DMS 3

The DMX3-W is our Digital Media Server (DMS) as Light version (Windows) that is used as a dedicated server in a corporate network. DMX has no multi-account capabilities and is not capable as an internet hosted server such as DMS. If you need these functions we recommend using full DMS instead based on Linux Centos OS or as a VMware container.

DMX3-W requires Windows XP, Vista or Windows 7. The installation is done with a Windows setup installer. To install just follow the instructions of the installer program.

Digital Media Server Lite (DMX)

User Manual – English

STINOVA Ltd.
Published: March 2010
Revision: 3.2

Disclaimer

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Introduction

Thank you for using our advanced Digital Media Server (DMX / DMS) Software for a variety of Digital Signage Applications including Content Management, Playlist Creation, Content Scheduling, Player Administration, and User Management. Please note – DMX is almost identical to DMS but with a reduced functionality compared to DMS such as no multi-client (account) capabilities Therefore in the ongoing document DMS and DMX (server part) will be both named DMS.

Core Features

• Content Management including Video, Pictures, Audio, Text Ticker, Flash, HTML
• Event Trigger such as – HTML via HTTP Server, RSS Feed, Multicast Stream, TV Tuner
• Screen Layout Designer
• Playlist Creation, Playlist Cue
• Scheduler for scheduled play-out and Calendar view
• Automatic content deployment
• Player management
• Player reporting
• Administration with System, Client, and User management

DMS Workflow

DMS Priority Playout Options

DMS and DMP Data Flow

WEB-based User Interface

The DMS interface is divided into 3 main regions. Top region for information, left region for selecting main menu items, and the rest of the browser window is used for workspace.

The initial screen after log-in provides on the workspace several icons providing a shortcut to the often used menu items such as Content, Playlists, Schedules, and Players by clicking on the icons.

Login

Login Window

The DMS Server can be reached via the following URL: http://<IP_of_Windows_PC>

Login name for admin: admin
Default admin Password: 123

Please enter your account details as Login and Password. If you check the “Keep me logged in” checkbox you will not be disconnected automatically after 30 min of no activity.

Running your first Playlist

This chapter guides you through the mandatory steps to get your first playlist running on a Digital Media Player (DMP) and describes the concept of the various elements and sections of our Digital Media Server. Although the system is complex and could manage several hundred to thousands of players, it can be managed with a few mouse clicks to get your first playlist running.

When logged in you can see the status screen which informs you about

1. Content: The number of each content elements (Video, Audio, Pictures. Text, Flash) is loaded on your server
2. Playlists: The number of playlists you have built
3. Schedules: The number of Schedules are created and how many are active and inactive
4. Players: The number of players are registered by this account
5. Accounts. The number of accounts that have been created on this server

Furthermore you can see the login user and the last login date and time. On the top right status bar it appears the version number, login user and the logout link to log out from the DMS server.

Step 1: Upload Content to the DMS Server

All content elements that should be managed via DMS and played-out on the Digital Media Players (DMP) have to be uploaded to the DMS before. There are two possibilities on how to upload content to the server. You can

1. Upload via the Mass Upload Tool listen in the Content elements. "Content" -> "Content Upload"
   • Browse… button opens the local File Explorer to choose content elements from your local PC.
   • Remove button can remove selected elements of the content element list
   • Clear list button removes all selected content elements
   • Press Upload button to start the upload process
   • Press Cancel button to cancel the upload process
     
     
     
     
2. Upload via Button in Content Folder. "Content" -> "DestinationFolder" -> "Content Upload"
   • This also shows up the MassUpload Popup
3. FTP Upload with any FTP client. You can upload with any FTP client (e.g. free Filezilla at http://filezilla-project.org) your content to a predefined directory inside DMS. Log with your ftp client to the DMS server using the user and password of your login account. Upload into folder /upload then it will be automatically registered within 5 minutes once upload finished.

Please note! After uploading content via ftp it may take up to 5 minutes before it is shown in the Upload folder.
Below you can see the upload folder with some content elements.

As soon the uploaded content elements appearing in the upload folder you can move them to any existing folder by selecting content element you want to move and then choosing the desired folder and press the Move To button.

To delete single content elements press the trash bin icon. To delete multiple icons select them and press the Delete button.

Once video files are uploaded to the DMS it will automatically detect the format, size, resolution, video duration and will create a thumbnail of it. Same applies for uploading pictures. Please note, a picture has no duration – therefore there is a default duration assigned for the picture (10 s) on how long each picture should be displayed when loaded in a playlist. If needed, this default duration can be overwritten for the system within the “Administration” -> “Event types” menu or for each picture inside the event element.

Step 2: Create Screen Layout (Frame Templates)

DMS supports unlimited screen layouts that can be full screen or iFrame layouts

Before creating a screen layout you need to assign a name and you should be aware of your native screen resolution. To achieve best quality results we recommend using the native screen resolution of your panel. If you have different multiple panels with different screen resolutions the DMP will recalculate and scale the frame layout unless you create different frame templates with different resolutions.

A full screen layout allows playlists with sequential content elements.

An iFrame layout allows creating multiple frames with each frame playing sequential elements.

