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Video for Digital Signage

Video

Video in Digital Signage can either be added from your library, or the royalty-free provider Pixabay.

About

Video in Digital Signage can either be added from your library, or the royalty-free provider Pixabay.

Video is not to be confused with Youtube as Youtube is added and displayed using our Youtube plugin, read more about Youtube.

Options

  • Alignment – Maximize, left, center, right, top, middle, right, and lock
  • Details – Show you the video file name, duration of the video, and the resolution as well
  • Set slide duration to – Click this bottom to set your slide duration to the same time as the video.
  • Muted – Plays without sound
  • Loop – Toggle this to make your video loop (Check your slide duration after doing this).
  • Always on top – By default, the video will be rendered on top of other elements for smoother playback.
    • Yes – This option is recommended for all entry-level players as they can struggle when having to render the entire canvas for every frame.
    • No – Video will respect the layers and other elements can be moved on top of the video. This requires a mid-level player as the entire canvas has to be rendered for every frame of video. If you want to position elements above the video, we recommend using the background option instead.
    • Yes (native)  This option will be the default for 4K videos. On Android devices it will launch Android’s native video player at the position of the video, non-android devices behave the same as with the ‘yes’ option. Please refer to 4K limitations on the Android section in the FAQ.
    • Background – By selecting this option, the canvas background will become automatically transparent, this is because the video will be played behind the canvas in a dedicated video player. This way we can get the performance gains of not having to render each frame twice (like with the no option), yet also make it possible to position elements, such as text or logo on top of the video.
  • Layer – Move your image or photo up or down your layers
  • Positioning – Manually adjust the placement of your shape pixel by pixel
  • Sizing – Manually adjust the size of your shape pixel by pixel
Note! When you add a video you’ll notice that the slide duration automatically changes to the same as the duration of the video. This is a setting in Other settings under your user profile. You can always manually change the duration of the slide after adding a video.

FAQ

How big files can I upload?

The maximum size of one file can be up to 2 GB. PDF files, presentations, and documents can contain up to 50 pages, larger files should be split before uploading.

What formats are supported?

We support the following formats: 3g2, 3gp, 3gpp, avi, dv, flv, m2ts, m4v, mkv, mov, mp4, mpeg, mpg, mts, mxf, ogg, swf, vob, webm, wmv.
Please note that all formats are automatically converted to mp4.

What is the best format?

We recommend using .mp4 files encoded in h264 or h265 codec. Despite h265 being a newer codec, often h264 is better for the players as it’s not that heavily compressed and decoding takes fewer resources.

Is 4K supported?

Our software has the support for 4k, but your player device has to be capable as well. Our Windows/Linux/OSX devices treat 4K like any other format, however Android devices are using a workaround. Android devices (ARM processors) are quite weak compared to other hardware (x86), and the 4K playback on Android devices is optimized for certain codecs and applications only. For that reason, our app will launch the native player at the coordinates of the plugin and will play the video. Learn more.

It says bit-rate is too high?

Entry-level devices have limited resources, and there is a lot more to this than just the resolution. Videos have a bit rate that defines how many bits a video will take up in one second. Our recommended bitrate should not exceed 8000kbit/s or simply 1 megabyte per 1 second of video. So a 60-second clip should not exceed 60 megabytes, this is quite reasonable for FullHD, however, the specific limitations depend on your player hardware.

How to get a lower bitrate?

You can use a free transcoder https://handbrake.fr/ to optimize the video. H264/265 encoders have an option for constant quality, this should be set between 21-23 for optimal quality/bitrate ratio. Furthermore, you can also set an option “Web optimized” when encoding, this will reduce the time it takes for the player to load and start playing.

Every time I add a video the slide duration change.

If you go to your user profile and open Other Settings you’ll find the setting Automatically set slide duration when adding a video. Toggle this to deactivate this setting.

Can I lock the position of a video in digital signage?

You can lock any object you have in your content. Locking an object ensures that the object stays where it’s supposed to be, and can not be resized or removed, read more about Locking Objects.

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Get started designing your content

Most people think designing content for digital signage is super difficult, but if you can use Powerpoint, you can also create and design your own content in our editor.

Play Digital Signage, Inc., 2035 Sunset Lake Road, Newark, DE, 19702, USA
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