A+ Technician's on the Job Guide to Windows XP

Now Playing is the primary interface area that you will use with Media Player. It lists or shows whatever type of media you are currently playing. Most types of media will automatically launch Windows Media Player. For example, suppose that you want to listen to your favorite CD. All you need to do is put the CD into the CD-ROM drive. Windows XP scans the CD, recognizes it as an audio CD, and launches Window Media Player. Media Player then begins playing the CD, which shows up in the Now Playing area. If you decide to watch a movie clip, it also appears in the Now Playing area.

So, what can you change and configure on the Now Playing interface? The primary purpose of Now Playing is simply to provide a convenient area in which to see and hear all multimedia. Although you do not have specific configuration options for the media, you can adjust what is displayed in the Now Playing area and how Media Player displays it to you.

First, in the upper-right corner of the Media Player interface, you see three buttons:

• Show/Hide Equalizer Settings  This button lets you either show or hide the equalizer settings in the Now Playing window.

• Show/Hide Playlist  This shows or hides the playlist in the Now Playing window. For example, if you are listening to a music CD, the Now Playing window displays the songs on the CD if this option is enabled.

• Shuffle  This button shuffles your current playlist. This feature is cool if you want to play a music CD and not hear the songs in the same old order.

Use the standard buttons at the bottom of the Media Player to play the media, stop playing the media, adjust the volume, and use related stereo/video controls. You can find these same controls in the Play menu at the top of the interface. The little boxes with an arrow through them that you see in the bottom-right of the interface enable you to shrink the interface to a compact mode or enlarge it back to full-screen mode.

Aside from configuring the immediate options on the interface, you can use the View menu to change a number of items concerning the Now Playing interface. The following bullet list tells you what options are available to you and what they do:

• Full Mode  The default display is shown to you in Full Mode. If you switch to SkinMode, use this option to return to Full Mode.

• SkinMode  This option gives you a smaller interface. You have the same options, but some of them appear as pop-out menus. This option takes up less room on your desktop. If you are in Full Mode, click this option to move to a more compact mode.

• Now Playing Tools  This option provides a pop-out menu where you can choose to perform the following actions:

  • Show Playlist  This is the same option as the button found directly on the interface.

  • Show Titles  This option displays title information about the media, such as the artist and songs, name of the video, and so on.

  • Show Visualizations  Windows Media Player can give you visualizations in the Now Playing window. Visualizations are just interesting graphics files. You’ll learn more about visualizations later in this list.

  • Show Equalizer and Settings  This option gives you an equalizer and related video settings on the Now Playing area. You can use these controls to adjust playback quality. If you choose the Show Equalizer and Settings option, Media Player displays controls for such features as SRS WOW Effects, Graphic Equalizer, Video Settings, Media Information, Captions, and DVD Controls. Your choice here depends on the type of media that you want to play. If you choose to use the Show Equalizer and Settings option, a small drop-down menu is available on the Now Playing interface so you can easily switch controls as needed.

  • Show Resize Bars  Resize bars appear between the different options that you elect to show in the Now Playing area. The resize bars enable you to adjust the size of the components.

• Visualizations  As mentioned earlier, visualizations give you a graphical view while you are playing audio-only media. For example, when you play a CD, the Visualizations option displays interesting graphical patterns that move to the beat of the music. If you like this feature, the pop-out menu that appears here allows you to select the type of visualization you want to use.

  Secret

  You can also change the visualization directly from the Now Playing area by clicking the arrow buttons found under the graphical visualization window. You can also easily manage the visualization available to you by clicking Tools | Options, then selecting the Visualizations tab. You’ll find a simple interface where you can add and remove visualization files.

  Note

  Additional visualizations can be downloaded from the Windows Media Player web site at http://windowsmedia.com/mg/visualizations.asp?.

• DVD Features  The DVD Features controls enable you to manage playback quality if you are currently playing a DVD disk. A number of control options are available, such as playing in slow or fast motion, playing one frame at a time, and so on. If you’re not playing a DVD disk, this option is grayed out, and of course, the features are only available if you have a DVD drive.

• File Markers  When playing video, you can use this option to view the different markers within the video file. This feature enables you to skip to different areas of the video.

• Statistics  When playing videos, access this option to view statistics about the video transmission quality. The statistics window may be particularly helpful when troubleshooting problems with streaming media.

• Full Screen, Refresh, and Zoom  The final options in the View menu provide basic viewing capabilities that are self-explanatory.