User's Manual

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24
7.1. Introduction
UsingSMIL(pronounced“smile”),thelanguagecreatedbyW3Cformultimediacommunications,themedia
playerunderstandsthelanguage“spoken”byprofessionaltoolsfromcompaniessuchasAdobe,Apple,Microsoft,
andRealNetworks.Whatthismeansisquicker,easier,andbetterintegrationofyourplayersintoyourdigital
signagenetworks,openingup
avenuesofsoftwarecontrolsandrealizingthefullpotentialofyourplayer
hardwaredowntheroad.
7.2. www.a‐smil.orgfordevelopers
ThemediaplayeroperatingsystemutilizesW3CSMILastheunderlyingscriptinglanguage,whichlendswellto
customizationtoyourprojectmanagementneeds.Forresources,downloads,andcommunitysupport,please
visitwww.a‐smil.org
.
8. Appendix:FAQ
WhatvideoformatcanI play?
VideofilesencodedinMPEG‐4AVCupto1920x1080resolutionsandbitratesshouldplayperfectly.Ifacertain
videoisnotplayedasscheduled,orifitplayspoorly,pleasesearchthesupportsitefor“transcode”instructions.
TheplayerisplacednearmyWi
‐Fiaccesspoint,yettheconnectionisunreliable.
Wi‐Fiappliancesingeneralshouldbeplaced10feet(3meters)fromtheWi‐Fiaccesspointforreliableoperation.
Tryrelocatingtheaccesspointfurtherawayfromtheplayertoimproveconnection.
IfbothEthernet&Wi‐Fiareconnected,
whichonewilltakeprecedence?
Ifbothconnectionsareavailable,Ethernetwillbeused.
WhatshouldIdoifIforgotmypassword?
Pleaseperformafactoryreset.
UsetheS/WRESETbuttonlocatedatthebackofthemediaplayertorestorefactorysettings.Thiswillalsoclear
theplayer’s
password.
HowdoImanagetheplaybackofcontents?
Themediaapplianceisdesignedtobeinteroperablewithleading3
rd
partymanagementsoftwaresolutionsorvia
SMILopenstandardcommands.
CouldtheplayerdisplayFlashorMicrosoftPowerPointpresentations?
TheplayerfeatureslimitedPowerPointsupport,butnotFlashsupport.
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image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contents,
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the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.