DVC Digital Signage (Message Board)
N:\Product\DVC\DVC Training docs etc\DVC Controller User Manual 2012.doc Page 1
DVC Digital Signage User Manual Command Systems Pty. Ltd. for version 1.20 26-Feb-2012
Introduction DVC Digital Signage is a Windows application program for sending Power Points, Video, text, media items, office documents and commands to one or several destinations on the DVC system. Destinations can be either a PC installed with DVC Player or a DVC set top box attached to a display device (such as TV or video projector etc). This manual describes the operation of the DVC Digital Signage software.
N:\Product\DVC\DVC Training docs etc\DVC Controller User Manual 2012.doc Page 2
Contents INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................. 2 CONTENTS ............................................................................................................................................ 3 1
THEORY OF OPERATION ......................................................................................................... 4
2
BASIC USAGE ............................................................................................................................... 5 2.1 2.2 2.3
3
LOGGING IN ............................................................................................................................... 5 THE TIMELINE ........................................................................................................................... 5 THE TOOLBAR............................................................................................................................ 6
MESSAGES .................................................................................................................................... 8 3.1 SCHEDULED MESSAGES ............................................................................................................. 8 3.1.1 The Item Information Panel .............................................................................................. 9 3.1.2 The Playlist ..................................................................................................................... 10 3.1.3 The File Browser ............................................................................................................ 11 3.2 REPEATING MESSAGES ............................................................................................................ 11 3.3 SCROLLING TEXT MESSAGES ................................................................................................... 12 3.4 SENDING A LIVE STREAM ......................................................................................................... 13 3.5 SENDING A SET TOP BOX COMMAND ........................................................................................ 14
4
ZONES .......................................................................................................................................... 15 4.1
5
CONFIGURING ZONES .............................................................................................................. 15
TEMPLATES ............................................................................................................................... 16 5.1 CREATING A NEW TEMPLATE ................................................................................................... 16 5.2 MANAGING TEMPLATES .......................................................................................................... 16 5.2.1 Emergency Templates ..................................................................................................... 17
6
RECEIVING THE MESSAGE ................................................................................................... 17 6.1
7
ADDITIONAL FEATURES ........................................................................................................ 18 7.1 7.2
8
AUTOMATIC ACTIVATION OF A TV .......................................................................................... 17
CONFIGURE DATABASE CONNECTION ...................................................................................... 18 AUTOMATIC UPDATE .............................................................................................................. 18
DVC LAUNCHER........................................................................................................................ 19 8.1.1
9
DVC Launcher with multiple network adapters ............................................................. 20
TIPS AND TROUBLESHOOTING ........................................................................................... 20 9.1 9.2 9.3
THUMBNAILS FOR WORD DOCUMENTS ................................................................................... 20 AUTOMATIC TV TURN OFF ..................................................................................................... 20 DATABASE ERRORS ................................................................................................................. 20
APPENDIX A
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS .............................................................................. 21
APPENDIX B
SUPPORTED MEDIA TYPES............................................................................ 22
APPENDIX C
DOCUMENT REVISION HISTORY................................................................. 23
N:\Product\DVC\DVC Training docs etc\DVC Controller User Manual 2012.doc Page 3
1 Theory of Operation DVC Digital Signage is a Windows Application supported by software on the DVC server. DVC Digital Signage creates the messages and the server software does the work of storing and sending those messages. The word message in this manual refers to anything sent by the DVC system such as a video, power point presentation or scrolling text message. Even a command to turn off the TV is considered to be a message. When you assemble a message on DVC Digital Signage, it is sent to the DVC server where it waits until it is time to be sent. The server then sends it to the locations you have specified. After a message has been sent, it will stay on the server for 24 hours and will then be automatically deleted to prevent the server filling up with old messages. To make the selection of message destinations easier, there is a system of zones. A zone is a collection of destinations you can define. See section 4 for more information on zones. You can send messages to one or many destinations. Destinations can be: 1. PCs or laptops which have DVC Player installed 2. DVC Set Top Boxes attached to TVs or Video Projectors Messages can consist of:
Simple text Media items such as video and audio Office documents including Word, Excel, Power Point and PDF documents. Live video or audio Commands to perform actions on the set top boxes NOTE: If a PC is to receive an office document (word, excel or power point), the PC must have Microsoft Office installed. NOTE: If a PC is to receive a PDF file, it must have Acrobat Reader installed.