Go to "Content" -> "Frame Layouts" and press the button "Add new template"
Then following dialog should be apear:

Frame template parameters

• Template name: Assign a unique template name here
• Template resolution: Select your template resolution (best results if it matches your screen resolution)
• Template note: Add your notes for this template here
• Template background: Add the background picture for your iFrame template
• Template background color: If you do choose a background image you can select a background color

Screen designer for iFrame Layout

After pressing "Save frame template" the designer window should apear. If your browsers popup blocker blocks this window you have to allow it to open the designer.

Most design possibilities are provided by using iFrame layouts. iFrame layouts allow multiple zones (also called frames) and independently playing content elements in each frame on top of a pre-defined fixed background image. After opening the iFrame editor you will see your pre-selected background image in original size. To add an iFrame click on the “add” button on the bottom leftand you will see a new iFrame (rectangle) on the top left corner. Click on the frame and move it to the appropriate position on the screen. To resize the frame double click on it and resize one of the frame corners. Add a frame name in the “name” field. Press update after each field entry. For precise frame positioning and size by pixel enter the “x”, “y”, “w” and “h” field in pixels.

Screen Layout (Frame template) overview:

Click on the frame template to modify properties.
Click on the edit button to change the name of the frame template.
Click on the trash bin icon to delete the frame template.

Please note if the frame template is in use with a playlist, it can’t be deleted before the playlist is deleted. Furthermore for frame templates in use it is not possible to add or remove new frames.

Template creation

The best possible quality can only be achieved by creating content and playlists in the exact resolution used by your DMP/display. This means every single pixel will show-up as created in your “graphics/video editing software”.
Rescaling & resizing will always either create a softer image or even create “jaggies/sawtooth-effects”.
Here´s an overview on the most commonly used resolutions and aspect ratios found computer graphics vs. TV: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_common_resolutions

4:3 Aspect Ratio
1024x768
1152 × 864
1280 × 960
1400 × 1050

16:9 Aspect Ratio
720p (1280x720)
1080i
1360x768
1366x768

16:10 Aspect Ratio
1440 x 900
1650 x 1050
1920 x 1200

Although the system is trying to recalculate frame layouts and rescale content, we highly recommend for best quality to produce the “content” and the template in the exact pixel-resolution of the native display resolution.

Step 3: Playlist Creation

To create a new playlist click on "Playlist management" -> "Playlists" and then on the orange "Add new playlist" button on the right.

Now you need to assign a name for your playlist and select one of the previously created frame templates which you want to use for your playlist. Furthermore you can add some notes to your playlist which could be helpful if you need to search for specific key words when managing hundreds of playlists in the future.

Now you can see a preview of the new added playlist with a screen layout and all created frames. To add to each frame your content events (content elements such as videos, pictures, flash, html) choose the appropriate frame by clicking into the frame preview or inside the frame list.

Click “Add new event” to add a new content item to the appropriate frame area. An event can be a previously uploaded content element (such as video, picture, flash, text, audio) or a trigger event such as opening a remote html page, open an HTML RSS feed, join a multicast video stream, select a TV tuner channel (if hardware is available), open an internet video stream or trigger other control events such as Volume, JavaScript, or Shell Script.

Depending on what event type you select, there are different event properties that can be adjusted.

This example shows to select a video content item to be added to the playlist fame region.

After the screen with the event properties is shown press on the "Select content Item" button.

After pressing the button “Add selected content block to playlist” the content element is added.

Event types and properties

The following events are available:

Event type	Description
VIDEO	Video file uploaded to the DMS repository
AUDIO	Audio file uploaded to the DMS repository
PICTURE SLIDE	Picture file uploaded to the DMS repository with transition effects
PICTURE FLASH	Picture file uploaded to the DMS repository with flash transition effect
PICTURE	Picture file uploaded to the DMS repository
TICKER	Ticker Event for the rolling text ticker – could be uploaded text file, text entered in the text field or RSS URL
JS	Trigger JavaScript command
SHELL	Trigger Shell command
VOLUME	Trigger the volume level
FLASH	Flash file uploaded to the DMS repository
HTML Page	Trigger to open URL from the playlist
MULTICAST	Trigger to join a multicast video stream
Browser RSS	Trigger to open a RSS Browser feed
HTML Slide	Create local HTML page with built in HTML editor
TUNER	Open a TV channel (only available if tuner is built in the player)
HTML Text	Create a HTML Text field with HTML Editor
Video Stream	Trigger to open a Video Stream over the Network

Video Event

The video event is calling the installed media player on the DMP to play-out video files. Supported video formats are dependent on the installed type of video player on the DMP.

