what do you want on the recording screen?

[Davide-NYC]

Why not create a system so that people can use tags to make the recording screen look however they want, just like the WPS system?

The developers have said that this would be an unnecessary amount of extra coding work.   I tend to agree with them.  We don't need total user control of the WRS. Maybe a "minimal" WRS and a "full" WRS and a menu setting to choose between the two.   But even that sounds like too much to me.  

[petur]

Let me put up another vote for a very visual recording indication. Last night I missed half of the first song by not pressing REC correctly. Stealth recording not always allows to watch the screen closely, lucky for me I did and saw my error.

How about something simple like changing the the peakmeter color or part of the background?

For the rest, I would (for now) just convert the current recording screen items to the viewport layout, nothing new or less.

[Llorean]

Why not hide the Time and Size lines completely until recording starts (just leave that area blank). That way you know when recording begins because a significant portion of the screen suddenly has much more text on it. Meanwhile, this also doesn't depend on display size, or color, or backlight, since these lines are alraedy present / used.

[Davide-NYC]

Let me put up another vote for a very visual recording indication.

Why not hide the Time and Size lines completely until recording starts (just leave that area blank).

Continuing on this idea: The industry standard is blinking for pause/arm/engage (double bar) and solid (red dot) for recording.

I know I said earlier that I do not want anything flashing, but after doing a spot of research I did confirm that this behavior is pretty much industry standard. (oops)
 
So we could simply have the first two lines blank while stopped, flashing while paused (or pre-recording) and steady (and changing) while recording.

How about something simple like changing the the peakmeter color or part of the background?

This is not good on grayscale or monochrome targets.

Implementing Big WRS Icons is clearly the best way to do this in my opinion! (See my previous posts.)

 

[MarcGuay]

There are some suggestions regarding voicing of the recording screen at this flyspray task:

http://www.rockbox.org/tracker/task/5427

[peteswensson]

I find myself much in agreement with the objectives identified by Davide-NYC.  I'll tell you why.

My name is Pete, and I am a taper.  I've been one for about 20 years.  I don't still use tape, but I still do much of the recording in the dark, amid loud noises and many other distractions.  I goof up all the time.  I hate that.  When you are recording in the field, there are no do-overs.  So the recording screen should be easy to read at a glance.  To avoid screw-ups, one should be able to easily see the key information, such as codec, record/pause/stop status, elapsed recording time, input source, etc.  It helps a lot to base the symbology on standard industry practice, as David has pointed out.  That's just another way of relying on standardized formats instead of making up proprietary ones.  More user-friendly all around, one of the hallmarks of Rockbox that I value so highly.

I have another reason for a particular interest in the WRS appearance.  After cataract surgery and several retinal tears and detachments, my eyesight is now pretty weak, particularly in low light levels.  I have several iriver H300-series player/recorders, and the default Rockbox font is WAY too small for easy reading on the high-resolution H300 screen.  Hence the ability to specify fonts is very important to me (Nimbus 12 offers good clarity for me). 

On one of my three H300-series player/recorders, I retain an unsupported build from last September with the Recording Enhancements Pack ("Darky's Build," which I found on MisticRiver.net), because I value the REP so much.  Along with the ability to specify font, I appreciate being able to make the peak meters more than one line thick.  That makes them show up a lot better.  The histogram is also valuable because it retains a record of clipping or potential distortion from excess volume longer than the floating peak markers.  In a field recording situation, you are not likely to be staring at the peak meters constantly - rather, glancing once in a while.

I have modified one of my H320's to CF, becoming an H308.  In doing so, I have had to give up the REP since I have to use the current build to use CF.  On the other hand, I can now record from the built-in mic without picking up the irritating whine of a hard drive.  My idea of the ideal player/recorder is an iriver with Rockbox, the REP, and the CF mod.  Today one can get two out of the three, which is impressive. 

My compliments and thanks go to all the developers who are advancing the technology!  I support the effort to upgrade the WRS in the current build, and eagerly look forward to the progress of that effort.