GNOME Bugzilla – Bug 460609
Playback tab in preferences is complex
Last modified: 2018-05-24 12:43:22 UTC
Remove "Player Backend" checkbox and enable crossfade by default. Crossfade duration has sub-second accuracy, is that necessary? Could it be simplified to a selector for: gap-less, gap and crossfade. With a preset amount of time for the gap and crossfade options. Can crossfade time be calculated by analyzing the sound level of the last seconds of the song to determine the best mix point? Can network buffer size be removed completely and perhaps obtain current network speed automatically then base the buffer on that speed. If network speed can't be obtained, then just ask the user for there current network speed and base buffer on that(totem does this i think) or just default the speed in gconf. Other information:
(In reply to comment #0) > Remove "Player Backend" checkbox and enable crossfade by default. I don't think this is a good idea. The crossfading player backend still has a number of bugs that might cause users to prefer not to use it, and visualization still doesn't work properly. > Crossfade duration has sub-second accuracy, is that necessary? Could it be > simplified to a selector for: gap-less, gap and crossfade. With a preset amount > of time for the gap and crossfade options. By "preset" you mean "not exposed in the configuration UI"? > Can crossfade time be calculated by analyzing the sound level of the last > seconds of the song to determine the best mix point? Maybe. I wouldn't count on this actually happening, though; it's an awful lot of work for negligible gain, and bugs in the algorithm would probably be quite annoying. > > Can network buffer size be removed completely and perhaps obtain current > network speed automatically then base the buffer on that speed. Not reliably. > If network speed can't be obtained, then just ask the user for there current > network speed and base buffer on that(totem does this i think) or just default > the speed in gconf. I don't see this as being any simpler or more logical than a slider that you adjust until network playback works acceptably. Totem doesn't adjust the buffer size based on the connection speed, as far as I can tell. It's only used to choose between multiple available streams.
> I don't think this is a good idea. The crossfading player backend still has a >number of bugs that might cause users to prefer not to use it, and >visualization still doesn't work properly. So maybe when it is stable? > By "preset" you mean "not exposed in the configuration UI"? Yeah, just "gap ---- no-gap ---- crossfade" > I don't see this as being any simpler or more logical than a slider that you > adjust until network playback works acceptably. How about detecting network congestion on the stream and alter the buffer to compensate?
(In reply to comment #2) > > I don't think this is a good idea. The crossfading player backend still has a > >number of bugs that might cause users to prefer not to use it, and > >visualization still doesn't work properly. > So maybe when it is stable? That was my unstated plan, yes. No idea when I'll be happy to consider it stable, though. > > By "preset" you mean "not exposed in the configuration UI"? > Yeah, just "gap ---- no-gap ---- crossfade" I don't see why it's a good idea to take this option away. I freely admit that I'm not a typical user, but the first thing I'd think when I saw that would be "where do I set the length of the gap/crossfade"? > > I don't see this as being any simpler or more logical than a slider that you > > adjust until network playback works acceptably. > How about detecting network congestion on the stream and alter the buffer to > compensate? That sounds like it might work, but again it'd be difficult to get right, and would require a lot of testing.
(In reply to Matthew Gregg from comment #0) > Remove "Player Backend" checkbox Happened. > and enable crossfade by default. Not happened. > Crossfade duration has sub-second accuracy Still the case. > Can network buffer size be removed completely Happened.
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