Field Name	Description	Values
Event name	Event Name can be set here otherwise the content name is used
Event duration	If no duration is set then the duration of the video will be used. If set duration then it will play the video for the configured shorter duration time.
Video File	Name of the selected video file
X	X coordinate in pixel – only need to be set if video should not be positioned inside the frame
Y	Y coordinate in pixel – only need to be set if video should not be positioned inside the frame
W	Video width in pixel – only need to be set if video should not be played at the size of the frame
H	Video height in pixel – only need to be set if video should not be played at the size of the frame
Volume	Adjust the volume level of the video	0 - 100
Alpha	Set the alpha color (only on hardware decoders available with video layers)
Keycolor	Set the alpha color (only on hardware decoders available with video layers)
HTML	Loads an empty HTML page into frame before video starts (prevents that other browser event still runs in the background while video is playing on top)	Yes / No
Zone	Set zone here if video should be played in another zone
Key_Color_Range	Assign a color range used as key colors (only on hardware decoders available with video layers)
Extra_Parameter	Special settings for the video players such as de-interlacer, cropping etc…

Picture Event

The picture event is based on loading the picture into an i-frame inside the web browser and allows formats besides jpg’s or gif’s, displaying transparent png’s on top of the background image. We recommend for displaying full screen images or transition effects to use Picture Slide or Picture Flash events as long DMP model permits.

Field Name	Description	Values
Event name	Event Name can be set here otherwise the content name is used
Event duration	A picture content has no duration by its nature therefore there is a default duration sot by DMS for 10 seconds. This can be changed in this field.
Picture File	Name of the selected picture file

Picture Flash Event (only available on Linux Player DMP-T)

The picture flash event can be used on PC based DMPs which wraps the pictures into a flash container allowing various transition effects. We do not recommend using this in full screen mode as the CPU load of upscaling flash is too high for various DMP models. Please note that this event is only available on some DMP models and if flash player application is pre-installed.

Field Name	Description	Values
Event name	Event Name can be set here otherwise the content name is used
Event duration	A picture has no duration by its nature therefore there is a default duration set by DMS for 10 seconds. This can be changed in this field or changed in event properties if default should be changed to another value.	Default value is 10 seconds
Picture File	Name of the selected picture file
W	Sets widths in pixels of flash container if smaller that frame size
H	Sets height in pixels of flash container if smaller than frame size
Transition Type	Sets the type of image transition. Can be fade, dim, burn or random
KenBurns	Switches KenBurns effect on or off	Yes / No
Motion Timing	Sets the duration of image motion in seconds
Motion Ease	Sets the ease type of image animation. Can be linear, sine, elastic, back, bounce or random
Move Range	Sets the percentage range to move the image
Zoom Range	Sets the percentage range to zoom the image
Rotation Range	Sets the degree range to rotate the image
B Color	Sets the slideshow background color	hex value
Inner Shadow	Switches on or off the inner shadow around the modules boundary	Yes / No
Progress Bar	Switches the overlay bar on or off	Yes / No
Overlay Effect	Switches the overlay effect on or off	Yes / No
O Effect	Set the overlay effect such as snow, leaves, rain, flowers, bubbles, hearts, spark, star, field, hbars, vbars, oldmovie
Caption	Sets the text used as caption.
Caption Size	Sets the size of caption font specified in points
Caption Color	Sets the color of caption text specified in hex format hex value
Caption Alignment	Sets the horizontal alignment of caption text. Can be right, left or center.
Caption Position	Sets the vertical position of caption. Can be top or bottom.
Caption Opacity	Sets the opacity level of caption background in percent.
Caption B Color	Sets the caption background color specified in hex format.	hex value

Picture Slide Event (only aavailable in Linux Player DMP-T)

The picture slide event can be used on PC based DMPs and provides better picture scaling results as picture event and transition effects. Furthermore in contrast to Picture Event it allows setting an offset and resize the event from the pre-defined frame size allowing full screen pictures play-out inside a multi-framed playlist. Please note that if added multiple pictures in sequence using the Picture Slide Event, the parameters of the first picture will be used for all following pictures within the sequence. Therefore all parameters of the following pictures are ignored.

Field Name	Description	Values
Event name	Event Name can be set here otherwise the content name is used
Event duration	A picture has no duration by its nature therefore there is a default duration set by DMS for 10 seconds. This can be changed in this field or changed in event properties if default should be changed to another value.	Default value is 10 seconds
Picture File	Name of the selected picture file
X	Sets the X coordinate if other then in pre-defined frame
Y	Sets the Y coordinate if other then in pre-defined frame
W	Sets widths in pixels if other then in pre-defined frame
H	Sets height in pixels if other then in pre-defined frame
Scale	Sets if picture should be stretched to fit in frame size or in original size	Yes / No
Transition	Sets the type of image transition. Can be fade, checkers, blinds or random

Ticker Event

The Ticker event is displaying the text as rolling text horizontally from right to left or vertically one line from bottom to top (vertical ticker and ticker clock is only available on PC-based DMPs).

