Wednesday, April 20, 2011

The builds 65-72

16.0.72 (4/19/2011)

1. NEW: MP4 plugin supports AAC radio / streaming using the buffering reading system used by MP3.
2. NEW: MP4 plugin supports Icy metadata when playing AAC radio so track names, artists, etc. appear.
3. Changed: Settings for hardware accelerated graphics are in Options > General > Video Card (used by Theater View, image playback, 3d views, 3d visualizations).
4. NEW: Added 'Automatic' hardware acceleration option which takes the video card into account when configuring graphics options.
5. Changed: 'Automatic' hardware acceleration mode disables full screen anti-aliasing for Intel H67 onboard video to workaround black screen issues ( http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=63426.0 ).
6. Changed: Updated Russian translation file (thanks to Vladimir).
7. Changed: Over-the-air EPG scanning option is removed for DVB-T television tuners (it was never implemented).
8. Fixed: Pause button wasn't working right during Netflix playback.
9. Fixed: Disabling "Options > Media Network > Use Media Network to share this library and enable DLNA" would incorrectly uncheck all DLNA functions, so reenabling the option would leave DLNA off.
10. Fixed: Disabling Media Network would leave the SSDP responder running until the program was restarted.

16.0.71 (4/18/2011)

1. Fixed: 6 and 8 channel AAC files would not play correctly.
2. Fixed: MP4 Action Window > Tag > Format page showed "bit" instead of "kbps" for the bitrate unit.
3. Fixed: Headerless AAC files were not playing properly.

16.0.70 (4/18/2011)

1. Fixed: Android video conversion had poor choppy sound on some input file formats.

16.0.69 (4/15/2011)

1. Fixed: Lossless JPEG rotation was not working properly in build 68.
2. Changed: When playing a video using the J. River audio renderer, DSP Studio > Output Format will be automatically configured if necessary (i.e. to use 24-bit output instead of 'Same as source' for a low bitdepth audio track, etc.).

16.0.68 (4/14/2011)

1. NEW: Added option to enable/disable Netflix search in Options / Services / Netflix.
2. Changed: Updated internal image decoding libraries used for PNG and TIFF.
3. SDK: MCWS/v1/Browse/Image accepts a "Format" parameter which can be set to PNG so that transparency will be supported.
4. NEW: Added the ability to save as PNG when acquiring from the camera or clipboard in Action Window > Camera.
5. Fixed: Netflix "Recommendations" was only showing a couple TV series instead of the full list of TV & Movies.
6. Fixed: Searching in the Performer Store and then selecting a result with the mouse could cause problems.
7. Fixed: The sample rate shown in the sample rate column for ALAC files could be incorrect (use Library Tools > Update Library (from tags) to correct).
8. Changed: The setting for M4A / AAC playback is reset to 'Automatic' so that the improved, native support will be used.
9. Fixed: Playing an audio file from a library server client will no longer cause a stacked cache file to be created on the server.
10. Fixed: When downloading VBR MP3 files on a library server client for use on a handheld, stacks would not be properly created.

16.0.67 (4/12/2011)

1. Fixed: Clicking on a checkbox when selecting file types for auto-import would unnecessarily expand the file types list.
2. Fixed: Focusing a list or tree with the mouse when there was no selection and then navigating with up / down would not work properly.
3. Fixed: The auto-import 'Folder Settings' dialog did not support tabbed navigation.
4. Fixed: Authorizing Netflix from Theater View could hang.
5. NEW: User selectable browsing categories for Netflix service (Options / Services / Netflix).
6. Fixed: Don't write size info into a header-less wave file on closing.