When you install DVC Player onto your PC, it also installs a small utility called DVC Launcher. Once every 10 minutes, DVC Launcher will contact the DVC server and notify the server that it is running. The sever uses these notifications to compile a list of which PCs are available to send messages to. See section 8 for more information on DVC Launcher. The DVC Set Top Box also performs a similar function to DVC Launcher. It contacts the DVC Server every 10 minutes so the server can know which set top boxes are active.
N:\Product\DVC\DVC Training docs etc\DVC Controller User Manual 2012.doc Page 4
2 Basic Usage 2.1 Logging in When you start DVC Digital Signage, it will first ask you for a user name and PIN number. Use the same user and PIN as you would use in the DVC Administration Tool. From the factory, the default user name is admin and the default PIN number is 11111. If your system is integrated with Active Directory, then use your standard PC user name and password.
Figure 1 - The login window
2.2 The Timeline Once logged in you will see the timeline window which looks like the one shown in Figure 2. Briefly, the timeline shows each zone in your system and coloured blocks indicate when messages have been scheduled to each zone. If a message has been scheduled for multiple zones, multiple blocks will appear one above the other. See section Error! Reference source not found. to learn how to set up zones for your system. Basic timeline functions are available by right-clicking on the timeline. These functions include scheduling messages, deleting messages and modifying existing scheduled messages. For example, to delete a message, right-click on it and select Delete from the pop-up menu or to add a new item, right-click in an empty space on the timeline and choose New Scheduled Item from the pop-up menu.
N:\Product\DVC\DVC Training docs etc\DVC Controller User Manual 2012.doc Page 5
Figure 2 - The timeline window
2.3 The toolbar At the bottom of the timeline window is the toolbar which has several large buttons on it for quick access to common tasks. Some toolbar buttons have a small downward-pointing arrow on the right side called a drop-arrow. When clicked, these will drop down a list of additional options. Here is a quick description of the function of each button:
New Scheduled Item Click this button to schedule a new message. See section 3.1 for more detail about scheduling messages.
Send Scrolling Text Click this button to open the scrolling text message window. You can use this to enter a new scrolling text message. See section 3.3 for more information about scrolling text messages. If you click the drop-arrow, you can select from a list of recent scrolling text messages to quickly re-send one.
N:\Product\DVC\DVC Training docs etc\DVC Controller User Manual 2012.doc Page 6
Send Live Video Clicking this button will launch the live video message window as described in section 3.4. From here you can select a live video source. Clicking the drop-arrow on this toolbar button will show a list of the available live video sources which may include things such as TV, DVD Player, Camera and so on depending on what sources are available on your DVC system.
Send Live TV Clicking this button will launch the live video message window as described in section 3.4. From here you can select a live video source. Clicking the drop-arrow on this toolbar button will show a list of available TV channels so you can quickly choose one.
Send Command Clicking this button will launch the set top box command window as described in section 3.5. Clicking the drop-arrow on this toolbar button will allow you to quickly choose which command you want to send.
Emergency Clicking this button will drop down a list of the available emergency templates. See section 5.2.1 to see how to set up the emergency templates. In short, an emergency template sends pre-defined messages and actions to pre-defined locations. There is also a SEND ALL option at the bottom of the list. Selecting this option will send all the emergency templates at once.
N:\Product\DVC\DVC Training docs etc\DVC Controller User Manual 2012.doc Page 7
3 Messages 3.1 Scheduled messages A scheduled message may contain text, media files, documents, live streams and set top box commands. It may contain multiple such items which are played in sequence. To prepare a scheduled message, choose New Scheduled Item which is available on the toolbar, the menu or by right-clicking the timeline. You should see the scheduled message editor window as shown in Figure 3.
Figure 3 - The scheduled message editor
N:\Product\DVC\DVC Training docs etc\DVC Controller User Manual 2012.doc Page 8
The window is split into three sections. The bottom section is the file browser which allows to you choose files from your local PC to send via DVC. The right panel is the playlist which is where you can enter items to be shown as part of your scheduled message.
3.1.1
The Item Information Panel
The left panel contains the Cancel and OK buttons which you can use when you have finished editing your message. It also contains fields to set up the message details. The fields are:
Name This is the name of the message. It is just used for display within the timeline, the name will not be sent out with the message.
Start Time This shows the time at which the message will be sent. It defaults to the current time, click the small button to the right to change that. You can send a message at any time in the future, there is no limit how far ahead you can schedule messages.
Duration This is how long the message will be shown for. It is a free-form entry field which recognizes the letters h, m and s for hours, minutes and seconds respectively. So for example you could enter 2h for 2 hours, 35s for 35 seconds or even 3m, 30s for 3½ minutes. If the message content goes longer than the duration time, the content will be truncated. If the message content is shorter than the duration time, the playlist will be repeated until the duration time has elapsed.