Field Name	Description	Values
Event name	Event Name can be set here otherwise the content name is used
Event duration	Sets the duration of the ticker event. If ticker should run the duration of the playlist without be restarted set the duration to 00:00:00 and the ticker frame to “run once”.
Text File	Name of the selected text file uploaded to DMS. Make sure the text file is in UTF-8 format.
Text	Here you can add some text via the interface. For vertical line ticker use “\n” as delimiter between the different vertical lines to be displayed. Make sure the lengths is not exceeding the width of the ticker frame otherwise it will be cut.
RSS	Sets the RSS link from where the RSS feed is loaded.
RSS Refresh	Sets the time in seconds on how often it reads for updated RSS feeds
X	X coordinate in pixel – only need to be set if ticker should not be positioned inside the frame
Y	Y coordinate in pixel – only need to be set if ticker should not be positioned inside the frame
W	Video width in pixel – only need to be set if ticker should not be played at the size of the frame
H	Video height in pixel – only need to be set if ticker should not be played at the size of the frame
Framerate	Adjusts the frame rate to the display refresh rate to avoid distortion and jumpiness play-out. Best is a multiple of refresh rate
Step	Sets the speed of text rolling in pixel go forward per frame redraw
Textcolor	Sets the text color of the ticker text	hex value
Bgcolor	Sets the background color of the ticker frame	hex value
Gradientbgcolor	Sets the gradient background color of the ticker frame	hex value
Font appearance	Selects the font appearance of the ticker text
Fontsize	Sets the font size if it should be smaller than default font size
Fontfamily	Sets the font family of the ticker font
Shadow	Sets the shadow effect as a copy of the characters with an offset in pixels	Yes / No
Trunonce	Sets if the ticker should run once	Yes / No
Shadowoffset	Sets the offset of the shadow effect in pixel
Clock	Sets if a digital clock is displayed on the right or left side of the ticker
Clockfont appearance	Selects the font appearance of the ticker clock text
Clockfontsize	Sets the clock font size if it should be smaller than default font size
Clockfontfamily	Sets the clock font family of the ticker clock font
Clockcolor	Sets the color of the clock digits	hex value
Clockbgcolor	Sets the background color of the clock frame area	hex value
Titlecolor	Sets the color of the ticker block headline	hex value
Title	Sets the title for vertical block ticker
RSSTitle	Sets the RSS link for the block ticker
RSStitledelimiter	Sets the delimiter for RSS Titles
RSSdescription	Sets if in Block ticker the RSS description is activated	Yes / No
RSSdescription delimiter	Sets the delimiter for the RSS description fields
Vertical	Sets if the ticker is vertical or horizontal	Yes / No
Vdelay	Sets the duration in seconds on how long a text block is displayed before scrolled to the next line
Vlines	Sets the number of lines used for the block ticker
Transparency	Sets if the ticker is transparent (semi -transparent as it does not work on top of dynamically changing graphics such as flash or picture slides). On top of video it only works on players with separate video hardware layers such as DMP7900HD and DMP6600HD	Yes / No

Example of creating a vertical ticker event This example shows how to create a vertical ticker (e.g. a price ticker with “vertical flip”) (not available for DMP6600HD) Create a frame in your template and name it e.g. “price ticker”

Go to playlists -> Double click on the playlists name # This will get you to “ZONES”
Double click on “price ticker” (frame-name as given in the template)
Add new event (orange button)
Select “Ticker”
Enter “values” see screenshot

Part 1:

The “ticker-event” is set to “play once” and therefore the duration is set to “00:00:00:00”. This means whenever the playlist starts, the “price ticker will “start once and continuously play” until the playlist as whole stops or a new playlist starts.

Example of creating a horizontal ticker using an “RRS-url moving from right to left with a clock”

Please make sure you have the appropriate license/copyrights to use RSS feeds commercially as most of the freely available RSS-feeds are “only” for private usage and require an extra permission if used commercially. In any case we highly recommend to check with the content provider before using any 3rd party RSS-feed, as you are fully responsible for any copyright breaches.

1. For example go to http://stino.com/news/rss/
2. Copy the RSS feed you need.
3. Create a frame in your template for the ticker (long rectangle) and name it "RSS-ticker”
4. Go to playlists
5. ZONES
6. Double click “RSS-ticker”
7. Add new event
8. Select “Ticker” from drop-down menu
9. Paste the “url” in the RSS field
10. Fill in as seen in the next screen shot.

Flash Event

The Flash event is embedding a .swf flash file into the playlist source web page. Please note that the Flash player application needs to be installed on the device where DMP software is installed.

Field Name	Description	Values
Event name	Event Name can be set here otherwise the content name is used
Event duration	This is the duration on how long the swf flash container is displayed in the frame. DMS tries to detect the duration of the flash if available inside the flash container, otherwise it need to be set manually.
W	Sets widths in pixels if other then in pre-defined frame
H	Sets height in pixels if other then in pre-defined frame
Loop	Sets if the swf flash should be looped. Loop flag is not available on all swf containers	Yes / No
Scale	Sets if swf flash container should be stretched to fit in frame size or kept in original size	Yes / No
BGcolor	Sets the background color of the frame where the flash should be loaded in	hex value

HTML Page Event

The HTML Page Event lets you open a web page from a remote HTTP server inside an i-frame. It is a trigger event that perfectly allows you to bring into your frame layout dynamic updates from your own portal or any remote source without changing anything in the DMS. Besides just opening the HTML page it is possible to virtually scroll the WEB page to a desired position allowing just showing any part of a web page inside the selected frame.