16.0.66 (4/11/2011)

1. NEW: Tag writing for m4a audio files (AAC or ALAC in MP4 container).
2. Fixed: When using the J. River audio renderer for video playback, errors to open the output will stop playback quickly and show an error message (previously Directshow could spend several minutes bogged down in a retry loop before showing an error).
3. Changed: With VideoClock enabled, starting or seeking a video locks sync by adjusting the video rate before starting audio adjustments (takes about one second).
4. Fixed: Resetting the television guide did not cancel recurring loading of the guide in the background.
5. Fixed: Doing a search for "24/-48" would consider the search as a range of values instead of a string literal (as expected due to the escapement).
6. Changed: Added > and < to the list of characters that should be escaped when used as a string literal in a search.
7. Changed: When showing a playlist Action Window, and then deleting the underlying playlist, the Action Window will close (instead of stay open and show ).
8. Fixed: Gizmo video conversion could have incorrect or distorted audio in some cases.
9. Changed: Added category "Children & Family" to Netflix.
10. Fixed: Starting television playback while recording could fail when using madVR as the renderer.

16.0.65 (4/7/2011)

1. NEW: Added background video conversion cache creation to the 'Options/File location' dialog. Use the "MP4 Low" setting for Android phones. Experimental new feature.
2. Changed: Minor tuning to ordering and wording of library menu and library manager.
3. Changed: Unified MP4 parsing code used in MP4 plugin (should be internal change, but please report any issues).
4. Fixed: Return full results for a DLNA search on an empty. This was breaking the XBox 360 album listing.

Friday, April 8, 2011

The build 64

16.0.64 (4/6/2011)

1. Fixed: If Internet Explorer was set to 'Work Offline', it would not be possible to connect to a library server.
2. Fixed: The fuzzy match search engine could crash in certain cases (used by the search box, Play Doctor, etc.).
3. Changed: The 'Add Library' dialog has more robust checking of user data entry in the Access Key / URL box.
4. Changed: Playing Now > Playing From is clickable in the tree, and acts as a home page for library management.
5. Changed: Added a 'Library Manager...' item to File > Library menu that jumps to the library manager in the tree.
6. Changed: It's no longer possible to add a library that fails to load (instead the 'Add Library' dialog will report the problem and stay visible).

Monday, April 4, 2011

The builds 61-63

16.0.63 (4/1/2011)

1. Changed: Added more logging to SSDP responder.
2. Fixed: Updated YouTube support for recent YouTube site changes.

16.0.62 (3/31/2011)

1. Fixed: When editing more than 100 files at a time in the Tag Action Window, tabbing after a change would discard the change instead of confirm the change.

16.0.61 (3/30/2011)

1. NEW: Library Server client wakes a sleeping server when connecting (requires using an Access Key to connect, and also enabling wake on lan / wan on your network).
2. Fixed: Manually adding a library location for a library that was previously found on the network but not currently available would not work nicely.
3. Changed: Improved video quality settings for Android conversions.
4. Fixed: ID3v2 tags with big-endian UTF-16 values were not being read correctly.

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

The builds 56-60

16.0.60 (3/29/2011)

1. Changed: Dutch language translation updated (thanks bennyd).
2. Changed: Updated German language file (thanks Bytestar).
3. Fixed: In some cases, the installer could incorrectly reboot instead of launch the program after an install (only applies to builds 53-59).
4. Changed: When the installer wishes to restart, clicking 'Finish' with the 'Restart Windows now' box checked will show a confirmation dialog to avoid unexpected restarts.
5. Fixed: Aspect ratio on Android video conversions was sometimes incorrect.
6. Changed: Video encoding profile simplified somewhat for Android conversions.

16.0.59 (3/29/2011)

1. Fixed: When registering MAC addresses for wake on lan, the last MAC address would not be included in some case.

16.0.58 (3/28/2011)

1. Changed: Refined mp4/m4a tag reader so it will get more precise bitrate values. It will also handle very large files (ones requiring 64bit integers).
2. Fixed: ID3v2 tag reading and writing of COMM frames was not working properly (only applies to build 53 - 57).
3. Changed: Added support for some additional ID3v2.2 frames.
4. Fixed: High sample rate ALAC files would play at 44.1 instead of the higher sample rate.
5. Fixed: DLNA server, return sane content length when seek is requested past EOF. Fixes stall problem with XBMC and mp3's. Perhaps others...

