Live vs. Standalone Video Playback

Once your video wall is up and running, you will need to choose how much control you want to have over the video that’s being played on it. For CRT videos being played in a gallery, for instance, you will probably want the video to play on a loop indefinitely, whereas, on the set of a music video, you may need to be able to jump to a specific part of a video to begin filming from there. At a music event, you may want to have visuals changing over time, with the ability to add videos, effects or logos at the last minute. For each of these three options, and everything in between, there are a few ways to choose from for playing back the video, which is suited to some situations better than others. 

STANDALONE LOOPED VIDEO PLAYBACK

The simplest option for playing a video on a TV wall is using a standalone media player. We have a large range of brightsign media players available which, once loaded with a video on their memory card, will begin playing it on a loop once it gets power. They are reliable, relatively easy to set up, and are our preferred solution for quick and easy playback of a video in a gallery or event, where all that’s needed is to play a video on a loop. Once installed at an event, they need no special knowledge to start. Just plug them in and they will begin playing the video. Great for long-term video installations.

The downside is that once playing, there is no control of the video available in its most simple state. You cannot pause, rewind or jump to a specific part of the video. 

Also, the video format needs to be converted and optimised in advance, to ensure a neat looping video without an awkward pause at the end as it loops back to the beginning. For this reason, we ask that all videos for any brightsign media player be received at least 48 hours prior to the morning of your event or installation. We have a useful blog here for preparing your content.

TRIGGERED MEDIA PLAYER

We are able to program brightsign media players with up to 8 videos and use a simple 8-button trigger to select which video to play. With one of these videos as a looping black video, we can create the illusion of turning the video wall on from black. The videos still cannot be paused, rewound or jump to a specific time. This requires more preparation time, and the video cannot be changed on the day of the event. 

LIVE VIDEO PLAYBACK

We can provide more versatile video playback using a laptop and professional video playback software. With this software, we can easily play, pause and rewind video, jump to a specific time, and add logos and new videos easily on the day. This solution will require one of our technicians on-site who is able to operate the software. This is usually necessary for video shoots where the director or DOP may require to shoot or reshoot a scene with a specific part of a video at a specific time.

FULL VJ VIDEO PLAYBACK

With a video operator or VJ, we can provide a constantly updating stream of visuals provided by either yourself or the VJ or both. Perfect for music events where you want the visuals on the CRT screens to be evolving with the event and the music, or if you need certain videos or logos played at certain times. They will be able to add effects to the video on the TV screens and do just about anything you can imagine to manipulate the video in real-time.