Field Name	Description	Values
Event name	Event Name can be set here otherwise the URL is used as name
Event duration	This is the duration on how long the web site is displayed in the frame or refreshed if no other sequential event follows in the same frame.
URL	Sets the URL of the page to be opened inside this frame. Could also be a picture or a flash or any other WEB element.
Left	Sets the left offset of the web page
Top	Sets the top offset on how much the web site should be scrolled
Viewport_W	Sets the width of the view port of the HTML page
Viewport_H	Sets the height of the view port of the HTML page

Browser RSS Event

The Browser RSS Event defines a HTML based frame reading from an RSS feeder link. Page Event lets you open a web page from a remote HTTP server inside an i-frame. It is a trigger event that perfectly allows you to bring into your frame layout dynamic updates from your own portal or any remote RSS source without changing anything in the DMS. Please make sure you have the appropriate license/copyrights to use RSS feeds commercially as most of the freely available RSS-feeds are only for private usage and require an extra permission if used commercially. In any case we highly recommend to check with the content provider before using any 3rd party RSS-feed, as you are fully responsible for any copyright breaches.

Field Name	Description	Values
Event name	Event Name can be set here otherwise the URL is used as a name
Event duration	This is the duration on how long the total duration of the Browser RSS event
BGColor	Sets the background color of the frame	hex value
RSS	Sets the ink to the RSS source
RSSrefresh	Sets the refresh time on how often the source is updated
RSSitemduration	Sets the duration on how long each news is displayed in the frame
RSStitle	Sets if the title is displayed or hidden	Yes / No
TitleFontstyle	Sets the font style for the title
TitleColor	Sets the font color of the RSS title	hex value
RSSdescription	Sets if the description is displayed or hidden	Yes / No
DescriptionFontstyle	Sets the font style for description text
DescriptionColor	Sets the color for description text	hex value
RSSPupdate	Sets if the RSS update time information is displayed	Yes / No
PupdateFontStyle	Sets the fontstyle
PupdateColor	Sets the font color	hex value
Bgpicture	Sets the background picture
Template	Sets the template

HTML Text Event

The HTML Text Event lets you create your own text field based on a HTML. For Easy text editing there is a WYSIWIG GUI HTML Editor.

Field Name	Description	Values
Event name	Event Name have to be set for the HTML Text Event
Event duration	This is the duration on how long the duration of the HTML Text event
SRC	Here you can paste HTML code and edit it
Use GUI html editor	Opens the WYSIWYG HTML Editor

HTML Text WYSIWYG HTML Editor (only available in Linux player DMP-T)

The HTML Text Event lets you create your own text field based on a HTML. Easy text editing is provided by a WYSIWIG GUI HTML Editor.

Example of creating text-fields using HTML Text Event:

Create a frame in the “frame layout” section which you want to use filling with text.
Click “add new event” -> Select the HTML Text -> Click on “use GUI html editor” HTML-editor

After saving you will see the HTML-text you created with the HTML-editor

Assign a name for the text-event and give it some duration.

Then save the event

HTML Slide Event

The HTML Slide Event lets you create and your local HTML page residing in the DMP after synchronization. For Easy HTML editing there is a WYSIWIG GUI HTML Editor.

Field Name	Description	Values
Event name	Event Name have to be set for the HTML Slide Event
Event duration	This is the duration on how long the duration of the HTML Slide Event
SRC	Here you can paste HTML code and edit it
Use GUI html editor	Opens the WYSIWYG HTML Editor

Composer Event

With the WYSIWYG WEB Composer you can easily create playlists in a full screen mode. The composer is page based allowing to place different objects in each page.

The manual to the Composer itself can be found here: Composer

Field Name	Description	Values
Event name	Event Name have to be set for the Composer Event
Event duration	This is the duration on how long the duration of the Composer Event
SRC	Here you can start the Composer Editor
Keycolor	Set the alpha color (only on hardware decoders available with video layers)
Interactive	DMP-W only, configure event to work in interactive mode. May decrease perfomance compare to non interactive mode	Yes / No

Multicast Event

The Multicast Event allows joining a multicast video streams.

Field Name	Description	Values
Event name	Event Name can be set here otherwise the content name is used
Event duration	Duration is the time on how long the multicast video stream is joined
SRC	Multicast address and port number of the multicast video stream e.g. 226.0.0.1:1234
X	X coordinate in pixel – only need to be set if video should not be positioned inside the frame
Y	Y coordinate in pixel – only need to be set if video should have different position
W	Video width in pixel – only need to be set if video should have different position
H	Video height in pixel – only need to be set if video should not be played at the size of the frame
Volume	Adjust the volume level of the video	0 - 100
Alpha	Set the alpha color (only on hardware decoders available with video layers)
Keycolor	Set the alpha color (only on hardware decoders available with video layers) hex value
HTML	Loads an empty HTML page into frame before video starts (prevents that other browser event still runs in the background while video is playing on top)	Yes / No
Zone	Set zone here if video should be played in another zone
VPID	Set the Video Program ID
APID	Set the Audio Program ID
VCodec	Set the Video Codec
ACodec	Set the Audio Codec
AFreq	Set the Audio Frequency
Key_Color_Range	Assign a color range used as key colors (only on hardware decoders available)
Extra_Parameter	Special settings for the video players such as de-interlacer, cropping etc…

Video Stream Event

The Video Stream Event allows receiving video streams.

