLNA server profile for the J. River Id.

16.0.6 (1/7/2011)

1. Changed: When there was only a single playback zone, it would not appear properly in the tree.
2. Changed: Revised how install-path relative replacement is done to work better with import settings, library locations, etc. on a portable install.
3. Changed: Revised how cross-thread message pretranslation is managed to improve compatibility with madVR.
4. Changed: Obsidian Touchscreen (or other skins derived from Base 3.xml) will use left-alignment of rollers inside views.
5. Fixed: If thumbnails were not built for files, Action Window > Tag > Image could incorrectly report .
6. Changed: Revised how video display size management is done to improve compatibility with madVR.
7. NEW: Wikipedia language is now selectable from Options / Services.
8. NEW: Support for EAC generated disc id's in cdplayer.ini for importing CD meta-data from an EAC rip.
9. Fixed: Pausing playback on DLNA to the Id.
10. Changed: More precise setting of DLNA flags for all media types. Could help playback on some renderers.
11. Fixed: Mouse and keyboard sluggishness when playing video using madVR.
12. Fixed: Aspect ratio setting did not work correctly if Haali Video Renderer was used.
13. Fixed: Television could fail if the file folder for recording and time-shifting had not already been created.
14. NEW: Introducing new Play Doctor that can intelligently select and play from your library and other sources (work in progress). See Playing Now.

16.0.5 (1/4/2011)

1. Changed: Optimization to how Theater View (optionally) disables the screen saver or monitor power.
2. Changed: When restoring a library, the option 'Restore settings' is checked by default.
3. NEW: Reworked how library load failures are messaged and handled.
4. Changed: The tooltip for a library in the tree (play from source) shows the type and location.
5. Fixed: Adding a new library based on a URL was not working properly.
6. Fixed: In some cases, it was not possible to rename a library in the tree.
7. Fixed: The player bar would not update until a restart when renaming the current library.
8. Fixed: Video playback on android of MC TV files did not work properly - they had a green cast and double image.
9. Changed: Import folders are stored in an install-drive relative way on a portable install so that running auto-import will work more nicely.
10. Fixed: If two DVD's had the same volume name, ripping the second one would overwrite the first one.

16.0.4 (1/3/2011)

1. NEW: During television playback, the OSD for position will have "shifted xx minutes" in it when watching something that is currently recording.
2. Fixed: The HTML for directional quotes (“ and ”) would not get decoded properly in Theater View News, etc.
3. Fixed: Renaming the current library would not update the 'Playing from' item in the tree right away.
4. SDK: The launcher (MC16.exe) supports /Restart to restart the program.
5. Changed: After restoring a library and restoring settings, the program will automatically restart.
6. Changed: The playback state of remote zones is not shown in the tree unless the zone is active so that the program doesn't have to query inactive remote zones.
7. NEW: Video playback to android is now done via direct show filter graph.
8. Changed: Updated copyrights to 2011.