Video should run, except during time-controlled overlays
On a display, a video should run by default, e.g. a corporate film at the reception. At certain times an overlay should appear instead, e.g. a greeting for registered visitors. Anyone who puts both in the same Layout section often gets surprises. Here's how to solve it correctly.
«Screens» → open display → at the very bottom the row «Emergency Channel». You manage the time-controlled content as usual in the Layout: click the section → «Inhalt für Abschnitt bearbeiten» (edit content for section).
Symptoms
- The video keeps running even though an overlay is scheduled right now, or it alternates with it.
- The video gets cut off near the end and starts over from the beginning.
- A scheduled overlay doesn't appear at all or appears at a different time than expected.
Cause
The video, with the schedule «Täglich, ganzer Tag» (daily, all day), is in the same section as the time-controlled overlays. In one section, all content that is currently valid runs one after another in rotation. So a schedule does not hide the video; the overlay simply gets added to the rotation.
Solution: Put the video in the Emergency Channel
- Open the Layout, click the section and remove the video. Only the time-controlled overlays remain in the section.
- Check the schedule for each overlay: days, start and end date and above all the play time.
- Click «Veröffentlichen» (publish).
- Under «Screens», open the display and click at the very bottom into the field «Emergency Channel».
- Select «Media» on the left, mark the video and click «Auf den Screen» (to the screen).
- Repeat steps 4 and 5 for every display that should run this way.
How it works
revolutionSCREEN skips time-controlled content outside its time window. If nothing is playable in the Layout at a given moment, the Emergency Channel automatically takes over and plays the video.
- Outside the overlay times: The section is empty, the Emergency Channel takes over, the video runs.
- During an overlay: The overlay is playable and runs, the video pauses.
Because the video is no longer in the section, the element duration no longer matters either. The video is no longer cut off prematurely.
Prevention
- Rule of thumb: Put a display's base content in the Emergency Channel, and time-controlled content in the Layout or in the Playlist.
- When creating a schedule, always check the play time, not just the day and date. Otherwise the time you created the entry can easily remain there.
- Publish after every change.