Field Name	Description	Values
Event name	Event Name can be set here otherwise the source name is used
Event duration	Duration is the time set on how long the video stream is joined
SRC	The link to the Video Stream
X	X coordinate in pixel – only need to be set if video should not be positioned inside the frame
Y	Y coordinate in pixel – only need to be set if video should not be positioned inside the frame
W	Video width in pixel – only need to be set if video should not be played at the size of the frame
H	Video height in pixel – only need to be set if video should not be played at the size of the frame
Volume	Adjust the volume level of the video	0 - 100
Alpha	Set the alpha color (only on hardware decoders available with video layers)
Keycolor	Set the alpha color (only on hardware decoders available with video layers)
HTML	Loads an empty HTML page into frame before video starts (prevents that other browser event still runs in the background while video is playing on top)	Yes / No
Zone	Set zone here if video should be played in another zone
Key_Color_Range	Assign a color range used as key colors (only on hardware decoders available)	hex value
Extra_Parameter	Special settings for the video players such as de-interlacer, cropping etc…

Tuner Event

The Tuner Event allows receiving TV programs or playing analog video signal inputs. This is only supported if the DMP can be extended with Tuner hardware.

Field Name	Description	Values
Event name	Event Name must be set here
Event duration	Duration is the time on how long the TV channel or video input is shown in the frame
Type	Sets the analog video input type such as s-video-in or composite-in
Channel	Sets the TV channel the tuner should be tuned to
X	X coordinate in pixel – only need to be set if video should not be positioned inside the frame
Y	Y coordinate in pixel – only need to be set if video should not be positioned inside the frame
W	Video width in pixel – only need to be set if video should not be played at the size of the frame
H	Video height in pixel – only need to be set if video should not be played at the size of the frame
Volume	Adjust the volume level of the video	0 - 100
Alpha	Set the alpha color (only on hardware decoders available with video layers)
Keycolor	Set the alpha color (only on hardware decoders available with video layers)
HTML	Loads an empty HTML page into frame before video starts (prevents that other browser event still runs in the background while video is playing on top)	Yes / No
Key_Color_Range	Assign a color range used as key colors (only on hardware decoders available) hex value
Extra_Parameter	Special settings for the video players such as de-interlacer, cropping etc…

Audio Event

The Audio Event allows playing audio.

Field Name	Description	Values
Event name	Event Name can be set here otherwise the source name is used
Event duration	If no duration is set then the duration of the audio file will be used. If set duration then it will play the audio for the configured shorter duration time.
AudioFile	Sets the audio file to be played
Volume	Sets the volume level of the player	0 - 100

Volume Event

The Volume Event set the volume level of the DMP.

Field Name	Description	Values
Event name	Event Name must be set here
Event duration	The duration should be set to 00:00:00 as this is just a trigger event
Volume	Sets the volume level of the player	0 - 100

JS CMD Event

The JS CMD Event sends any JavaScript command to the DMP.

Field Name	Description	Values
Event name	Event Name must be set here
Event duration	The duration should be set to 00:00:00 as this is just a trigger event
Command	Sets the Shell command to be sent in the playlist

Shell CMD Event

The Shell CMD Event sends any Shell command to the DMP.

Field Name	Description	Values
Event name	Event Name must be set here
Event duration	The duration should be set to 00:00:00 as this is just a trigger event
Command	Sets the Shell command to be sent in the playlist

Cued Playlists

In case you want to play a selection of different playlists sequentially in a block you can cue them together.

Parameter settings:
Cued playlist name: Assigns a name to the playlist cue
Playlist note: Adds a note to the playlist cue
Random play order: Plays the playlist cue in a random sequence

Step 4: Playlist Scheduling

Once you have created a playlist you can decide if it is played instantly by a selected group of players (Instant Playlist) or scheduled at a specific time. To play the playlist immediately as instant playlist just press the Play button inside the playlist column.

And select the group of players (or minimum one player per group) which should play this playlist. If there are no groups defined, all players will be registered to the group unassigned.

To schedule the playlist to be played at a pre-defined schedule by one or more groups/players you can create a schedule for each playlist. During the schedule is played the playlist is constantly looped.

To create a schedule you have to assign a name to it (e.g. “Christmas time” or “Weekend”). Then select the playlist and the group/player you want to play with. Finally you can click “Save schedule as draft” (then it will not be synchronized with the players) or for activating your schedule at the pre-defined time press “Save and activate schedule”. If you have many schedules on different groups you also can check for overlapping schedules by pressing the “Check for collision” button.

If you have scheduled your playlists you can have for all or single groups a calendar view by pressing the “Calendar” link within the Scheduler menu.

Every scheduled playlist appears as a colored block (the playlist color can be defined inside the playlist configuration) on the calendar. If you move the mouse over the color block of the playlist you can see the playlist properties.

Meta Events

We need to distinguish between MetaWords, MetaEvents and MetaTag.

MetaWords are words which are used to describe the subject (event or player), while MetaEvent is an Event which is scheduled in time and described by at least one MetaWord.
MetaTag is special placeholder event in the playlist which will be replaced by matched MetaEvents.

