Control Center: Mapping
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(Updated 2021.02.09)
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Contents
Introduction
Userful's Control Center lets adminstrators "map" displays and video walls via an intuitive drag-and-drop interface to "roles" or "content sources". This document provides a brief overview of Userful's Mapping functionality. For more details on a given source type, please refer to the specific source guide (see below).
To access this functionality open Control Center > Mapping.
In the example shown to the right:
- Displays 1 (onboard display) is mapped to the default "Welcome Screen"
- Displays 2 to 5 - configured as a video wall (Zone-1), Display 6 and 7 are playing Signage content
- Displays 8 and 9 are mapped to Web Browser source
- Display 10 is mapped to another Web Browser source.
Note: It allows users to toggle between the conventional view and the card view for improved user experience. The card(s) are generated based on the various welcome screen(s) available on the Mapping page.
| Note: Userful strongly recommends to use onboard display only for system administrative tasks. |
Configuring Sources
By default, all displays including the Userful host are mapped to source group (i.e. "Welcome Screen"). User can launch any source from the available list by simply clicking the source name, if "Show Welcome Screen" is enabled, however if it is disabled then first source in the welcome screen will launch automatically.
Mapping Screen displays list of available sources and system / zero-client device information, including Display ID, MAC Address and IP Address. However, to create a new source:
- Click on New Source button
- Give a name, and then use the drop-down menu to select amongst the various source types available (click the link for the specific source guide):
- Autologin
- Beabloo Player
- Blackmagic DeckLink Capture
- Cloud Desktop
- Command and Control
- Desktop Streamer (VNC)
- Display5 Player
- Linux Desktop
- Multi-Window
- Network Streamer
- PADS4 Viewer
- Picture-In-Picture
- Program Runner
- Remote Desktop Client
- Rise Vision Player
- RTP Streamer
- RTSP Streamer
- Shelf-Vision
- Signage Player
- Signagelive Player
- TDM Signage
- UIEvolution
- Video Capture
- Web Browsers and Kiosks
Drag & Drop Displays
Once created, displays can be "mapped" or assigned by dragging-and-dropping the display icons to the desired source. All mapped displays will have yellow background, until changes are applied.
In other words, changes will not take effect until the "Apply" button is clicked.
New Virtual Display
"New Virtual Display" feature allows users to add virtual displays apart from the physical displays attached to the Userful server. This feature can only be accessed if the license permits.
To add a Virtual Display
- Click on "New Virtual Display" button
- Provide a Display Tag
- Enter the Resolution for the Virtual Display
- Click "OK" to complete the process
Virtual displays behave like the physical displays but do not appear under the Control Center > Displays.
Tile Welcome Screen Configuration
Tile-based Welcome Screen provides users with the fresh look to enhance the usability of the Welcome Screen.
To create Tile-based Welcome Screen:
- Click
icon available on the right corner of an existing source group - Click "On" to enable it
- Enter the location of the logo file (e.g., /home/user/logo/logofile.png)
- Enter the header text message
- Select a color of the header text by clicking on default color option to open color picker window
- Select a color of the header background by clicking on default color option to open color picker window
- Select text color of all the source name(s) by clicking on default color option to open color picker window
- Enter comma separated color values for the background color of the source(s), OR
- Click "+" button to choose the background color of the source(s) from the color picker window
- Repeat above step depending on the number of sources available under Welcome Screen
- Enable Date and Time if required
- Enable Language Selector if you need to select any foreign language for the Welcome Screen
- Select a color of the Tile Welcome Screen background by clicking on default color option to open color picker window
- Click "OK" to complete the process
Changes will not take effect until the "Apply" button is clicked.
Once created, Tile Welcome screen will appear on the mapped display or video wall as shown in the image to the right.
Click on any source icon to launch the selected source on the display or video wall.
Note: Each source/plugin can have its own set of icons that can be placed in the directory path "/usr/share/userful-plugin-<plugin-name>/icons", root privileges are required throughout this procedure. Changes will not take effect until Userful server is rebooted.
The source icons can be changed by clicking on the existing icon while configuring source under Control Center > Mapping.