16.0.57 (3/24/2011)

1. Fixed: Video encoder for Android was not getting automatically updated to the latest version.
2. Fixed: mp4/m4a tag reader got bitrate wrong.
3. Fixed: More configuration for Android video conversion.
4. Changed: When registering for an Access Key, the server's MAC address is sent so that Wake on WAN/LAN will be possible with Gizmo. Library Server soon.

16.0.56 (3/22/2011)

1. Fixed: The statusbar could show that a page was loading indefinitely when using the Internet Explorer engine.
2. Fixed: The minimize and close buttons could overlap on a skin that used different sizes for the buttons when a frame had no maximize button.
3. Fixed: It was not possible to seek ALAC files.
4. Fixed: An undo operation (ctrl-z) on a rename of a stacked file would not work for the underlying stacked files.
5. Fixed: A rename operation on a stacked file that was named differently from the stack top file would show an incorrect error message.
6. NEW: Added tag writing option from Options > General to the main program menu: Edit > Update Tags When File Info Changes.
7. NEW: Tag writing option is also available as a toolbar button.
8. Fixed: Video conversion for Android would behave poorly on files with a video filetype but containing only audio.
9. Fixed: Image playback with a pan and zoom slideshow could sparkle on the edges of images.
10. Changed: When viewing an image at 100%, a pixel-perfect overlay will always be rendered once zooming / scrolling have finished.
11. Fixed: Mp4/m4a tagging reading could deadlock on some files containing copyright notice.
12. Fixed: Transitioning from native audio playback to Directshow audio playback when there was an audio format change could lead to problems.
13. Fixed: Some M4A files would not play properly.

Monday, March 21, 2011

The builds 48-55

16.0.55 (3/18/2011)

1. Changed: Improved support for skins that have a border above the main menu (specified with Toolbars::TopBar::OffsetY in the skin).
2. Fixed: FLAC seeking did not support block accurate seeks, so CUE playback or conversion could be misaligned by a fraction of a second.
3. Changed: Tuned the level of hardware image detail used in hardware accelerated image playback.

16.0.54 (3/18/2011)

Internal testing build

16.0.53 (3/16/2011)

1. Changed: Added support for reading TXXX(UNSYNCED LYRICS) from ID3v2 tags (used by some software instead of more standard USLT).
2. Fixed: Reading lyrics from ID3v2 USLT frames did not work properly if the frame contained a content description.
3. Faster: When playing a video, switching between Display View and Theater View is faster.
4. Fixed: Mp4/m4a tag reader did not read bitrate correctly (build 52 only).
5. Fixed: Mp4/m4a tag reader could crash on reading duration (build 52 only).
6. Fixed: Mp4/m4a tag reader did not read embedded cover art (build 52 only).
7. Faster: Mp4/m4a tag reader is faster on files with embedded image.
8. NEW: Added optional /NoRun command line support to installer that will cause the installation to stop on the last page and not offer to run the program.
9. Fixed: Theater View file info text and news text would wrap to a new line sooner than expected.
10. Faster: Artist image views load faster.

16.0.52 (3/15/2011)

1. NEW: Improved support for Apple files.
2. Fixed: The mp4/m4a tagging system did not read replay-gain data correctly in build 51.
3. Fixed: Some Play Doctor phrases were not translatable.
4. NEW: Added command line tools /RestoreLibrary, /RestoreSettings, and /RestoreLibraryAndSettings. Specify the path to a library backup after the command.

16.0.51 (3/11/2011)

