[weaver]

Hi All,

We are using 4 460DRN´s in a 2x2 videowall configuration with Magic Info Pro 3.102. After some initial problems with synchronization all appears to be working well, just a couple of questions:-

1. Between scheduled scenes there is a dark purple flash in the images. We have added fade and fade out so that the images are black at the changeover point but the flash is still there. It similar to effect that we have seen switching between video files when in full screen mode on PCs with BS Player for example. It would appear to be related to the render mode and overlay of the graphics card. We have tried updating ATI drivers and playing with configurations but cannot remove the flash. Any Ideas ??

2. After assigning a videowall scene to the group we have to then specify one by one the video wall position of each screen and for each scene. Is there no way of keeping this fixed for the whole system ??

3. Related to point 2, Does Magicinfo Video Wall handle this situation differently ??

4. What would be the fundamental advantages of using Magic Info Video Wall instead of Magic Info Pro in our configuration considering that we need no more than the current 4 screens ??

Many thanks,

Denis

[weaver]

Just a little clarification, I have used the term "Scenes" for what MIP calles "Screens" and I have used the term "Screens" for the physical displays. I will try to be more careful in the future !!

[Ewanl30]

when you setup the scene as you call it check the base background colour when the screen use the transition they show the background colour on the screen so if this is red you would see red between transitions.

[weaver]

Thanks Ewanl30, tried that but it made no difference, maybe I should explain more. We are using just a 6 second .wmv file which starts from black 1 sec, 4 secs video and then another 1 sec black. The screen (this time properly called !!) is defined as Video Wall type with one full screen video frame (only thing allowed) with the video set to repeat. The purple flash is maybe 1 just 1 frame duration between the repeats. Using your suggestion I applied green to the screen background and indeed this is shown when the schedule is newly published but from then on, even between repeats, it is not seen, just the dark purple flash. I guess you where refering more to a list of fotos with transitions where the background would be seen. Ia am going to give that a try to confirm your comment.

[Ewanl30]

Hmmmm when you move from video to video are you setting them up under the one movie area or are you adding a different area for each video your playing.

also are both files .wmv files?

[weaver]

OK It looks like I am getting somewhere:-

I have made a normal screen (not VW type) with the same vfw file at full screen and have a flash
I have made a normal screen with the same file in a rectangular area and have a flash
I have made a normal screen with a different file in the area and have the flash

Up until there everything looks logical, but..

I have made a normal screen with two different videos A and B in two different rectangles and only have flash in the first one placed
I have done the same placing the videos firs B then A, the flash is now in B (the first one placed)

This reminded me of something I read commenting that using remote desktop the first video is not visible but the rest of them are. Correct, when I connect to this display with remote desktop I can only see the second video placed, the one without the flash. This is typical behavior when the video reproduction program is using overlay on the video card.

So this gives me a solution for the normal screens, just cover up the first video with the second and the flash cannot be seen.

But what about video wall ?? as this is always full screen it is logical to have just one video but it is possible to have two. First I place a short black vfw file as video number one and then place on top another area with the video really required and this works.

It is a shame that I am having to make the system work harder using 2 video and also I am not using video overlay which is optimised. It is also difficult to explain to the end user that he must always put a dummy video first when editing screens.

It would be nice to have a more elegant solution or indeed be able to disactivate video overlay on the displays graphics cards.

[weaver]

It was a nice try at a work around but using a non overlay video layer is messing up the synchroniztion between displays.

Any more ideas out there ??

[Good_Signage]

Have you tried different video formats?  As you explain this "dark purple" flash, it reminds me of times that I've worked with digital video formats that have embedded copyright securities and exhibit similar issues.

[Ewanl30]

Hello

Ive been looking over similar issues and this seems to be a common problem with some Tv's
Im guessing here but have you tried changing the video from 1080 24p to 720 and see if this helps the issue some
advise sites are advising if the tv has an eco mode to shut this off however this may degrade performance.

In the meantime ill continue to look see if i cant help find you a solution.

Ewan