User's Manual
25
HowdoImanagetheplaybackofcontents?
Themediaapplianceisdesignedtobeinteroperablewithleading3
rd
partymanagementsoftwaresolutionsorvia
SMILopenstandardcommands.
CouldtheplayerdisplayFlashorMicrosoftPowerPointpresentations?
TheplayerfeatureslimitedPowerPointsupport,butnotFlashsupport.
WhilePCscanplaymanyformatswithvaryingdegreesofsuccess,RISC‐basedmediaplayersaredesignedto
reliablyplayspecificvideoformats(seespecfordetails).WhileMicrosoftPowerPointnativefilescannotplay
directlyonaRISC‐basedplayer,thefilecanbeconverted(i.e.ManagerExpress)intoanimageformattobe
playedasanimageslideshow.
Whywon’tsomemediafilesplayproperly?
Thevideodatabit‐rateused
mayhaveexceededtherecommendedbitrate.
Thevideodatabit‐rateistheamountofvideooraudiodatausedpersecondtostoreorplaythecontents,
usuallyexpressedinMbps(mega‐bitspersecond).Videoencodedwithexcessivebit‐rateswillnotplayback
smoothlyinthemediaplayer,likelyduetostorageI/Obottleneck.
Visit
http://www.digisignage.com
forcompatiblemediaformatpresets.
ThemediaplaybacklooksdifferentonaPCcomparedtothemediaplayer’sscreen.(Wrongaspect
ratio)
Thereare2majoraspectratios(width‐to‐heightratios)forvideocontent,butmanykindsofdisplays.Ifyouplay
4:3videoona16:9display(orviceversa),acirclebecomesoval,andthepicturetakesonasqueezedor
stretchedlook.Toavoidthisdistortedlook,addingblackbarsareacommontechnique.
TheNetworkMediaPlayercanbeconfiguredtoautomaticallyaddblackbarsforcertaintypesofdisplays.You
cansettheoutputresolutionintheplayer’sconfigurationmenutomatchthenativeresolutionofyourdisplay.
SomeJPEGimagescannotbeplayedinthemediaplayer.
ProgressiveJPEGfilesarenotsupported.PleaseconverttobaselineJPEGformaximumcompatibility.
JPEGimagescanbeeitherof2types:baselineorprogressivecompression.BaselineJPEGoffersgreatest
compatibility,whileprogressiveJPEGsaresuitableforwebsiteimages.Progressiveimagesaredownloadedand
displayed“progressively,”beingrenderedmoreclearlyasmoredataisreceivedovertheinternet.Progressive
imagesareprimarilysupportedonPCs.Formediaappliances,makesuretosaveimagesasbaselineJPEGinyour
photoeditor,orresavethemasbaselineJPEGsusingfreetoolssuchasIrfanView(
http://www.irfanview.com/
).
Doesthemediaplayersupportvideostreaming?
No.Mediaplayersplayfilesfromlocalstorageanddonotsupportreal‐timevideostreamingoverthenetwork.
Thisdeliversanoptimumviewingexperiencefreeofplaybackqualityissuessuchasstuttering,blocking,orblue‐
screens.
Theplayerisnotplaying.
WhatshouldIdo?
Playlisterrorsandschedulingissuesaretwomajorcausesofplaybackproblems.Todetermineiftheproblemis
causedbyabadplaylist,justdeletetheplaylistandrestarttheplayer.Theplayershouldloopthroughallmedia
files,indicatingafaultwiththeplaylist.
Iftheplaybackisscheduledtoplayatspecifictime,checktoseeifthedeviceissettotherighttimezoneonthe
worldclock.Ifnothingseemswrong,thetimezonesettingisoftenthereasontheprogramisnotplayed.
ThevideoisplayingbutIcan’thearanysound,whatshouldIdo?
Checkvolume(mute)settingsonmonitor.