1. NEW: Artist image views perform much better (artist images are now imported as hidden database records so they leverage the existing thumbnail system, etc.).
2. NEW: Artist image views will show full resolution images when zooming in on the thumbnails (right-click thumbnail size slider to toggle one artist per page mode).
3. NEW: Artist images are used in artist views of Theater View.
4. Changed: More improvements to how the search suggestion system handles searches with more than one word.
5. Fixed: When starting seeded Play Doctor playback, the variety distribution could be off a little for the first few files.
6. Fixed: Starting Play Doctor with an artist or album seed would always start playback with the same file by the artist.
7. Fixed: Renaming a library in the tree would cause the selection state to be lost.
8. NEW: Added 'Adjust the volume' as one of the available parametric equalizer types.
9. Fixed: Sizing web pages when using the Internet Explorer engine would flicker.
10. Changed: When starting with Media Server enabled, more aggressive window visibility checking is performed so that if the window is off the screen due to a resolution change, etc. it will be reset to a default position.
11. Fixed: In some cases, ripping could start with the second track instead of the first track.
12. Fixed: When using the IE engine, if you had a browser on a tab you never viewed, the web sandbox for that tab would not shutdown gracefully (but instead get hard killed).
13. Fixed: Play Doctor would not start on the expected track or have the expected track distribution with shuffle mode enabled.
14. Fixed: The new mp4/m4a tagging system did not read replay gain data into MC's replaygain fields.
15. Changed: Added a more graphical view header to library management views (Playing Now > Playing from in the tree).

16.0.50 (3/10/2011)

1. Fixed: Improved handling of single character search tokens in the search suggestion system (used by Play Doctor, search box, Gizmo, etc.).
2. Changed: Tuned search suggestion system to provide more relevant results when entering searches with more than one word.
3. Fixed: Switching away from a web view could crash.
4. Changed: Updated German language file (thanks Bytestar).
5. Fixed: Bug in video conversion for Android could cause conversions to stall out.
6. Fixed: Switching tabs with Ctrl+Tab / Ctrl+Shift+Tab was not working.
7. Fixed: The new mp4/m4a tagging system did not handle BPM and Date fields correctly.
8. Fixed: Aspect ratio was often wrong on Android video conversions.
9. Fixed: Video conversions (for Android and others) could stall out if some Directshow components needed to be downloaded.
10. Changed: Updated splash screen to use jriver.com as the web address.
11. NEW: Clicking on a library in the tree (Playing Now > Playing from) will show library information and offer tools (still a work in progress).

16.0.48-49 (3/9/2011)

Internal testing builds

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

The builds 44-47

16.0.47 (3/8/2011)

1. NEW: The web browser engine used by the program can be selected in Options > Tree & View > Web Browser (default to Internet Explorer, and should work with IE9 RC).
2. Changed: Video converter configures h.264 encoding through an internal interface rather than using the registry.

16.0.46 (3/8/2011)

1. NEW: A new mp4/m4a file tagging system that reads all iTunes style tags, including embedded cover art.
2. Fixed: Numerous fixes to JRWeb.exe and the IPC layer it uses to communicate with Media Center.

16.0.45 (3/7/2011)

1. Fixed: Search suggestion system could return duplicate 'Name' matches.
2. Changed: Improvements to inter-process communication system used by web engine.
3. Fixed: Search suggestions could weight fuzzy matches of categories higher than exact matches of tracks. (i.e. 'layla' would put the album 'Electric Ladyland' above the song 'Layla')
4. Fixed: Search suggestions were not working for some fields when using a language other than English.
5. Changed: Updated all language files to have the latest strings from the source code, and to remove any orphan strings.
6. NEW: When clicking on a library in the tree in Playing Now > Playing From, it's possible to clone the library to a new library.
7. Internal: Internal changes to code structure (should be transparent, but please report any issues).

16.0.44 (3/4/2011)

1. NEW: Play Doctor learns during playback based on plays and skips and improves the list after skips.
2. NEW: Play Doctor adds files to the playlist after each play so that there are always 100 upcoming files and it never reaches the end of the playlist.
3. Changed: Play Doctor skips are graphically represented with a strikethrough in the Playing Now list.
4. NEW: Added MC16.exe launcher command /MonitorToggle to toggle the display between available monitors. (requires Windows 7, will work better and be easier to use than /MonitorSwitch command)
(note: to use /MonitorToggle, first extend all your displays and configure them to the resolution and refresh rate you prefer with Windows, then /MonitorToggle will use these settings when run)
5. NEW: Added MC16.exe launcher command /MonitorExtend to extend available displays across all monitors. (requires Windows 7)

Saturday, March 5, 2011

The build 43

16.0.43 (3/3/2011)

