This design is straight forward and flexible and takes advantage of the advanced graphics capability of the TSU7000. The interface was designed to be user friendly for all who may use it. In most cases, each component has one screen containing the most used buttons that keeps ‘screen flipping’ to a minimum. Furthermore, the user can switch from any component to another from any screen in the interface. For example, if you are watching TV and want to switch to the DVD, all you need to do is tap the DVD icon on the top of the page and the TSU7000 will turn off the TV and switch on all components needed to watch a DVD.

What makes this design unique is the presence of the ‘splash’ screens. Splash screens are the ‘animated’ screens that appear while the TSU7000 is performing a lengthy macro. For example, when the TSU7000 is sending the commands to turn on a component, there are many steps it needs to perform. In the 5-7 seconds this takes to complete, this interface will flash through screens updating the user on the status of the task.

NOTE: All hard keys will be used to control VOL+/-, CH+/-,MUTE and DIRECTION PAD for each component interface.

The first screenshot is of the home... (more)

This is my attempt to design a unique configuration for the ProntoPro NG. I like to design devices that look similar to the original remote, so others could operate the remote with ease.

The TOOL, DEVIVE and PAGE# labels have changed cosmetically. HARD-BUTTON 1 through 4 are reserved for instant access to frequently used devices. HOME and HARD-BUTTON 1-4 also function as page down when pressed again.

For additional info, press the [?] button, where available.

Note: Some buttons (lights and scene) are not programmed since there are many different ways to send X-10 signals. Also, toggle lights (in the SCENE section) does not work on current version of emulator(1.0.10.0), but works when downloaded to the ProntoProNG. Please download the PCF file and take a look. Unleash your creativity and copy, modify, add and edit to your liking!

RUNNER UP! This is a completely custom PCF, with an emphasis on navigation and simplicity. The top area of the design remains consistent from one screen to the next, making operation of the remote fairly intuitive. An "All Devices" button on every screen gives the user access to a given device within two button presses. I've avoided duplicate buttons (like having 4-way toggles on screen) that might confuse novice users. All graphics (with the exception of the Favorites show icons) are 100% original.

This layout is an evolution of my TSU3000 layout. It is activity-based and makes heavy use of macros to control my two zones of equipment and home automation. The layout of hard and soft buttons for each device follows a pattern, making it fairly simple to learn to use. It contains a fairly extensive help system. The look borrows from the plastic look of some of the Max OS X widgets.

If you're looking for animations and wild colors, then this PCF is not for you. It was designed with the older generation in mind, with nice big buttons, large text and a simple but effective layout. All buttons have a pressed and released state image. As on all of my PCFs, I have included the cursor buttons on the screen as well as the hard buttons. XaraX was used entirely for the design.

I like chrome so most of the layouts are that. For the CD I used a copper layout. For the Tuner and DV Cam I used transparency. From the Home page, short transaction animations are used.

On the Devices page you will find more stuff including the VCR and the DV Cam. I like my 5.1 speaker balance page which you can get to from most devices by pressing the 4-speaker button. You just select the speaker you want to adjust and use the left or right arrow keys. If you click the "RECEIVER SETTINGS" button you'll get to a page where I was experimenting with nature buttons. Looks like it could use some cloud buttons!

My PCF is a device based design split into parts for two rooms of the house. It is set up to keep all devices in sync regardless of whether discrete codes are available.

Each device maintains a theme of stylized rounded buttons using a conistent layout to make it easy to find controls which are common between devices. Each page has a 'Master Off' button which will turn off all equipment related to the device and take you back to the main home page.

I have demonstrated the use of the ProntoPro's translucent capability by using see-through menus for selecting audio, device, D-pad, and lighting settings.

For the cable box device, the menus slide out from the bottom or sides showing simple animation techniques. It works great on the remote, but the simulator causes the screen to flash when changing pages, making the animation less smooth. Delays were added to slow it down in the simulator. These delays are not necessary on the actual remote. I hope you enjoy the graphics and layout design. It was a lot of fun to work on.

This PCF has all original graphics that make use of the transparency and colors available. Each device has a uniquely colored background for all of its related pages as well as a help screen to identify the functions of the cursor and its surrounding buttons. The layout is quite intuitive to use. The soft buttons are well sized and spaced to help avoid pressing the incorrect one.

This layout is an evolution of my TSU3000 layout. It is activity-based and makes heavy use of macros to control my two zones of equipment and home automation. The layout of hard and soft buttons for each device follows a pattern, making it fairly simple to learn to use. It also contains a fairly extensive help system. This look is the result of me playing around with transparent buttons.

This ProntoPro NG layout is named 'blasenkammer' after an inspiring picture of bubble chamber experiments I found some times ago in the net. (Blasenkammer = bubble chamber auf deutch.) Parts of that picture, heavily edited, are used as background in this layout.

The usability model of my layout is action or mode based and it originates from my ProntoNEO layout that I have found practical among users of different ages (5 - 77). Use of the hard keys at the bottom of the screen (Firm1-Firm4) differs from almost all of the layouts that I have seen. The middle ones are used in all modes to power up, configure and switch down the whole system. I call these buttons green and red buttons (in fact I painted the hard buttons on my ProntoNEO green and red accordingly). Leftmost hard button is used to accees menu functions for main device in current mode. Righmost is used to go back to home page and to re-select the mode.

To start up the system select first from the home (mode) page what you want to do: watch TV (actually DVB or Digi TV), watch DVD, watch VCR or listen to CD. The selected button takes you to mode pages. Note that the system is not automatically turned on. In order to do... (more)