Album Art via the Keg?

[Toran]

Hello All,

I have the Music Keg KHD-C10 and was wondering if anyone has used it with another Kenwood head unit to display album art?

T.I.A

[judb]

the keg doesn't have any video capability.

[Toran]

Thanks judb for the feedback. Wasn't sure if you images embedded in the mp3 files would be able to show on a Kenwood DVD HU. Would be nice to throw a few movies on the DMS with the option of viewing them.
Has anyone done this?

T.I.A

[markbowen]

The latest Kenwood DVD HUs will display album art if it is embedded in the MP3 file -- at least they will do so with MP3s on CDs and flash drives.  Theoretically, they should do the same with files on a Keg/Phatbox, but I'm not sure since the HUs "see" the Phatbox as a big CD changer.

I am putting in a DNX7200 (DNX7100 in the U.S.) next week, and I will report if the album art displays or not.  For video, judb's right, there is no capability built into the Keg.  (Phatnoise did build some video units for GM.)  I plan to use my Keg for music, and I'll have an iPod in the glove box for video.

[judb]

The compressed audio is decoded on the keg itself and sent to the head unit like a cd changer would send it.

there is NO WAY to display video or images from the keg to the head unit.

CD and DVD discs burned with mp3s on them with album art included in the ID3 tag are read by the head unit and it can then display that data if it is capable of it.  Totally different ways of accessing the data.

[markbowen]

The compressed audio is decoded on the keg itself and sent to the head unit like a cd changer would send it.
there is NO WAY to display video or images from the keg to the head unit.
CD and DVD discs burned with mp3s on them with album art included in the ID3 tag are read by the head unit and it can then display that data if it is capable of it.  Totally different ways of accessing the data.

That's kind of what I meant when I wrote that the HU sees the Keg as a CD changer rather than a hard disk, but I was still hopeful. 

With 160GB iPods out, which can do video and display album art, my Keg might finally be approaching obsolescence.

[Toran]

Thank you very much for the informative info!
 

[Toran]

I have yet another question. Inside my PHTDTA is a folder called AlbumArt.
Should something be in this folder?

T.I.A

[S80_UK]

I have yet another question. Inside my PHTDTA is a folder called AlbumArt.
Should something be in this folder?

If you attach album art to albums or playlists using Phatnoise Media Manager, then the art is stored here on the DMS when you perform Sync and then Save to DMS.  But as stated above, there is no mechanism for getting the images out of the Phatbox/keg to the head unit.  This may have been in Phatnoise's plans at some time in the past, but as a feature, it has never been implemented as far as I know.

[Toran]

Thank you

[S80_UK]

With 160GB iPods out, which can do video and display album art, my Keg might finally be approaching obsolescence.

Only when I can navigate my audio collection without having to take my eyes off the road (and when iPod can play FLAC...)    

[judb]

The album art feature was for the Keg 2.0 that never made it to market and for the GM video capable phatbox that was made.

[Toran]

Nice...

[markbowen]

I've got my DNX7200 all hooked up, and here are just a couple of comments (if anyone is interested):

1. Judb is right (as usual), the interface with the keg does not allow for the display of album art.  What is more surprising is that despite having more than enough space on the DNX visual interface, it will only display a maximum of two lines of tags from DMS tracks.  So, you can have artist + track, or album + track, but you cannot have artist + album + track (as you can with the iPod).  Of course, I could play around with the tags in PMM to display all the info I want, but still...

2. S80_UK also makes a very good point.  A huge advantage that the keg has over the iPod is VIOT.  I was hasty in my comments, and will be sticking with the keg for now -- especially as I have now found Western Digital makes an 2.5" ATA 250GB hard drive.  Take THAT, iPod.

3. Minor quibbles aside, the DNX7200/7100 is awesome.  Keg for music, iPod (or DVD) for video, Garmin navigation, plus I added a bluetooth module for hands-free phone operation, and it is all nicely integrated.  If it could rub my shoulders while I drive, I would marry it.

[VorTechS]

1. Judb is right (as usual), the interface with the keg does not allow for the display of album art.  What is more surprising is that despite having more than enough space on the DNX visual interface, it will only display a maximum of two lines of tags from DMS tracks.  So, you can have artist + track, or album + track, but you cannot have artist + album + track (as you can with the iPod).  Of course, I could play around with the tags in PMM to display all the info I want, but still...

You should be able to simply modify the PBX file for each playlist rather than modify the tags directly.

2. S80_UK also makes a very good point.  A huge advantage that the keg has over the iPod is VIOT.  I was hasty in my comments, and will be sticking with the keg for now -- especially as I have now found Western Digital makes an 2.5" ATA 250GB hard drive.  Take THAT, iPod.

I'll keep quiet about the features I'm putting into PhatHack MM that will allow you to create voice prompts and insert them as the first item in a playlist (or cleverly renamed if the device doesn't support playlists so it is the first item read).  Well, except I wasn't planning to buy an iPod to see if it will work with PhatHack MM....

3. Minor quibbles aside, the DNX7200/7100 is awesome.  Keg for music, iPod (or DVD) for video, Garmin navigation, plus I added a bluetooth module for hands-free phone operation, and it is all nicely integrated.  If it could rub my shoulders while I drive, I would marry it.

Worth noting this.  My mate's got one of these and uses the USB connection with a 2G memory stick, and I've been thinking about getting the single DIN version, now I don't need to think and can not worry about if it will work with the Keg.
Shame the interface is a bit pants and that the skins are just 'coloured' versions of the same interface.

[VorTechS]

I meant M3U, not PBX.

The tags on my DMS files are correct - but the M3U is incorrect, and the M3U ties up with what's being displayed on the head unit.

[Toran]

Could you be saying that the newer features in PhatHack MM would be better than buying VIOT?

[VorTechS]

VIOT is a pretty good function, and I wouldn't advertise my features as being a 'replacement' for them.

Essentially they will allow you to have a basic VIOT function, where you get a simple voice announcement on the change of an album, regardless of whether or not your HU supports it. 

[Because the voice file is simply an audio track inserted into the playlist in one form or another].

VIOT has an overall advantage that the HU can modify the order of playlists based on different criteria - being Album, Genre or Artist.  This isn't something that could be achieved through PhatHack Media Manager without us being able to crack the Phatbox player code which is not on the horizon.

[Toran]

Looking forward to trying out that basic VIOT function in PhatHack MM when it becomes available.

[oncl_fab]

hello, isn't there a way to put album art possibility with a hacked firmware ?
bye bye