Repeat and Until These options can be used to set up a repeating message. See section 3.2 for more details.
N:\Product\DVC\DVC Training docs etc\DVC Controller User Manual 2012.doc Page 9
Destination This box lists all the zones where the message will be sent. It might also just contain the word ALL if your message is to be sent to all possible destinations. To modify the destination, click the Select Destination button and choose the desired destination(s) from the Item Destination window as shown in Figure 4.
Figure 4 - Item Destination Window
3.1.2
The Playlist
This is a list of items which will be shown in order on the destination PC or set top box. Each item has an associated duration. At the bottom of the playlist window is a mini toolbar to manipulate the items in the playlist. You can enter items into the playlist by clicking the Add button which is the leftmost button on the mini toolbar. The add button has a drop arrow which you can click to choose different types of items to add such as Live streams, Set top box commands and so on. You can remove items from the playlist by selecting them and clicking the Remove button on the mini toolbar. The Edit mini toolbar button will allow you to change the details for the selected item. Double-clicking an item will also edit it. Editing an item usually allows you to change the item’s duration and it may have other editable options depending on the type of item.
N:\Product\DVC\DVC Training docs etc\DVC Controller User Manual 2012.doc Page 10
3.1.3
The File Browser
The area at the bottom of the Sheduled Item Editor is the File Browser. This is kind of similar to Windows Explorer. It displays files on your local disk as thumbnails. You can navigate by double-clicking on folders, using the up-arrow to go up one folder in the hierarchy, by choosing a folder from the drop-down list or by typing a path into the field provided. You can enter a file into the playlist by dragging it or double-clicking it.
3.2 Repeating Messages It is possible to schedule a message which repeats at the same time every day, every week and so on. To do this, you can use the Repeat and Until fields in the scheduled message editor. Repeat Select an option from the list such as “Every day”, “Every Thursday” etc.
Until If you have selected a repeating message, you must select an expiry date for it. This field is where you enter that expiry date. A repeating message will appear in the timeline multiple times. You can edit it by right-clicking on any instance of the message and choosing Edit Item from the pop-up menu.
N:\Product\DVC\DVC Training docs etc\DVC Controller User Manual 2012.doc Page 11
3.3 Scrolling Text messages
Figure 5 - The scrolling text message window A scrolling text message is a less intrusive way of sending a message. Instead of interrupting the end user’s activities with a full screen message, this option merely runs a single line of text along the bottom of the screen. There is only one option associated with the scrolling text message and that is the number of times it is repeated. It is usually a good idea to repeat scrolling messages a few times since they move off the screen and the end user might not manage to read it the first time around. Scrolling text messages cannot be scheduled. They are always sent immediately when you click OK. Figure 6 shows what a scrolling text message looks like on DVC Player.
Figure 6 - How a scrolling text message appears to the end user
N:\Product\DVC\DVC Training docs etc\DVC Controller User Manual 2012.doc Page 12
3.4 Sending a live stream
Figure 7 - The live stream window
A live stream is usually a video, or occasionally an audio stream which is sent to the destination in real time (or as near real time as is possible after network latency is taken into account). Clicking the Send Live Video or Send Live TV buttons on the toolbar will pop up the window shown in Figure 7. Here you can choose from the available live streams on your DVC system. To send a live stream, simply select the desired input device. If you select a TV tuner, you will also need to select the channel. You can set a specific duration or you can choose the INDEFINITE option. Indefinite duration means it will keep sending until you explicitly stop it. A window will pop up with a STOP button for this purpose. If you want to schedule a live stream you may do so from a scheduled message. This window is only for sending a live stream immediately.
N:\Product\DVC\DVC Training docs etc\DVC Controller User Manual 2012.doc Page 13
3.5 Sending a set top box command Pressing the Send Command button on the toolbar will pop up the Set Top Box command window as shown in Figure 8. These commands are mainly for the set top boxes but the Stop Stream command is also honoured by DVC Player.
Figure 8 - The Set Top Box Command Window The commands are:
Reboot Causes the set top box to reset. This is usually only used when the set top box firmware has been upgraded although it may also be useful if a box is experiencing software-related problems. Stop Stream Causes the set top box to stop whatever it is doing and return to the menu (or a black screen in the case of a digital signage set top box) TV Off The set top box will stop whatever it is doing and if your set top box is programmed for remote control of its TV, this will cause the TV to turn off. See section 6.1 for more information on how this works. If you want to schedule a command you may do so from a scheduled message. This window is only for sending a command immediately.
