HAARC Video Wall Guide

This article presents a technical guide for the underlying components and operation of the video wall in the lobby of the Harold Alfond Athletics and Recreation Complex.

Components

These items are stored in the equipment rack:

• Mac Mini for video content (#20005)
• Mac Mini for video content (#20007)
• Planar wall director hardware for image mapping

Sources

At the time of this writing, there are two primary sources — the Mac Minis. This can change, such as adding a Roku device or a ScreenCloud device for more explicit digital signage functionality. These changes would need to be requested, and funded, by Athletics.

Each Mac Mini has two video outputs, which can be thought of like dual screen monitors on one's desktop. For visual reference, see the table below. The total output can look like one long continuous image, or individual windows in the MacOS can be 'snapped' into place to align with each virtual monitor. The Planar hardware maps different sections to the video wall based on the preset recalled from the touch panel on the desk.

Mac Mini #20005

Mac Mini #20007

Image Layout

Apps/programs and their windows need to be carefully aligned so that content displays in the correct section of the video wall. When logged into either Mac Mini, app windows can be dragged and dropped into either the left or right monitor. From there, there are a few ways to effectively 'snap' the app window into the proper area:

• Click the green dot (upper left of the window) to fully maximize relative to the monitor
• Hover over the green dot and choose Full Screen and then either Left of Screen or Right of Screen to move it to that half of the monitor
• In some video player windows, like YouTube, there is a maximize screen icon. That will expand the video player to the monitor

Note: We have found that in many cases, if there is a combination of one screen maximized and one using just the left or right side, that the fully maximized window should be expanded first, followed by the half-maximized window.

Some common layouts are shown below.

Layout 1 (1 & 2)

Layout 2 (1 & 1)

Layout 3 (2 & 2)

Video Wall Arrangement

The video wall has hardware (which is normally transparent to the user) which maps different sources (e.g., the Mac Minis) onto different areas. These configurations and layouts are controlled by Presents 1-4 on the control panel. An analogy to this could be making a scrapbook with digital inputs, or perhaps the way that a physical photo can be cut and aligned properly so that it fits into a given frame. This sections seeks to illustrate the mapping for each preset.

Preset 1

Creating Content

Content can be images, video, websites, and more. Images may be made in any application that supports creating graphics. To get the optimized image quality, keep your canvas sized correctly:

• Full-screen graphics: 3840 pixels wide x 2160 pixels high. Some templates may call this "4K".
• Half-screen graphics: 1920 pixels wide x 2160 pixels high.