1. Fixed: Clicking YouTube links in Standard View did not offer download, watch, etc. options.
2. Changed: Updated German language file (thanks Bytestar).
3. Fixed: JRWeb.exe web sandbox processes would not shutdown properly on Windows XP.
4. Changed: If a television recording ended less than a minute ago, current time-shifting session will not be saved even if the global setting is "Save always". This will not affect the case where the user specifically choose to save the current session.
5. Changed: Video transcoding for Media Network no longer uses the registry for configuring ffdshow video decoding. It uses an internal interface instead.
6. NEW: Improved DLNA server search support.
7. Changed: When we return an empty DLNA search result, return OK with no results. Previously the result was crashing out PlugPlayer.

Thursday, March 3, 2011

The builds 40-42

16.0.42 (3/2/2011)

1. Fixed: The connect link on the Library Server webpage would start Media Center 15 instead of 16 (ie. http://localhost:52199/LibraryServer).
2. Fixed: Numerous problems with sandboxing web system introduced in build 41.
3. Fixed: Non-English characters were not displaying properly in the Help / Registration Info pop-up.
4. Fixed: The program was not properly finding external artwork saved to the cover art folder.
5. Fixed: Cookies in the web browser engine would not persist between runs.
6. Fixed: Keyboard shortcuts were not working properly with web windows.
7. Changed: Right-click and OSD menus "Save time-shifting on stop" are simplified. Change of setting using these menus is applied only to current time-shifting session. Global setting at Options > Television remains the same.
8. Fixed: Performer store cache was not getting dumped when a database update was completed leading to new content not showing up.
9. Fixed: When first starting video playback with VideoClock enabled, lip sync could be off until a seek.

16.0.41 (2/25/2011)

1. NEW: The web browser engine is sandboxed to its own process (JRWeb.exe) for increased security and stability.
2. Changed: When downloading something with an internal browser, the integrated download manager will be used.
3. Fixed: WebPlay was unnecessarily transcoding MP3 files.
4. Fixed: In some cases, popup dialogs could appear behind the main program.

16.0.40 (2/24/2011)

1. Internal: Updated the Windows and DirectX SDKs used during compilation to the latest.
2. Internal: The DirectX helper d3dx9_43.dll is required instead of d3dx9_39.dll (downloaded on install when required).
3. Fixed: DVD ripping was creating two destination folders and ripping to the second one.
4. Fixed: The calculation of space available for DVD ripping was not correctly handling mapped network and UNC drives and "Junction" type directories.
5. Fixed: WebKit based browsers running the latest WebKit code could fail to play from WebPlay.
6. Fixed: A few ID3v2 fields would not be properly read when using old ID3v2.2 tags.
7. Changed: Added 'Artist Sort' (TSOP) and 'Album Sort' (TSOA) mappings for ID3v2 tagging (not stock fields, but will populate if the fields are created by user).
8. Fixed: The Chromium engine would crash on Win2k instead of showing a 'not available' screen.

Thursday, February 24, 2011

The builds 38-39

16.0.39 (2/23/2011)

1. Fixed: Numerous fixes with the new web engine (back, forward, backspace, Netflix playback, etc.)
2. Fixed: Possible thread and memory leak after stopping playback that was converting the output to AC3.
3. Fixed: If the program crashed while recording a television program in the last five minutes and was restarted, recording would not resume if 'Do not record programs that have been recorded in the past' was set for the recording rule.
4. Fixed: In rare cases, the program could start maximized with only part of the window visible.
5. Fixed: The WAV encoder would use the .wav extension instead of .l16 when creating a headerless L16 for use on a DLNA device.
6. Fixed: Media Network would unnecessarily cache and stack audio files converted for playback on a DLNA device or Gizmo.
7. Fixed: Import of .l16 files would not work properly (player assumes the sample rate is 44100 Hz).