N:\Product\DVC\DVC Training docs etc\DVC Controller User Manual 2012.doc Page 14
4
Zones
When you send a message, you choose the destination as one or more zones. Zones are a collection of locations grouped together for easy selection. For example in a school situation, you might like to make a zone which covers the entire history department. You are allowed to put the same location into multiple zones.
4.1 Configuring Zones Choose configure Zones from the File menu and you will see the Zone Configuration Window as shown in Figure 9.
Figure 9 - Zone Configuration Window The available zones are listed in the left-hand box. When you select a zone, the locations assigned to that zone are displayed in the centre box. The right-hand box displays all the locations known to the system whether they are assigned to any zone or not. To create a new zone, simply press the Create Zone button. A newly created zone will have no locations assigned to it. To assign locations to a zone, select the zone from the left-hand list and select some locations from the right-hand list. Then click the ADD button. To remove locations from a zone, select the zone in the left-hand box, then select the locations to be removed in the centre box. Finally click the REMOVE button.
N:\Product\DVC\DVC Training docs etc\DVC Controller User Manual 2012.doc Page 15
You can rename a zone by selecting it in the left-hand box and clicking RENAME. You can delete a zone by selecting it in the left-hand box and clicking DELETE. There is no OK or Cancel button in this window. When you make a change, it occurs immediately. When you are done, simply close the window.
5 Templates Templates are pre-set messages which may be recalled for easy sending. You would use a template if you had a particular message which is sent often. It saves you the effort of setting up all the details every time. A template contains the media items associated with a message and also the duration and destination of that message. You can select a template by then clicking the down-arrow next to the message name to see a list of available templates. Selecting the template will automatically fill in all the fields. You usually just need to select a time to schedule the message and then click OK.
5.1 Creating a new template To create a template, click selecting New Scheduled Item from the toolbar. Fill in the fields in the sheculed message editor as though you were sending a regular scheduled message. Make sure you type a name into the Name field. This will become the name of the template. When you have finished setting up your message do not click OK, click Save as Template instead. This will save all the details in a new template.
5.2 Managing Templates Choosing Templates and Emergencies from the File menu will show a box like the one in Figure 10. This window simply allows you to rename and delete templates. It also manages emergency templates which will be explained soon.
N:\Product\DVC\DVC Training docs etc\DVC Controller User Manual 2012.doc Page 16
Figure 10 - The Template Management Window There is no OK or Cancel button in this window. When you make a change, it occurs immediately. When you are done, simply close the window.
5.2.1
Emergency Templates
You may mark any template as an emergency template by choosing it’s name in the template management window and clicking the button marked >>. This will list the template in the Emergency Templates list. Emergency templates appear when you click the Emergency button on the toolbar. It is a quick way to launch a template. You might like to set up emergency templates for different scenarios or different areas of your site eg “Evacuation – north wing”.
6 Receiving the message Messages may be received on either a DVC Set Top Box or on a PC running DVC Player. When the message is received, the user’s current activity will be interrupted. For example, if the user is watching a video, that video will be paused and the message will pop up on top of it – except in the case of a scrolling text message which will be displayed beneath the video without interrupting it. On the PC, the user can cancel the message by closing the window or by pressing the STOP button. On the set top box, the user can cancel the message by pressing the STOP button on the remote control.
6.1 Automatic activation of a TV It is possible to wire up a set top box to switch on the TV automatically if it receives a message. This way, the messages can be seen even if the TV was switched off.
N:\Product\DVC\DVC Training docs etc\DVC Controller User Manual 2012.doc Page 17
The set top box can control the TV using either infra-red, RS232 or contact closures. This needs to be customized to the particular model of TV or projector you are using. Ask your system installer how you can set this up for your system. This function is not available with DVC Player on the PC. If the PC is switched off at the time the message is sent, it will not receive the message.
7
Additional Features
This section describes a few other features available in DVC Digital Signage that are too trivial to justify their own section.
7.1 Configure database connection The database configuration dialog is shown in Figure 11 and is accessed by choosing Configure Database Connection from the File menu. It will also appear the very first time you run DVC Digital Signage. The purpose of this window is to inform DVC Digital Signage of the IP address of your DVC server. If you have multiple DVC servers, you will need to enter the IP of the master server (sometimes called the storage server or master storage server).
Figure 11 - The database connection setup window As well as the Server IP address, you will also need to enter the following. These values are usually the same on all DVC: Item Port Login Password
Value 5432 dvc dvc
The Test Connections button is useful to verify that the details have been entered correctly. If pressing this button results in an error, double-check the entered data and if there is still a problem, contact your system administrator.
