Specifications
Remote Control
52
AMX InspiredSignage XPress Programming Guide
Remote Triggers
Remote triggers let you display some text, video or animation on the IS-SPX-1000 controlled from a remote
server. For instance printing a message on all the IS-SPX-1000 of a building or a “GOAL!” message on the
screen of the stadium. The same procedure can be used to control which image of video to display from a
remote server. There are a choice of techniques to remotely trigger the display of a message, in the form of
text, animation, image or video.
Triggering a text or image overlay
The best way to trigger the temporary display of a text or image overlay is to use the news.svg template in the
News directory. In order to configure the new template for this use, follow the steps below:
1. Select a name of a shared variable which you'll use to set the text message.
2. Enter this name in the RSS Feed Source property. Append @localhost to the variable name so it is
recognized as a variable.
3. Select TXT for the Feed Type property.
4. Set how long you want the message to display in the Item Duration property.
5. Set the Looping property to off.
6. Switch to edit mode and draw a single text area with [SPX][title] as the content at the location where you
want the message to appear.
7. Drop a suitable transition, such as a fade-in on the text area (optional).
8. Insert the template as a new layer in the main document.
The template will remain transparent until you set some text for the chosen variable. Whenever you update the
content of this variable, your message will show for the configured duration.
You can follow the same method to display an image, video or animation instead of text. If the image is known
in advance you can ignore the content of the variable, just using it as a trigger. To trigger a fixed video or image
based on a trigger:
1. Use the news template together with a shared variable as in the previous example.
2. Switch to the edit mode and create your layout using your videos or images. Note that as you are not
interested in the content of the shared variable, you don't need to use [SPX][title] tag in your document. If
you plan to play a video, make sure that the duration of the slide is longer than the duration of the video.
3. The videos or images will be displayed for the duration of the slide each time the trigger is received.
Alternatively, you can use the content of the variable as a filename or URL for the image:
1. Use the news template together with a shared variable as for the previous example.
2. Go to the Layers tab and insert a new media.
3. Open the Media Properties dialog box (press the [...]).
4. In the URI property, type [SPX][title]. This means that the content of the shared variable will be used as
the address of the file to be opened.
5. Using any of the network API methods, you can change the shared variable to the address of the file you
want to display. You can use a relative path or a complete URL.
The new_ticker.svg template may be used alternatively if you want the message to scroll through the screen
when triggered.
Note that the method presented here can also be applied to permanent content, such as a score overlay on
sports content by giving a large enough duration for the slide. Effects can be used in this case to render the
transition visible, or removed to make a silent change.
Triggering an alternative content
It is possible to temporarily replace the current content by an alternative one based on the user input. The input
might be based on a local (serial port or USB) or remote trigger.
To create such content, start with the procedure found in the Remote Control of Content section on page 42. In
most cases, set the normal content as the default media (the first one on the list). Each additional ID will be
associated to each one of the alternative contents with their duration.