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Theatertek DVD player
Posted: October 14th, 2005, 9:49 am
by pietplezier
It would be soooo awesome if someone can come up with a Theatertek plugin.
This program gave me a way better display then Zoomplayer or PowerDVD.
Posted: April 11th, 2006, 12:14 am
by BlizzWave
Yeah, i agree

theatertek dvd player gives soo much better pic qualtiy than powerdvd..
zoom player can be just as good as theatertek if it's configed right with ffdshow..
but thats another discussion
like pietplezier i would also like an plugin for LCD Smartie..
I use a VFD on my HTPC and it would be greate to see info about the movie i was playing in theatertek..
Posted: April 11th, 2006, 12:32 am
by Fast351
Don't hold your breath. All the DVD player software makes it almost impossible to extract any information. The only thing I've seen is a girder plugin that intercepts API calls that draw the numbers. Not exactly a reliable method.
I've put a bug in the ear of some of the people at Theatertek, but their lukewarm to somewhat cool response to my suggestion that they make it easier to get even time info from the player I wouldn't count on anything real soon.
-Mike
Posted: April 12th, 2006, 6:51 pm
by Fast351
Spoke too soon. I just got an e-mail from TT with a sample VC++ application (with source code) that will retrieve information from TT. It looks like they're adding a messaging component in their software with a pending v2.3 release.
I haven't worked out any details yet, but it looks like TT may be a reality in the future.
-Mike
Posted: April 13th, 2006, 4:19 pm
by BlizzWave
okay, can't wait for the plugin

Posted: April 15th, 2006, 2:19 pm
by BlizzWave
http://www.theatertek.com/Forums/showthread.php?t=8877
www.theatertek.com
- This version is 'stubbed' for VFD support, so LCDSmartie should be able to support TT 2.3 shortly.
Posted: April 16th, 2006, 2:22 am
by Fast351
BlizzWave, send me an e-mail address, you can test....
Posted: April 22nd, 2006, 1:24 pm
by xsnrg
This hasn't been updated in a while, but the functionality they put into 2.3 works, and does exactly as they say... if only there were a way to get the media title out of it...
Posted: April 22nd, 2006, 2:02 pm
by Fast351
The best bet for that is to get the disc serial number (a unique number by title, not by disc) and then create some sort of lookup for it on the internet. I think there are web services out there that do this translation.
I'll put a bug in the ear of my contact at TT to see if they can spit the serial number back.
Posted: April 22nd, 2006, 2:04 pm
by xsnrg
This what I was thinking too.. basically have the plugin query a DB like the FreeCDDB and grab the info for the matching serial #, then just display the variable as one of the options (1,8,0) etc.
Hopefully, TT will be good to us again.
Posted: April 28th, 2006, 8:32 am
by jhoff80
Will this be up for download on the site anytime soon?
Posted: April 29th, 2006, 3:26 pm
by TheaterTek
We have just provided the additional information for the unique Disk ID, so hopefully this can be incorporated and used in the plugin.
TheaterTek Support
Posted: April 29th, 2006, 11:14 pm
by Fast351
The beta release for the plugin will be available by Monday.
-Mike
Posted: May 1st, 2006, 1:22 pm
by Fast351
Beta version:
http://www.fast351.com/htpc/theatertek.zip
If you find any problems with this cut, please post here.
Posted: May 1st, 2006, 5:54 pm
by BlizzWave
Have you done anyting new to it sice i tested it 2 weeks ago?
Posted: May 1st, 2006, 6:52 pm
by Fast351
Just a little cleanup, and the Disc ID, but you need a newer version of TT for that, which I'm not sure is out.
Probably no difference for you.
-Mike
Posted: May 1st, 2006, 7:21 pm
by jhoff80
Newer version of TheaterTek is out, with other features than just the LCD Smartie disc info included.
I was wondering though, this is kind off topic. Is it possible to have three different setups for the LCD (that much I've figured out already), which change to the correct one based on what program is running? I've got one setup for Winamp, another for Theatertek, and a third for when neither are running. I checked the Winamp one to only be when Winamp is active, and the other two for only when Winamp is inactive, and it didn't seem to be changing on its own at all. Also, theres not an option for when Theatertek is active only. Any idea what I'm doing wrong?
Edit: I got it to change on its own, I'm not quite sure how. Anyway, is there any way to make this Theatertek plugin only turn on when Theatertek is active, like the Winamp one does? Also, is there any way to make a third screen (mine is only the time) which turns on only when both Theatertek and Winamp are inactive?
Posted: May 1st, 2006, 7:28 pm
by Fast351
We need to add a "skip if X is true" function to Smartie. I've been thinking about how to do that because I'd like the functionality as well, but I have yet to figure out an elegant method of doing it.
It's on the list, no promises as to when though.
-Mike
Posted: May 1st, 2006, 7:38 pm
by jhoff80
Wow that was a quick reply. In all honesty, it doesn't quite matter to me yet, as I'm still in the planning stages for my HTPC; I just know I plan on getting a OrigenAE case, and was trying to see how well I could get things to work for now, but if you could get that implimented anytime, that'd be great.
Posted: May 1st, 2006, 7:39 pm
by Fast351
I just looked at LCD Smartie, and it looks like the actions can enable and disable screens. The right and left variables need to be numeric values, so if we had a DLL call that returned 1 while Theatertek is running and 0 while Theatertek is not running, you could use that to enable and disable screens.
I'll play with this tonight, and see if I can make any headway.
-Mike
Posted: May 1st, 2006, 7:42 pm
by jhoff80
Sounds great. Thanks a bunch.
Posted: May 1st, 2006, 10:54 pm
by Fast351
http://home.fast351.com:4141/theatertek.dll
Function 4 (no params) returns 1 if theatertek is live, 0 if theatertek is not.
Set up your theatertek screen as not enabled.
Then add two actions
if $dll(theatertek.dll,4,0,0) > 0 enablescreen(1)
if $dll(theatertek.dll,4,0,0) = 0 disablescreen(1)
where 1 is the screen with theatertek stuff on it.
Hope that helps.
-Mike
Posted: May 2nd, 2006, 3:27 am
by jhoff80
Seems to be working great, thanks.
(Although, I just did = 1, instead of >0 like you suggested).
Posted: May 3rd, 2006, 1:41 pm
by BlizzWave
Cool! Now my htpc works like a dvd player
If I start TheaterTek the theatertek screen in LCD Smartie comes on and stays on until I shut down TheaterTek
I also used the same method as jhoff80, works like a charm.
Thx for this great plugin Fast351!
Posted: May 6th, 2006, 3:02 pm
by xsnrg
Kudos to Mike, and to Theatertek for gettin er done. It speaks well of Theatertek to be willing to work with us.