Resource-based Access Control
Access to source groups (i.e. Welcome Screens) can be configured and limited through Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) groups and users. Source groups carry names that can be updated in the Mapping section of the UCC.
To rename a source group, click on the icon next to the source group name. Make sure to click the Apply button in the bottom right corner of your screen after changing the name of one or more source groups.
Once source groups have been created, access to them can be controlled through the Control Center > Users > Groups dialog. Administrators can create new groups and decide through the “Resource Groups” tab which source groups to expose.
Note: Users always have access to their own source groups that they have created. An administrator can see that visually in the “Add Group” dialog as the source groups will have their creator’s name noted in brackets. Access to those groups can then be widened by enabling them for new or existing groups.
Mirror Group Configuration
Mirror Group feature allows users to run same content on multiple displays. Following are the key advantages:
- Optimal CPU utilization (processing content only once when outputting identical content to multiple displays including a video wall)
- Perfect content synchronization
- Reduced complexity (managing a single display per group)
To create "Mirror Group":
- Click
icon available on the right side of the "Welcome Screen" to open "Mirror Group Configuration" window - Select On to enable Mirror Group
- Edit the default name of the Mirror Group if required
- Select "Control Display" from the drop-down
- Control display is the display designated for mirroring i.e. all the displays in the group, render the same content as per the control display
- Set the Frame Rate (Default value is 25fps)
- Select the Sound Output from the drop-down menu
- Sound output can only be available through Control Display selected above
- Click "OK" to complete the process
Once mirror group is configured, all the displays and video walls mapped to the source will play content in perfect synchronization.
Changes will not take effect until the "Apply" button is clicked.
Notes:
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Save Preset
Save Preset feature allows users to create and save a variety of preset settings (i.e display mapping configuration) and launch those settings using a single click. To create various presets:
- Open Mapping tab and configure the settings of displays and video walls as per requirement.
- Click on the arrow next to the Apply button, and then click on "Save as Preset" to open the "Save Preset" dialog window as shown in the image to the right.
- Enter the Preset Name to save the current configuration and click "OK" to complete the process.
- Repeat the above-mentioned steps to save a variety of preset settings
- Once completed, click on the arrow next to Apply button, and then click on # Saved (# represents the number of saved presets), to open the "Saved Presets" dialog window, to view the list of saved presets.
- Click on the preset name or play icon to launch the selected preset settings on the associated displays and video walls.
- You can also click on the trash icon to delete the saved preset.
Display Settings
Control Center > Mapping provides an easy access to individual display settings.
To edit or access display settings, single-click an assigned display to open Display Settings dialog box as shown in the image to the right.
- Change Display ID, also view information including Location, IP Address, MAC Address, Connected Devices etc.
- Set the display's resolution by choosing the options available under Resolution drop-down.
- The user can also customize the display's resolution by selecting "Custom Resolution" option.
- Rotate individual display by selecting option available under Rotation drop-down.
- Color calibrate individual displays to adjust it's color characteristics (i.e., RGB color scheme, Brightness, and Contrast). This effectively implies adjusting the color tolerance and intensity of displays to enhance the visual illusion.
- For calibrating colors enter the values or use the mouse wheel to select values for the respective color scheme, brightness, or contrast.
- Click Reset Color Calibration to reset color scheme to default values.
- Stop the current session by clicking the Stop button.
- Extend the session time, if Session Length is configured under Session Management.
- Start a new session by selecting an available source from the drop-down.
Edit the desired settings and click OK to complete the process.
Note: Please configure the display's resolution under Mapping > Display Settings if the content of the standalone display or video wall is not playing at expected resolution. In case of video wall; re-calibrate the video wall after changing the resolution.
Display Status
Besides different roles, Mapping page also provides the status of each and every display, as described below:
 Online Display |
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 Unmapped Display |
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 Unassigned Display |
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Renumbering Displays
Mapping also allows users to easily renumber the displays, as described below:
- Click on the "Show IDs" button; spin box
will overlap the existing display icon that can be edited. - Renumber or reorder all the displays connected.
- Click again on the "Show IDs" button to confirm the display numbers.
Related Links