16.0.38 (2/22/2011)

1. NEW: Web pages inside the program use the Chromium engine instead of the Internet Explorer engine.
2. Changed: When used as a DLNA controller, the timeout for the Play command is changed from 10 to 20 seconds. Fixes trouble with XBMC.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

The builds 33-37

16.0.37 (2/21/2011)

1. NEW: Improved video converter (used by Gizmo) so that it uses the J. River audio engine to handle audio format conversions.
2. NEW: Zone links are preserved between program runs.
3. Fixed: Some dialogs would not draw properly unless they were resized (only applies to build 35 and 36).
4. Fixed: Video converter used by Gizmo, etc. would not always cleanup properly.

16.0.36 (2/18/2011)

1. Changed: Reorganzed core libraries to be a little more efficient with regards to size and loading speed.
2. Fixed: AverTV M780 PCIe device analog tuner played no sound when not in time-shifting mode.
3. Changed: If auto-import is unable to watch a folder for changes (happens with some network drives, etc.) then the program will scan for changes manually every 2 hours.
4. Fixed: Gizmo or DLNA devices could show a stale list of files in some cases.
5. Changed: When reimporting a previously removed file, the file will be reanalyzed.
6. Fixed: Picking a single file and saying 'Play (with Play Doctor)' would not make a good mix.

16.0.35 (2/17/2011)

1. Changed: Improved Wikipedia movie lookup to better handle titles full of common words like 'To Be And To Have'.
2. Fixed: The /Library command did not work when run through the launcher.
3. Changed: Improved performance when loading or resizing dialogs.
4. Fixed: The 'Remote' options page did not work nicely with large fonts.
5. Fixed: Remote control IR blaster commands could stop working after re-installing the player.
6. Fixed: Auto-import could be slow analyzing network files that were temporarily unavailable.
7. Fixed: Right-clicking a non-selected playlist and picking 'Lock' would not work.
8. NEW: When right-clicking a playlist group, the option 'Lock All Children' / 'Unlock All Children' is available.
9. Changed: If a user customized the temporary folder, temporary files will actually be created in a 'J River' subfolder of the user selected folder (any files or folders in the 'J River' subfolder will be deleted each run).
10. Changed: Video playback graph building will not consider failure to load subtitles / Line 21 (which madVR does not support) a critical error.
11. Changed: Faster video playback graph building in some cases.
12. Changed: Netflix now retrieves all it's 'feeds' in separate threads simultaneously.

16.0.34 (2/16/2011)

1. Changed: When the program had many programs in the television programming guide (hundreds of thousands), the program could slow down.
2. SDK: The MCWS Browse/Files function will return success with zero files on an empty item instead of returning a failure.
3. Changed: Czech language translation updated (thanks to Johnny B).
4. Changed: Updated Japanese translation (thanks to KANEY).
5. Changed: Added additional ASIO logging.
6. Changed: Revamped 'Registration Information' dialog so that it works better with large fonts and/or translation.
7. Fixed: Spacing between characters could be unnecessarily large in edit controls when using fonts with leading / trailing overhangs.
8. Fixed: Image playback of certain size images could lead to a crash.
9. Fixed: Wmhelper.dll was not getting registered in certain cases causing Performer login to fail.
10. Changed: On ASIO shutdown, buffers are explicitly disposed instead of relying on the driver to dispose outstanding buffers on unload (improves Roland Edirol UA-1Ex support, possibly others).
11. Changed: madVR runs in the graph thread instead of the main program thread.
12. Changed: When loading television programming, entries for programs older than 3 days will be discarded (previously 14 days of old programming were kept, but a smaller number helps performance).

16.0.33

Internal testing build

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

The build 32

16.0.32 (2/15/2011)

1. NEW: Simplified 'Media Network' options page.
2. Changed: Media Center 16 no longer works with a Media Center 15 license.
3. Fixed: When starting video playback, JRWorker.exe could be unnecessarily invoked to grab a thumbnail.
4. Fixed: When resuming from standby, auto-import folder watching could swamp the CPU.
5. Changed: The system to load an image to display while loading a file (or playing audio with no visualizations) is more efficient.
6. Fixed: Channel name edited in "Edit Channel" window did not stick.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

MC16 released for public beta testing

J. River Media Center 16.0 Beta has been released for public testing today. Link

The builds 27-31

16.0.31 (2/14/2011)

1. NEW: Added an "Edit Channel" button on Edit Channel List window to allow editing of existing television channels.
2. Fixed: Audio protect mode could engage incorrectly in some cases causing silence to be played.
3. Fixed: Play Doctor playback when nothing was provided as a seed was not working properly.

