Windows XP [Electronic resources] : Visual Quickstart Guide, Second Edition

Customizing the Now Playing Area

The Now Playing area has several panes that you can use to view videos, visualizations, media information, audio and video controls, and the current playlist.

Figure 10.9 shows these panes, which you can show or hide to suit your needs.

Table 10.2 (on the following page) describes each pane.

Table 10.2. Now Playing Panes

P

ANE

D

ESCRIPTION

Video and Visualization

Displays the current video or visualization that you're playing. If you're playing a video or DVD, rather than music, this pane appears automatically.

Info Center View

Displays detailed informationif availableabout what's playing. You can't display the Video and Visualization pane and the Info Center View pane at the same time.

Figure 10.10 shows Info Center View.

Enhancements

Contains several controls that you can use to adjust graphic-equalizer levels, video settings, audio effects, play speed, and the color of Media Player. You also can use this pane to share a streaming media clip with a friend. Figure 10.9 shows the graphic equalizer.

Media Information

Displays summary informationif availableabout what's playing. For music copied from a CD, for example, this pane displays the album art and album title.

Playlist

Displays the current playlist. For a CD, this pane displays the track names and durations. For a DVD, it displays the title and chapter names.

Title

The artist and title of what's playing.

To show the Now Playing area:

Click Now Playing on the Features taskbar.

or

Choose View > Go To > Now Playing.

To show or hide Now Playing panes:

To show the

Video and Visualization pane, choose View > Visualizations; then choose a visualization from the submenu (see the next section).

or

To show the

Info Center View pane, choose View > Info Center View.

or

To show or hide the

Enhancements pane, choose View > Enhancements > Show Enhancements.

or

To show or hide the

Media Information pane, choose View > Now Playing Options > Show Media Information.

or

To show or hide the

Playlist pane, choose View > Now Playing Options > Show Playlist.

or

To show or hide the

Title, choose View > Now Playing Options > Show Title.

Tips

Right-click any pane to show its shortcut menu. In the Playlist pane, right-click a specific song in the playlist.

To resize panes, drag the horizontal or vertical lines that separate them. The cursor becomes a double-headed arrow when you place it over a separator line.

If you're connected to the internet, Media Player retrieves CD information and album art from the All Music Group (AMG) web site (www.allmusic.com) and displays it in the Info Center View and Media Information panes. (If AMG's information is inadequate, try www.gracenote.com.)