User's Manual

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WhilePCscanplaymanyformatswithvaryingdegreesofsuccess,RISC‐basedmediaplayersaredesignedto
reliablyplayspecificvideoformats(seespecfordetails).WhileMicrosoftPowerPointnativefilescannotplay
directlyonaRISC‐basedplayer,thefilecanbeconverted(i.e.ManagerExpress)intoanim
ageformattobe
playedasanimageslideshow.
Whywon’tsomemediafilesplayproperly?
Thevideodatabit‐rateusedmayhaveexceededtherecommendedbitrate.
Thevideodatabit‐rateistheamountofvideooraudiodatausedpersecondtostoreorplaytheco
ntents,
usuallyexpressedinMbps(mega‐bitspersecond).Videoencodedwithexcessivebit‐rateswillnotplayback
smoothlyinthemediaplayer,likelyduetostorageI/Obottleneck.
Visithttp://www.digisignage.com
forcompatiblemediaformatpresets.
ThemediaplaybacklooksdifferentonaPCcomparedtothemediaplayer’sscreen.(Wrongaspect
ratio)
Thereare2majoraspectratios(width‐to‐heightratios)forvideocontent,butmanykindsofdisplays.Ifyouplay
4:3videoona16:9display(orviceversa)
,acirclebecomesoval,andthepicturetakesonasqueezedor
stretchedlook.Toavoidthisdistortedlook,addingblackbarsareacommontechnique.
TheNetworkMediaPlayercanbeconfiguredtoautomaticallyaddblackbarsforcertaintypesofdisplays.You
cansettheoutputresolutioninth
eplayer’sconfigurationmenutomatchthenativeresolutionofyourdisplay.
SomeJPEGimagescannotbeplayedinthemediaplayer.
ProgressiveJPEGfilesarenotsupported.PleaseconverttobaselineJPEGformaximumcompatibility.
JPEGimagescanbeeitherof2types:baselineorprogressivecompression.BaselineJPEGof
fersgreatest
compatibility,whileprogressiveJPEGsaresuitableforwebsiteimages.Progressiveimagesaredownloadedand
displayed“progressively,”beingrenderedmoreclearlyasmoredataisreceivedovertheinternet.Progressive
imagesareprimarilysupportedonPCs.Formediaappliances,makesuretosaveimagesasbaselineJPEGinyour
phot
oeditor,orresavethemasbaselineJPEGsusingfreetoolssuchasIrfanView(http://www.irfanview.com/
).
Doesthemediaplayersupportvideostreaming?
No.Mediaplayersplayfilesfromlocalstorageanddonotsupportreal‐timevideostreamingoverthenetwork.
Thisdeliversanoptimumviewingexperiencefreeofplaybackqualityissuessuchasstuttering,blocking,orblue‐
screens.
Theplayerisnotplaying.Whatsho
uldIdo?
Playlisterrorsandschedulingissuesaretwomajorcausesofplaybackproblems.Todetermineiftheproblemis
causedbyabadplaylist,justdeletetheplaylistandrestarttheplayer.Theplayershouldloopthroughallmedia
files,indicatingafaultwiththeplaylist.
Ifthepla
ybackisscheduledtoplayatspecifictime,checktoseeifthedeviceissettotherighttimezoneonthe
worldclock.Ifnothingseemswrong,thetimezonesettingisoftenthereasontheprogramisnotplayed.
ThevideoisplayingbutIcan’thearanysou
nd,whatshouldIdo?
Checkvolume(mute)settingsonmonitor.
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