Displaying Channel Logos (*in* the EPG Grid) on Windows 7 + Tracking Upcoming DVDs/Movies
CHANNEL LOGOS ON THE EPG GRID
Further to the previous couple of posts (where I showed off channel logos in the details area of the EPG) – I figured out how to enable the EPG Channel logos on the actual grid. This is more desirable – as you can see all the channel logos – rather than just getting it when you highlight a show. Instead the logo + channel number are displayed – instead of the channel name + number.
Rather than 7MC thinking it’s a broadband/internet tv channel (where logo is on the left – and you can’t see the epg data) – in this example – these remain as tunable channels (so you can still watch them …).
Here’s what it looks like (nb: the EIT data went offline for Channel 9 + HD – not as a result of what i have done…). Also note that I didn’t reinstate the channel logos down the bottom (as this is set against a different db value) :
Similarly – the logos appear in the live tv miniguide :
USING MEDIA CENTER TO BROWSE UPCOMING/LATEST MOVIES ON DVD AND AT THE MOVIES
I also had a thought – that the ‘Movies on TV’ Browser – could ALSO be used to browse upcoming/latest Movie releases (both on DVD and at the Movies). Because of the ease of linking to Movie Metadata (see last post) – where you only need to supply a title and a couple of other fields to get detailed information – I figured it would be a good way to get other movie data. (in case of other content like DVD’s on the harddrive – you need to determine DVDID’s etc before this will work – quite a bit of manual work).
I also figured that I could add some additional channels (and categories) – which would be hidden in the guide (via use of custom lineup) – but would appear in the Movies on TV Browser. The additional channels are then named after the content – ie . ‘COMING SOON (DVD)’.
So I gave it a shot and hears what it looks like for a movie called ‘Meet Bill’ – which is coming out on DVD in Australia next week (note that I’d unmapped other EPG data at this point – hence the lack of other movies / covers coming up) :
You’ll notice it says COMING SOON… on the details section at the bottom (this might instead say NOW PLAYING AT MOVIES etc)…
When you drill down on the title – then you can get the full metadata (without me supplying any). The channel name of ‘COMING SOON..’ is also displayed up the top. I can then use either the EPG Scheduled Starttime/EndTime or the Original Air Date field (see below)(to represent the date that this movie is coming out at the rental store (or cinema) :
Unfortunately for this though – it appears that AMG only really have dvd covers for movies already released on DVD/TV in the US – so for some of the newer titles both at movies and on dvd (I tried Valkyrie for example – starting soon at the movies) – I could get the rich metadata but no cover. I think however – its possible to actually override a dvd cover link via the metadata and solve that problem.
Also – for actually getting the list of titles coming soon (or recently released) – there’s a lot of rss feeds out there that could be scraped/converted (if someone in the community gets the urge) – representing movies, dvd releases and downloadable content (netflicks etc)..
Additionally – you’ll see that the ‘record’ button still appears – so I’ll either have to remember not to press that (doh!) or find some way of making particular channels non recordable.
the fun continues….
mobilewares
