XrossMediaBar (XMB)
クロスメディアバー / 2003–2013 / Layout / Platform Screen Languages
Sony's trademarked interface language for its consoles and televisions. As the official manual puts it, the horizontal row shows system features in categories and the vertical column shows the items available under each category, and the single point where the two cross lights up gold to say where you are. Everything else stays pale blue on a dark field.
At a glance
Visual cues
- A horizontal row and a vertical column cross slightly left of center, and only the item at that crossing glows gold
- Text labels appear for the selected item alone; the rest of the rows are icons only
- The ground is one near black navy and the icons are thin pale blue outlines rather than filled shapes
- Left and right move through categories, up and down through items, but it is the rows that slide while the crossing stays put
Best used for
- Building a television or set top interface that must be reachable end to end with a four way pad alone
- Making a top level menu for a screen viewed from across a room, where the number of categories will keep growing
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Dictionary entry
- Type
- A light sans at a size readable from across a room; only the selected item carries a name, the rest stay as icons.
- Composition
- Fix the crossing point slightly left of center, run categories out horizontally and items vertically from it, and slide the rows under a stationary crossing rather than moving a highlight.
- Material
- Thin pale blue outline icons on a near black ground; emphasis comes only from lighting the one item at the crossing in gold, never from filling an area.
- Caution
- Move a highlight instead of holding the crossing still and the viewer loses their place the moment a row grows long.
- Further study
- the XMB section of the official PS3 online manual, defining the roles of the horizontal row and the vertical column / screenshots of real machines set side by side, showing how the same XMB shrank onto televisions and handhelds / measuring where the crossing point sits on screen, model by model
Related entries
- Metro (メトロ)Shared effects: Technique.Compare XrossMediaBar (XMB) and Metro
- Aero (エアロ)Shared effects: Luxury / Technique.Compare XrossMediaBar (XMB) and Aero
More from Platform Screen Languages
Continue through styles in the same Platform Screen Languages family, prioritised by shared effects.
- NeXTSTEP Interface (ネクストステップ・インターフェース)Shared effects: Technique / Calm / Luxury.
- Adwaita (アドワイタ)Shared effects: Technique / Calm.
- GOV.UK Design System (GOV.UK デザインシステム)Shared effects: Calm / Technique.
Browse all Platform Screen Languages entries
Cite this entry
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- Link
- https://indexstyle.org/styles/xmb
- Markdown
- [XrossMediaBar (XMB) — IndexStyle](https://indexstyle.org/styles/xmb)
- HTML
- <a href="https://indexstyle.org/styles/xmb">XrossMediaBar (XMB) — IndexStyle</a>