Display of Mixed Content Library on Home Screen is Inconsistent

[Guest CodeCat5]

I have a mixed content library that I use for documentaries, which works well to store single one-off shows along with multi-episode series. I've noticed that the "Latest Documentaries" section on the Roku app's home screen though is showing the wider format for images and adding the gray bars on each side. It's only like this on my Roku devices though. My Shields, Firestick, Phone, and the web interface show the normal posters, so I'm assuming the formatting here wasn't intentional? I'm also somewhat assuming it's because it's a mixed content library that it's behaving this way since it's the only one I have setup, but I can dig deeper to confirm if needed.

[ebr 16169]

Hi.  Yeah, with mixed content we have no idea what format of image we're going to encounter so we err on the side of caution and use a landscape container.  The Roku is a little less flexible with mixed image ratios than some of the other platforms.

[Guest CodeCat5]

1 minute ago, ebr said:

Hi.  Yeah, with mixed content we have no idea what format of image we're going to encounter so we err on the side of caution and use a landscape container.  The Roku is a little less flexible with mixed image ratios than some of the other platforms.

Gotcha, fair enough. Of course it's just a minor annoyance, but I figured I'd ask since it looks a lot better everywhere else I've seen.

[demhinds 5]

On 5/25/2022 at 8:56 AM, ebr said:

Hi.  Yeah, with mixed content we have no idea what format of image we're going to encounter so we err on the side of caution and use a landscape container.  The Roku is a little less flexible with mixed image ratios than some of the other platforms.

How best to remedy this?

Is the landscape container attempting to pull the thumbnail or backdrop image? Do the images need to be renamed "landscape"?

I ask because all programs in mixed content libraries appear this way (cover image with grey bars on either side), even shows which have a thumb and/or backdrop image associated with them.

Thanks! 

[Luke 42077]

14 minutes ago, demhinds said:

How best to remedy this?

Is the landscape container attempting to pull the thumbnail or backdrop image? Do the images need to be renamed "landscape"?

I ask because all programs in mixed content libraries appear this way (cover image with grey bars on either side), even shows which have a thumb and/or backdrop image associated with them.

Thanks! 

We are continuing to work on improving it and making it more adaptable to your content. It just happens to be much tougher to do on Roku than other platforms.

[demhinds 5]

22 minutes ago, Luke said:

We are continuing to work on improving it and making it more adaptable to your content. It just happens to be much tougher to do on Roku than other platforms.

I gather that, it seems to me like Roku likes to make things extra fun, eh? 

As a workaround for shows within a mixed content library, could I simply upload a primary image with landscape dimensions? If so, when browsing within the library using the "primary" media view option, would that image then appear stretched/distorted to fit the cover dimensions, or would the image be auto cropped/centered?

[ebr 16169]

We can try defaulting mixed content to portrait presentation and see if that creates fewer issues.

Thanks.

[demhinds 5]

43 minutes ago, ebr said:

We can try defaulting mixed content to portrait presentation and see if that creates fewer issues.

Thanks.

That would be awesome! Thanks for having a look at this.

[demhinds 5]

I've been playing around with your fantastic plugin, @ebr, Cover Art 4, and am a bit blown away as I didn't realize it was possible to customize anything on roku Emby beyond background images, etc. I see a ton of potential here and am in fact able to have the cover image fill the whole container for mixed content on the home screen, however, I can't seem to make it default to the Thumbnail image, it just stretches the primary image, even if I set the "specific cover" to "episode" which should pull a thumb. It does, however, put a thumb in the container on web/Android.

 

To get the point.. I am actually really fond of how the landscape thumb looks when used on mixed content, so instead of having Emby roku default to portrait, I'd suggest keeping it at landscape but have it pull the thumbnail instead of the primary, with the background image as a backup. Is this possible? Alternatively, I've also been looking at the API because it looks like I could change my container styles that way, but am unsure if those changes will translate to roku or just show on the web app. Please advise. 

 

I really appreciate your efforts here, and would also be happy to contribute graphics for any planned Coverart updates as I'm pretty handy with photoshop. Not so much with the technical side of things, though. 

Thanks! 

[ebr 16169]

Well, the issue isn't that mixed content is using thumbs.  It is that it is assuming the primary images may be landscape.

So I still think the best course would be to just assume the primary will be poster shaped.

[390x99xdsa 6]

I had the same complaint, but I was able to re-create my libraries so they were not mixed content.  That process was flawless, pretty fast. Everything now displays nicely on the Roku screens.   Thanks.   Being someone that doesn't hold back with my complaints in the past, I want to say I'm impressed with the reliability and performance.  Been a long time user and things have sometimes had a work-in-progress feel, but you've gotten it to a very good place.  

[Luke 42077]

54 minutes ago, 390x99xdsa said:

I had the same complaint, but I was able to re-create my libraries so they were not mixed content.  That process was flawless, pretty fast. Everything now displays nicely on the Roku screens.   Thanks.   Being someone that doesn't hold back with my complaints in the past, I want to say I'm impressed with the reliability and performance.  Been a long time user and things have sometimes had a work-in-progress feel, but you've gotten it to a very good place.  

Thanks for the feedback !

[ebr 16169]

11 hours ago, 390x99xdsa said:

I had the same complaint, but I was able to re-create my libraries so they were not mixed content.  That process was flawless, pretty fast. 

Yes, that is the best course of action if possible but the next release of the app will use a portrait container for mixed libraries.

Thanks.

[demhinds 5]

That is excellent to hear. I suppose everyone has their libraries set up differently, which is the beauty of Emby, but it can have its kinks. You guys do consistently awesome work and are very responsive. I am a fan. Any rough idea of when this next release will go? 

[Luke 42077]

5 minutes ago, demhinds said:

That is excellent to hear. I suppose everyone has their libraries set up differently, which is the beauty of Emby, but it can have its kinks. You guys do consistently awesome work and are very responsive. I am a fan. Any rough idea of when this next release will go? 

Hi, as soon as it is sufficiently tested and we feel that it is ready for release. Thanks.