Use the Screen dialog to connect a new device to the platform and configure your existing devices.
To display this dialog, on the Screens tab:
- click the Add Screen button (
), - click the label of a screen item; or
- click the Options button (
) and select Edit.
General
When adding a new device, there is a download link at the top of the tab. Download and install the app to see the MAC address, which will enable you to associate the new device with the new screen item.
- MAC address — Enter the device's MAC address. If you are editing an existing item, then this field will already be populated and cannot be changed.
- Label — Enter a meaningful label for the screen to help find it in the future.
- Notes — Enter any notes about the screen.
- Custom status — A custom status can be set for informational purposes to manage a deployment lifecycle. For example: Testing, Shipping, Live, Faulty, Returned, Retired. The custom status of screens can be displayed on the home tab and will be dynamically listed in the screen filtering options.
Display
Use these settings to control what is displayed on the screen.
- Sequence — The dropdown list contains all the sequences you have access to. Select a sequence to start playback on the screen. When instant updates are available the next and previous control buttons will become available. Pressing these buttons will instantly change the item displayed on screen, making it possible to remotely control the sequence.
- Text — Scrolling text to display at the bottom of the screen. See also Scrolling text
- Updates — Select when sequence updates and multimedia downloads will start.
- Standby — Configure when the player should exit allowing the device to sleep.
- NFC — Enter a URL for a web page that will be displayed on a phone placed near the NFC hardware. This requires compatible NFC hardware and Android screen lock to be disabled.
- Beacon — Enter a URL for a web page that is advertised to compatible phones by the BLE beacon. This requires compatible BLE hardware, firmware, and Android 5.1+.
Software
The Software tab controls the player software used to display the sequence on the screen.
Custom player implementations are available to provide advanced functionality such as using cameras for audience analytics, device testing and custom use-cases.
There are two main software players:
- Standard player - android-player-X.apk
- Google exoplayer - android-exoplayer-X.apk
In most cases, the standard player provides best performance on low-end devices. The exoplayer variant provides some additional features such as gapless video playback and better live streaming support.
Commands can be sent to a device to perform maintenance and debugging:
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
| Send log | Send log information to the server to help debug problems. (DS Loader v6+) |
| Send screenshot | Send a screenshot of what is currently on the screen to the server. Please note, videos may be displayed as black when they are using hardware acceleration. (DS Loader v6+) |
| Clear data | Delete all downloaded images and videos stored on the device. |
| Restart app | Stop the app and start again. |
| Stop app | Stop the app and do not restart. |
| Reboot device | Shutdown and restart the whole operating system. Only works on rooted devices. |
| Upgrade DS Loader | Upgrade the loader software responsible for loading the player. Only works on rooted devices. |
Location
This tab displays the current geographic location of the screen. If the device has GPS support, the location will be automatically updated. If no GPS device is available, the IP address will give a rough location. A location can also be manually specified.
Events
Define events that interrupt regular playback.
An event consists of two parts; a trigger and an action. When the trigger occurs, the action is performed. Actions include displaying a web page, playing another sequence, collecting data (such as an email address), or adding advanced data.
A trigger can occur at any time while the item is displaying and the action will interrupt the playback of the active item.
Click New event to display the Configure event dialog and define an event.
Access
Grant additional users and user groups to access to the screen item and set the access level.
Users with access to this item
Enter a valid email address, select the access level, then click Add.
- Full — The user will have full access to the item.
- Read only — The user can only view the item.
Users with access to these groups have access to this item
Enter a valid group name, select the access level, then click Add.
- Full — Users with access to the selected group have full access to the item.
- Read only — Users with access to the selected group can view the item but not control it.
- Low vis — Users with access to the selected group will not see the item displayed in the full list of items. This can help speed up performance when there are a lot of items. For more information see Low visibility access controls.
Click the Delete button (
) to remove a user or group from the screen item.
Data
Add custom data to the screen. The data may be used in condition evaluation or controlling advanced player settings.
For more information, see Screen data in the Screens > Advanced section.