7.2 Automatic Update Choosing Check for update from the Help menu will cause DVC Digital Signage to contact the DVC web site to see if there is any newer version of DVC Digital
N:\Product\DVC\DVC Training docs etc\DVC Controller User Manual 2012.doc Page 18
Signage available. If so, it will give you the option of downloading and installing the newer version. You must have a working Internet connection to use this feature.
8 DVC Launcher Any PC installed with DVC Player will also be installed with DVC Launcher. This is a small application which runs in the Windows Tray – a small region at the bottom right of the screen as shown in Figure 12.
Figure 12 - DVC Launcher sitting in the tray The purpose of DVC Launcher is to keep in touch with the DVC Server and receive messages. To do that it needs to know the IP address of the DVC server. This should be set up automatically when you install DVC Player but under some circumstances such as the DVC server being relocated, you may need to manually enter the IP address. To do this, right-click on the DVC Launcher icon in the tray and choose Configure from the pop-up menu. You will see a window like the one in Figure 13. Simply enter the correct IP address and press OK. The name shown in this box is the name that will appear in the zone editor for your PC. You may change that also if you want.
Figure 13 - DVC Launcher Configuration Window
N:\Product\DVC\DVC Training docs etc\DVC Controller User Manual 2012.doc Page 19
8.1.1
DVC Launcher with multiple network adapters
PCs these days are increasingly being fitted with more than one network device. Your PC may have one or more Ethernet ports, a Wi-Fi, a bluetooth and Godknows what else. Usually activating the Choose adapter automatically option is sufficient to enable DVC Launcher to find the right one but there may be rare occasions when it gets it wrong. In this case, uncheck the automatic option and choose the correct adapter from the list.
9 Tips and Troubleshooting 9.1 Thumbnails for Word Documents Word documents do not automatically appear as thumbnails in the file browser. If you would like them to do so, you have to specifically activate this feature in your document. Here’s how: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Open your document in Microsoft Word Go to the File | Properties menu Select the Summary tab Enable the Save Preview Picture box Save your document
9.2 Automatic TV Turn Off Set up a repeating message containing a set top box command to turn the TV off. If you schedule this every evening, it can turn off any TVs which have accidentally been left on during the day. This will save energy.
9.3 Database errors Don’t be scared by these. Quite nasty looking errors such as the one in Figure 14 are usually only caused by one of three things: 1. Incorrect IP address, port or password has been registered with DVC Digital Signage. To fix this, just click OK on the error message and enter the correct details as explained in section 7.1. 2. Server is down – call your system administrator or tech support. 3. Network problem preventing communication between DVC Digital Signage and the DVC server – once again, call your system administrator.
N:\Product\DVC\DVC Training docs etc\DVC Controller User Manual 2012.doc Page 20
Figure 14 - A nasty database error
Appendix A
System Requirements
To run DVC Digital Signage, you will need:
A Pentium-compatible PC with Microsoft Windows XP or later 10MB free disk space A working local network connection with TCP/IP networking A DVC Server accessible via the local network
DVC Digital Signage is a fairly lightweight application. RAM, hard disk and graphics requirements are minimal by today’s standards. If your PC is capable of running Windows, then it is capable of running DVC Digital Signage. Microsoft Office is recommended but not required. Adobe Acrobat Reader is recommended but not required.
N:\Product\DVC\DVC Training docs etc\DVC Controller User Manual 2012.doc Page 21
Appendix B
Supported media types
DVC supports the following formats for inclusion in messages:
Video formats MPEG 1, 2 & 4 including MPEG, MPG, M2V and M2P files Microsoft ASF Microsoft WMV DivX
Audio formats MPEG Audio (MP2 and MP3) Microsoft WMA WAV
Still image formats GIF JPEG PNG
Text formats Plain text HTML
Office formats Microsoft Word Microsoft Excel Microsoft PowerPoint Adobe Acrobat (PDF) NOTE: If a PC is to receive an office document (word, excel or power point), the PC must have Microsoft Office installed. Set top boxes have built-in support for Microsoft Office documents via OpenOffice. NOTE: If a PC is to receive a PDF file, it must have Acrobat Reader installed. Set top boxes have built-in support for PDF documents.
N:\Product\DVC\DVC Training docs etc\DVC Controller User Manual 2012.doc Page 22
Appendix C When 25-Feb-2008
Document Revision History
Who Adam Pierce
What Initial Draft
N:\Product\DVC\DVC Training docs etc\DVC Controller User Manual 2012.doc Page 23