For Example:

MetaWords are:

• to describe player we may use: London, Berlin, HeadOffice, FirstFloor, Entrance, MeetingRoom#1.
• to describe events we may use: Beer, Cola, Cigar, Pants
• to describe events frame possition use: Top, Bottom, Left, Right, Pictures, Videos
• to split similar events use: sort_beer, sort_cigar

Note: Because it is not easily possible to tell in which order events will be selected it may be a problem to schedule events which should not show up one after another. For example: Beer company have 3 pictures to show, but they dont want that their ads come one after another. To solve this problem we have made a special MetaWord which starts from sort_. For this beer company ads we need to add MetaWords sort_beer and then associate it with their ads events. In this case server will try to put first event with sort_beer to the top of the list, second to the middle and third to the bottom. Of course when there are not so many events it may happens that events still will follow each other. For beer company 3 ads we need to have at least another 3 events to be able to split them.

How Meta Events are selected for a Player

MetaWords which are associated with Player is checked against all MetaWords of the MetaEvents. If one of the MetaWords which is associated with Player also found in the MetaEvent this event is selected. It is enough to have at least one match to select event.

Second stage of selection is when MetaTag's fields INCLUDE and/or EXCLUDE is not empty. Only MetaEvent MetaWords are checked for Inclusion or Exclusion. When INCLUDE parameter is not empty, then selected MetaEvent MetaWords are checked for MetaWord specified in the INCLUDE parameter. If MetaEvent does has such MetaWord such event is added to the playlist other event which does not have such MetaWord are discarded. If EXCLUDE parameter is not empty then selected MetaEvent is checked and if such MetaWord is associated with it then it is discarded other events which does not have such MetaWord are added to the Playlist.

Q: What for this complexity?
A: These parameters are added to give possibility to define in which frame which MetaEvents will go.

Example:

1. Playlist with only one MetaTag. Typical usage is for fullscreen playlists.

Players Name	MetaWords
London	London, Designer
Berlin	Berlin, HeadOffice
Landsberg1	Landsberg, Drinks
Landsberg2	Landsberg, Drinks, Music

MetaEvent	Type	MetaWords
Cola.jpg	Picture	London, Berlin, Landsberg
Beer.jpg	Picture	Drinks
Rock.mp3	Audio	Music, London

Playlist with one frame and one MetaTag event and INCLUDE and EXCLUDE parameters are not set.

Player will play:

• London: Cola.jpg, Rock.mp3
• Berlin: Cola.jpg
• Landsberg1: Cola.jpg, Beer.jpg
• Landsberg2: Cola.jpg, Beer.jpg, Rock.mp3

2. Playlist with 2 frames and in each frame there is a MetaTag event. Typical usage is for multiframe playlist.

In the previous example we have used one audio event which is playing in fullscreen playlist. Take for example player Landsberg2. Audio will play only after Cola.jpg and Beer.jpg, and while Rock.mp3 will play on the screen we will see only Beer.jpg for the length of Rock.mp3.

Q: How to make so that pictures are playing separately from the audio, and audio playing constantly?
A: For this purpose we need to build playlist with 2 frames, one frame which we call pictures will have a fullscreen size, while audio frame will have size 1x1 and we call it audio. Note: We still need to have a frame to schedule events there. In the picture frame we will add !MetaTag event and will set EXCLUDE: Music. In the audio frame we will add another !MetaTag event and will set INCLUDE: Music.

Result:

PlayerName	FrameName	Events
London	Pictures	Cola.jpg
	Audio	Rock.mp3
Berlin	Pictures	Cola.jpg
	Audio
Landsberg1	Pictures	Cola.jpg, Beer.jpg
	Audio
Landsberg2	Pictures	Cola.jpg, Beer.jpg
	Audio	Rock.mp3

How to work with Meta Events

First we need to add MetaWords to the MetaWords library. MetaWords are used to describe players.

Q: What to use for meta words?
A: For players that could be location, like town name, or street name. If player is located in one building, it could be room number, floor number etc.

We have 3 players: In Berlin, in London and in NewYork. So we could add those town names in to meta words library. MetaWords library located in Administration -> META Words

Second we need to set meta words to the players. Go to Player Management -> Players. Select player which is located in Berlin, open it. Edit Player window has Meta Words field. Press Edit button. Select Berlin, then press at the bottom Add Meta Words. Do the same with other 2 players.

Third we will use template with one fullscreen frame and will build playlist based on this template. (Multi frame playlists will be discussed later). Open created playlist and add there only one META event. Exclude and Include fields leave empty. (This fields will be discussed later with multiframe playlists). Save playlist. Now we have a playlist with only one meta event. Which we need to make instant playlist to play it 24 hours or we could schedule it just like a normal playlist.

Fourth now we need to schedule events which will be played on the players. Goto Scheduler -> Meta Events. Press "Add new meta event" button and select event type and content itself just like with normal events. You may see here a way more fields compare to normal add new event interface.

