Selecting the Right UI
Selecting the Best User Interface (UI)
The LinuxMCE Orbiter User Interface (UI) was designed to be viewed on a basic television from 10' away. There are currently three versions of the UI, and selection depends greatly on the type of video card you have. See more screenshots of the different UIs.
The highest resolution user interface, UI2 with alpha blending, only works with nVidia cards in the 6xxx, 7xxx, or 8xxx series. Use Graphics Test to determine which UI your graphic card can support.
UI1
This is the basic UI. If you can load Kubuntu, this UI will work with nearly all graphics hardware, and it requires no special drivers. There are few special effects enabled in this UI. The menus are full screen; when you start media your media also becomes full screen (replacing the menu menu screen).
If you need to do use the media menus while your media is playing, the media shrinks to a corner of the screen and the rest of the screen shows your media menu. If you need to return to the main menu to do something else (like adjust the lights), your media is hidden while the main menu appears is displayed.
UI2 medium
This is lightweight, OpenGL-based version of the newest UI. This requires a video card that currently supports OpenGL and XDamage. This UI uses masks to overlay the media behind the menus.
UI2 with alpha blending
In this UI, your media is first and foremost -- the media is always full-screen (it never shrinks and never disappears).
If you're not watching any media, LinuxMCE downloads photos from flickr.com, which are presented as a background screensaver. If you want to bring up the main menu or use the media menus, these menus are blended into the media image, which is known as alpha blending. This UI includes a 3D media browser, which shows the media files in your home on the sides of a rotating 3D cube.
Few video card manufacturers have the necessary composite extensions in their Linux drivers to support these capabilities, however. At the moment graphics cards confirmed to support all the functions of UI2 are the nVidia 6xxx and 7xxx and 8xxx series, with at least 128MB RAM.
Controlling LinuxMCE
There are several ways to manipulate the UI. Here are some examples.
- Control LinuxMCE using an Infrared remote
- Control LinuxMCE with Gyro Remote
- Use the keyboard/mouse of a Media Director.