16.0.30

Internal testing build

16.0.29 (2/11/2011)

1. Changed: Reworked how playback statistics are incremented when playing from a server (Gizmo, DLNA device etc.) so that devices that request the same file multiple times during playback won't cause multiple play counts and Scrobbles.
2. Fixed: madVR could hang with build 28 (hopefully fixed, please let us know).
3. Fixed: Video playback could leave some filters loaded after playback was stopped.

16.0.28 (2/10/2011)

1. Changed: madVR display window is bound to the main user interface thread instead of the playback graph thread (should fix sluggishness issues).
2. Changed: Gizmo multiple Scrobbles for a single playback hopefully fixed (please let us know).
3. NEW: Added Protect Mode to audio engine that engages if a huge spike (due to a corrupt file, misbehaved DSP, etc.) comes through the audio chain and switches to silence for a few seconds (part of 'Clip protection' mode selected at bottom of DSP Studio window).
4. NEW: Reworked how internal volume mode is applied so that it's safer when used with a power amplifier (a DSP is not allowed to apply a gain that overrides the internal volume).
5. Fixed: The auto-upgrade from v15 to v16 would not work properly if v15 was installed to a directory with a custom name.
6. Fixed: Channel details for STB channels were not properly displayed on "Edit Channel List" window.

16.0.27 (2/9/2011)

1. NEW: MC supports Set Top Box television channels.
2. NEW: New latency system for 'ASIO' and 'WASAPI - Event Style' audio outputs that makes VideoClock require fewer and smaller audio rate adjustments (audio and video sync is typically maintained within 2 milliseconds, with about 0.0001 audio rate variation once sync is established).
3. NEW: MC supports Camera type "television channel". A user can manually add a "channel" that corresponds to a webcam device.
4. Fixed: Typing in other programs (and maybe other operations) while madVR was in use could be sluggish.
5. Fixed: The low-pass and high-pass filters in the 'Parametric Equalizer' could fail to work properly in some cases.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

The builds 20-26

16.0.26 (2/8/2011)

1. Changed: During image playback, the image edges have a subtle fade-out to make a smoother looking Pan & Zoom effect, and also to remove edge sparkle that can occur with some video drivers.
2. Changed: When grabbing the volume or position slider on the player at the top of fullscreen Display View, the player will not be hidden when the mouse leaves the window until the grab is released.
3. Changed: Renamed video smoothing feature in Options > Video to 'VideoClock (smooths video by adjusting audio)'.
4. Changed: Improvements to VideoClock so that it requires fewer and smaller audio rate changes.

16.0.25 (2/7/2011)

1. Changed: When restoring a library backup, a backup of the current library is not created before the restore when the current library is empty.
2. Faster: Loading of EPG / XMLTV data is around ten times faster.
3. Fixed: A typo in (television) Edit Channel List window.
4. Fixed: Hulu playback would show a solid black screen.
5. Changed: Tuned the width of the Theater View file info panel, especially for wide displays.
6. Fixed: Allow playback of 32 bit or greater integer formatted wavpack files.

16.0.24 (2/4/2011)

1. Fixed: MC2XML country code for United Kingdom was wrong.
2. NEW: Added 'Parametric Equalizer' DSP plugin.

16.0.23 (2/3/2011)

