Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Streaming New 'Core Control' iPad App Impressions & Comments

I expected the cover to look no better or even worse but I am surprised that it is affecting text and buttons.

Well presumably all apps need to be 'scaled' for the new display. Not sure where or how this is done but if video scaling is any guide, it will introduce artifacts.

No. The screen is still 1024x768 points (not pixels) irrespective of whether you are using retina display or not. Since applications use points rather than pixels, the screen is the same size so if you place text or images etc they are going to be in exactly the same positions and size on all iPads. Behind the scenes, iOS does the scaling, so will automatically use higher resolution text (but at same size) and buttons etc to give a crisper image. This is what is happening on the right of the album display but not on the left and is very marked difference in quality. For images, iOS tries to automatically load a high resolution version of the image (with @2x appended to the file name) and if it doesnt find one (ie app has not been optimised for retina), it scales the image x2. This will result in a non optimal quality image (same quality as iPad gen 1+2 quality) and I believe this is what we are seeing, but it is not a poor image compared with the buttons and text.

I wonder if Meridian are somehow converting text and buttons on left of screen to a bitmap and using that instead which is then scaled rather than high resolution versions being substituted?

I got the new iPad and tried out the Core Control iPad App. Coming from a first generation iPad, the new one is much faster in running Core Control. I find most text in the app to be sharper and better resolved than the first generation iPad. The queue for example has better text and in general most icons look better.

The flaws: as others have alredy noted, the text, buttons and images on the left hand side in the album screen information look pretty bad. Really noticeable in comparison to the right hand of the same screen. I am also experiencing a random delay in loading the album screen information after selecting the album from the browse view. Sometimes it loads instantly but often times there is a delay of up to three or four seconds or so. I wonder if this delay could be related the the bad image on the left side in album screen information. Almost like the app or iPad is looking for something it cannot find. Still, if you have a first generation iPad like I did I would upgrade.

Get the same random delay in loading album screen on iPad2. I assumed it was a Core issue rather than an app issue.

First time posting impressions of CC. I was DYING to get the app and have to admit...it's quite awesome!!! Yes, there are some flaws/bugs (as most have pointed out) but so far, nothing that has affected my playback and I'm grateful for the app.

Question. When playing an album, how do you "Swim" in that artist? I have the option of "swimming in a current focus" but that's not what I want to do.

In Explore-My Library-Artist, then hit the button on the left of the artist name in question- tap swim in this artist!

I am enjoying the new iPad app, but why is the new album listing not the same as on the Control:10 display? It is very confusing and makes me think the developer did not have a Control:10 nearby...

I doubt that very much, but, suspect that it is because it is a different size, operates in two orientations, swipes left and right.

If you look at the copyright info for Core Control you will see that various bits of open source software has been used including what would appear to be the album grid viewer. Meridian would be limited by what the open source library provided and have to work within the limited options of the iOS touch interface.

Thanks for that. Bummer that you can't just do it from main browse (like when you are in a particular artists CD). Hey, I'm not complaining!! LOVE this app!!!!

Just a thought and it may have been covered, is there a way to associate albums without making them into sets?
Example, I have John Fogerty live an album that would be usefull to associate with "Creedance Clearwater Revival".
This would be a usefull future feature.
Cheers, Chris