Google har præsenteret nye funktioner, som kommer med Android 12, herunder frekvens-match, brugerflade i 4K-opløsning samt mikrofon- og kamera-indikatorer.
Android 12 til TV
Visse Android TV-enheder, heriblandt Nvidia Shield, tilbyder systemer til match af billedfrekvens, men funktionaliteten efterlader meget at ønske.
Fra Android 12 vil Google tilbyde 'refresh rate switching' på Android-niveau. Det gør en afspillerenhed i stand til at matche sit video-output til indholdets billedfrekvens (24fps, 25fps, 50fps, 60fps osv.), hvilket sikrer videoafspilning uden hak. Nye indstillinger vil kunne findes i brugermenuen.
- "For a smoother viewing experience, Android 12 now supports seamless and non-seamless refresh rate switching. Apps can now integrate these settings for playback of content at optimal frame rates. The Match Content Frame Rate user setting has been added to allow users to control this feature," siger Wolfram Klein, Product Manager, Android TV OS.
Tiden vil vise, hvor bredt frekvens-match bliver supporteret i streaming-apps.
4K-brugerflade, privatliv, gaming
En længe ventet forbedring er, at Android TV får brugerflader i 4K-opløsning i stedet for 1080p, som bruges på tværs af alle 4K og 8K Android TV i dag. En anden nyhed er sløring, hvilket app-udviklere kan benytte til at fremhæve ting i brugerfladen.
Google implementerer nye sikkerheds- og privatlivsfunktioner i Android 12. Det dækker konkret over en indikator i hjørnet af TV-billedet, når en app bruger mikrofon eller kameraet. Brugere vil desuden kunne slå mikrofon og kamera helt fra samt se en liste over apps, som for nylig har anvendt sensorer.
Under en særskilt præsentation, Google for Games Developer Summit 2021, annoncerede Google 'Play as you download', som skærer spil i mindre dele, så brugeren kan starte spillet så snart de første dele er downloadet – ligesom spil-download på Apple TV, PlayStation og Xbox. Spil er "klar til at åbne mindst 2 gange så hurtigt", lød det.
Android 12 har 'Play as you download'
Tilbage i maj annoncerede selskabet nye streaming- og fjernbetjening-funktioner til Android 12.
Læs også: Android 11 til TV vil understøtte tredjeparts spil-controllere
Android 12 til TV forventes klar til senere på året, men brugere må vente på, at producenten af deres enhed klargør softwaren, hvilket kan tage flere år. Nvidia Shield kører eksempelvis stadig Android 9 fra 2018, mens nye enheder lanceret i år typisk kører Android 10.
Android 12 til TV – nye funktioner
| Med Googles egne ord:
Media
At the heart of the TV experience is beautiful and seamless media playback. In the US, users are spending well over 4 hours a day watching media on TV, and are always asking for the highest resolution playback possible. With Android 12, we are releasing three new features to better support ever-improving picture quality.
- Refresh Rate Switching Settings: For a smoother viewing experience, Android 12 now supports seamless and non-seamless refresh rate switching. Apps can now integrate these settings for playback of content at optimal frame rates. The Match Content Frame Rate user setting has been added to allow users to control this feature, and apps can call Display.getMode to know if a user’s device supports seamless rate switching.
- Better display mode reporting: We are improving how TV devices report display modes and making hotplugging behavior more consistent. App developers no longer need to use workarounds for accurately detecting display modes or for handling HDMI hotplug events.
- Tunnel Mode Updates: Updates to Android’s tunnel mode are making it even easier for app developers to support consistent and efficient playback across devices by reducing media processing overhead in the Android Framework.
User Interface
A beautiful media experience needs an equally stunning user interface to match. Android TV brings two new additions to the UI that help developers provide users with a richer visual experience on high performance devices.
- Background blurs: Background blurring using RenderEffect (for in-app blurs) and WindowManager (for cross-window blurs) can now be used to easily enhance the visual separation of different UI layers.
Example background blur used to separate UI layers
- 4K UI support: For added visual fidelity, Android TV OS now officially supports UI rendering at 4k resolution on compatible devices. 4K UI resolution can be tested in the upcoming Android 12 emulator for TV to allow app developers to prepare their app for devices with the higher resolution.
Privacy and Security
With Android 12, we’re continuing to focus on giving users more transparency and control while keeping their devices and data secure. Beta 3 for TV includes many of the new privacy features from the Android framework.
- Microphone and camera indicators: Users will now see any time apps are accessing the microphone or camera by showing an indicator on the TV screen. For better visibility of recent app accesses to microphone and camera, users can visit their privacy settings on TV.
Microphone and camera indicators showing during a video call. Video credit: Ekaterina Bolovtsova
- Microphone and camera toggles: Two new global privacy settings are now available, allowing the user to easily toggle access to the microphone or camera. When those toggles are disabled, apps will be unable to access microphone audio and camera video.
Microphone and camera indicators showing during a video call. Video credit: Ekaterina Bolovtsova |
Flatpanels