• Meta event start date: automatically filled with current date
• Meta event stop date: stop date could be used to say that this event should play only from ... to. If you leave this field empty then this event will play forever until deleted.
• Meta event start time: automatically set to 00:00
• Meta event stop time: automatically set to 23:59
• Meta event weekly: Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sat, Sun
• META Words: here we need to select meta words which we configured on the players to tell on which player we want to play this event. If we want to play it on one player only for example Berlin, then we need to select Berlin meta word. If Berlin and London then Berlin and London.
• Players: This fields we could use to select player directly by the player id.

This event is scheduled to play full week 24 hours a day.

Player Management

The DMS provides full control over the players.

The Player management module allows managing the players and groups of players. If the player is not pre-configured to an existing group it will be assigned to the default group named “unassigned”.

Example of Poll Time setting

The poll time is the frequency in which the DMP will „pull” new playlists and content from the DMS.

For testing and playlist editing it is recommended to use a low as 10 – 20 seconds interval”
Any changes made to content or playlist will then show up 10 - 20 seconds later.

Players menu:

Click on “configure box” (blue tool box icon) in the “action” section on the right hand side

Applications

Digital Media Player

DMS Server Poll Interval

Enter 10 (the player will sync with the DMS every 10 seconds asking for new content/playlists/schedules)

Apply any changes to the playlist, press the publish button, and see the DMP to update automatically after 10 seconds.

Group Creation

All DMPs (Digital Media Players) need to be assigned to a group. The default group if a player is not assigned is called “unassigned”. A group can consist of one or many players. Multiple players in a group must be same type or model of player. To create a new group you just need to assign a name to this group.

Administration module

The Administration module provides system administration tools.

Event log

Here you can see and export a content play-out report.

Change Client Info

Here you can change the client info.

Client users management

Here you can add new users for each client.

Client Manager

The DMS is capable to manage different clients by managing them in different database instances. This means the client accounts do not see each other and can be completely independently work on their login accounts. Here you can create new clients.

Permission manager

The permission manager allows configuring for each user to show or hide the menu items on the left. By this you can restrict some functions for any particular user.

Event type manager

The event type manager allows setting system default values for each event, e.g. 10 sec. duration for picture appearance or STRETCH option to stretch the picture to fit into the frame.

Advanced config

The advanced config menu allows:

• Repair of all tables of the database
• Dump complete database to an SQL file
• Dump Database and content to an archive
• Restore databse and user files from an archive
• Update DMS data structures

Satellite Content Distribution via iPump

Besides content synchronization via pull model via ADSL DMS is supporting content synchronization via satellite multicast data distribution via Kencast iPump.

Enable iPump Mode

DMS can either run in normal pull mode via ADSL or via iPump synchronization via satellite (supporting two independent ftp accounts). To enable iPump mode on the server, you need to be admin or you need to have right to access Administration -> Advanced Config -> Kencast

Configuring iPump Server Parameters

iPump Mode (on/off) – Enables/Disables iPump mode for a whole server.
iPump Server IP Address – IP address of iPump Server
iPump Server User Name – ftp user name of iPump Server
iPump Server Password – ftp password for iPump Server
iPump Upload Dir – iPump Server upload dir could be like assets/upload

DMS Server has to have access to iPump Client to check if the files were delivered via satellite uplink.

iPump Client Address – IP Address of iPump Client
iPump Client Path – path where to check files

user name and password are: anonymous anonymous@dms

iPump Mail List – emails addresses of people which will be notified if something goes wrong with iPump system.

There are currently two cases when emails will be sent:

1. When trying to send files to iPump server, and this action somehow fails.
2. When files were uploaded to iPump server, but not appearing on iPump Client in given timeout.

iPump Server Timeout Processed (minutes)- Timeout on waiting for files to appear on iPump Client.

Players Group Configuration

Creating new groups the default value will not enable the iPump mode. Therefore it need to be enabled after creating the group that should be synchronized via satellite.

iPump Mode - check it to enable iPump mode for current group
iPump IP address – IP Address of iPump Client – for _every_ player in that group.
iPump Path – Path to files on iPump Client
iPump max direct file size (Mbytes) – maximum size of file which is allowed to download directly over broadband connection. In case it is empty or set to 0, no file will be downloaded directly.

Players Configuration

By default all Players have iPump group mode checked, which means that every player by default will inherit all the iPump setting from Group settings.

In case the player has a different IP address or no iPump client is available then iPump group mode should be unchecked.

iPump Mode - check it to enable iPump mode for current group
iPump IP address – IP Address of iPump Client – for _every_ player in that group.
iPump Path – Path to files on iPump Client
iPump max direct file size (Mbytes) – maximum size of file which is allowed to download directly over broadband connection. In case it is empty or set to 0, no file will be downloaded directly.

Known limitations

DMP6600HD

The following Events are not supported with the DMP6600HD: Flash, Picture Slide, Flash Picture, Vertical Ticker, Shell, JavaScript, Volume, Audio, Tuner, Vstream. Furthermore it is not possible to have the Setup settings controlled via the DMS.

All Screen Layout Resolutions must be set to 1280x720 because independent on the configured player resolutions all graphics on DMP6600HD is rendered in 1280x720 although video is played-out in the configured player resolution.

Multiple Ticker Support

Playout of concurrent tickers is currently not supported. However, it is possible to mix a Ticker event with a RSS Browser event.