1. NEW: The browsing tree exposed to Gizmo or a DLNA device will update when the library changes (previously a restart of the server was required to see new or changed content).
2. Changed: When Play Doctor includes Last.fm tracks, it will put placeholder items in the list that will get substituted at playback time (because Last.fm tracks expire).
3. NEW: Netflix thumbnail and list views in Theater View now report whether titles have been "instant viewed" before and detail view shows the date and percentage of last viewing if file info panel is reset.
4. Fixed: Video conversion setting under Library Server did not "stick".
5. Changed: If a user customizes the temporary folder in Options > File Location, it will use that folder for all temporary files (previously the customized folder was only used in a few specific areas of the program).
6. NEW: Playback from Gizmo will update playback statistics and Scrobbles (requires updated Gizmo).
7. NEW: Playback on a DLNA device like the J. River Id, PS3, etc. will Scrobble the play when Last.fm Scrobbling is enabled on the server.
8. SDK: Updated SDK MJPlaybackAutomation object to better support DLNA or Library Server zones.
9. NEW: Add DLNA version 2 support. Check for problems with version 1.x devices (most devices).
10. Fixed: Remove extra nulls from POST body in DLNA control.

16.0.22 (2/2/2011)

1. Changed: Refined how some Quicktime file types are routed to different playback engines. Fixes mixed m4a, mp3 playback issues.
2. Changed: Reduced to one the number of UAC prompts that pop up when video conversion is performed for the first time.
3. Fixed: There was no progress message when downloading and installing DirectShow filters for m4a files.
4. NEW: DSP plugins can report their internal latency, providing better audio quality when doing audio rate adjustment during video playback.
5. NEW: Last.fm submitter maintains a queue of submissions instead of a single submission so when there's no internet or Last.fm is having problems, there is no performance impact on the program and Scrobbles don't get dropped.
6. Changed: When auto-import folder watching encounters problems, it tries to reopen watches a few times and then gives up if there are continued errors (hopefully fixes issue when resuming from standby while watching certain network shares).

16.0.21 (2/1/2011)

1. Fixed: The alphabet at the top of a view would not work in category views.
2. NEW: Revised clocking used when 'Adjust audio rate to maintain video sync' is enabled (thanks to madshi for all his help).
3. Changed: Improved YouTube support to understand the latest formats (including 4K HD MP4).
4. Changed: Improved performance when starting a YouTube video.
5. NEW: Added Options > Services > YouTube > Playback bitrate for selecting bitrate / quality used when playing from YouTube (downloads still always use the highest quality avaialble).
6. NEW: Added Options > Video > Synchronize playback clock with video hardware.
7. Fixed: When the volume Id for a CD disc was not available, an incorrect database entry could get created and ripping could commence with the wrong track data.
8. Fixed: When switching playback engines (from a natively supported audio file like an MP3 to a Quicktime file like an M4P) could block waiting for the first file to finish.

16.0.20 (1/28/2011)

1. Changed: Dutch language translation updated. (thanks bennyd)
2. Changed: Analyzer DSP lines (and other lines in the program) are drawn with anti-aliasing for a smoother look.
3. Fixed: Android video conversion was not working.

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.

Saturday, December 25, 2010

The builds 1-3

16.0.3 (12/23/2010)

1. Internal: Revisions to how some code is linked, resulting in slightly smaller plugins.

16.0.2 (12/23/2010)

1. NEW: Library Servers are automatically found on the local network, just like DLNA devices.
2. NEW: Library switching and management is done in the tree, under Playing Now > Play From.
3. NEW: Loading of libraries from DLNA servers is faster, does updating in the background, allows user playlists, etc.).
4. Changed: It's possible to hide discovered DLNA servers so they won't appear again (Tree > Playing from xyz > Right-click > Show Hidden Library to reshow).
5. NEW: Playing Now icons in the tree are grey when not playing, and green when playing in a zone.
6. Fixed: "DVD Menu" item on OSD menu was shown without any text or graphics during DVD playback.
7. Changed: When emailing images, higher quality (bicubic) resizing is used.
8. Changed: A value like O-1 as an artist, album, etc. would not work properly in the panes because the search engine would treat it like a letter range search (dash is now an escaped search character).
9. Fixed: When acquiring images from a camera, it would say 'Transferring 1 of x' _after_ finishing the transfer, so if the first file was a huge video, the transfer would look stuck.

16.0.1 (12/20/2010)

1. Fixed: Audio CUE files were being read with ANSI encoding so non-English characters were not displayed correctly.
2. Changed: Updated splash and about images.
3. Changed: Revised some copyrights to 2011.