Wednesday 29 August 2012

Customising LCD Output in XBMC

XBMC Introduction

XBMC is a media player which was initially designed for use with the Xbox, when it was called Xbox Media Center. The player is open source, and can now run on lots of device types, such as television sets and PCs. Most of the main operating systems can run XBMC, including Windows, Mac and Linux.

People are watching TV in lots of different ways these days, and for many of us the PC is the main medium for all of our entertainment, including tuning into TV shows. You can use XBMC to watch the television on your computer, and the system has been extended into a host of derivative applications such as Boxee. XBMC can be used with enhancements such as interactive program guides, and can also tune into radio broadcasts.

How Can the XBMC LCD be Customised?

You can customise XBMC output in a number of ways, for example with regard to the LCD output when media playback is going on. To do this, you need to edit the lcd.xml file. Within this file you can indicate the details of how you want the display to be customised by altering the XML structures.

The lcd.xml file can be found in the "UserData" folder for your XBMC installation. Where to locate this file depends on which operating system your version of XBMC is running on. Specific details for each platform can be found in the XBMC online manual.

How Does XML Work?

If you're not already familiar with XML structuring, don't worry. Familiarising yourself with the basic principles involved in XML is not difficult, even if you don't have much technical experience.

The following is a trivial example of what the content of an XML file may look like:


Cake
Pie


XML is used to model data for many different types of application, and the lcd.xml file contains the settings for various aspects of playback output on the screen. You should be able to open the file in any basic text editor.

What Elements of LCD Output can be Tailored?

Numerous elements can be altered to dictate LCD output in XBMC. These include music, video and navigation among others, and each of these categories is contained within a dedicated area of the lcd.xml file. You will see "line" tags indicating each specific area of output, and these will be contained within the relevant categories.

Inside the "line" elements, you will see various "InfoLabels" which are the specific aspects of media playback to be displayed. These variables can be used to indicate information you want shown on the screen while a particular media item is playing. These can include, for example where music is concerned, title, time, artist and album.

What is the Easiest Way to Choose Settings?

By far the most straightforward way to pick what settings you want for the XBMC LCD is by referring directly to the online manual. The manual lists all of the possible variations, so you can easily experiment with them until you find the display options you want.

Because the XBMC player is open source, it is designed to make user customisation possible in a number of ways, giving you an excellent level of control.

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