Would you like to discover how to efficiently connect and manage multiple screens to enhance your digital presentations?
Multi-screen management is an often underestimated yet vital feature in digital display systems. It ensures cohesive and dynamic content delivery across various screens, creating an engaging visual experience.
In this article, we’ll guide you through the process of using NovaLCT to connect and manage multiple screens seamlessly. By mastering these techniques, you can optimize your display systems for maximum impact.
In This Article
What is Multi-Screen Management?
Multi-screen management refers to the ability to control and configure multiple screens. This often involves coordinating content, adjusting settings like brightness, and monitoring performance across several screens from a single interface. Efficient multi-screen management ensures that all displays work harmoniously, presenting a seamless viewing experience.
Why Do We Need Multi-Screen Management?
Multi-screen setups are becoming increasingly common in various environments, from corporate control rooms and conference halls to restaurants and retail stores. Each display can serve a unique purpose or work together to form a large, cohesive image.
Without effective management, handling each screen individually becomes cumbersome, leading to inefficiencies. With it, businesses and technicians can ensure all screens are synchronized, simplifying content distribution, maintenance, and performance monitoring. This leads to reduced operational costs, increased flexibility, and better user experiences.
Prepare Multi Screens
Before we dive into multiple LED screen connections and management, it’s essential to prepare the screens first.
In our example below, you’ll see that two screens (Screen 1 and Screen 2) are connected to different ports (Port 1 and Port 2) of a single sending card. In addition, the loading area of a single LED receiver card is 192 width by 192 height. Each screen with 2 columns and 3 rows of LED cabinets.
All steps in this guide will be based on this demonstration, and you can apply the same principles to configure additional screens as needed. Now, let me show you how to connect the multiple screens and set up management using one control PC.
Setting Up Multi-Screen Connection
Now that we prepared the hardware coonection, let’s dive into a step-by-step guide on how to set it up. Here we will use Novastar NovaLCT as an example.
Step 1: Mapping the Screen
1. Open NovaLCT Software: Begin by launching the NovaLCT software. Navigate to “User” > “Advanced Synchronous System User Login” from the dropdown list and enter the password “admin“.
2. Enter Screen Configuration: Click on “Screen Configuration” in the main interface. Select the communication port and click “Next” to enter the “Screen Configuration” interface, which includes three tabs: Sending Card, Receiver Card, and Screen Connection.
3. Screen Connection: Focus on the “Screen Connection” tab. In our example there are two screens, so we set the quantity 2 accordingly and click “Configuration” in the upper right corner. This action will add the tabs for individual screens—”Screen 1” and “Screen 2“.
Step 2: Configuring Each Screen
Let’s start by configuring Screen 1. In our example, this screen consists of 2 columns and 3 rows, with each cabinet having a resolution of 192 by 192 pixels. First, click the tab “Screen 1” and input “2” for the “Columns” parameter and “3” for the “Rows” parameter. Then, click “Reset All” to generate the topology diagram, which will display the corresponding 2 columns and 3 rows of square blocks representing 6 LED cabinets or receiver cards.
Next, select Ethernet port No. 1, where Screen 1 is connected. Enter the resolution of a single receiver card—192 pixels for both width and height. After that, use the mouse to click the first square block which reflects the physical location of the first LED receiver card. In our example, the first LED receiver card is at the bottom left.
It’s important to note that the screen connection should be mapped from the front view, reflecting the physical layout of the receiver cards. If you’re using Armored series receiver cards like A5s, A8s, or A9s, you can click “Enable Mapping” to visualize how the cabinets are connected.
After Clicking the corresponding square block in the diagram, Then, click the next square block based on the actual position of the second receiver card. In this situation, it’s next to the first card on the right, so click the adjacent square block. you’ll see the first square block has a letter “S” indicating the start point of the receiver cards.
Once you do this, a rightward arrow will appear, illustrating the data flow direction from the first to the second receiver card. Repeat this process according to the actual positions of the receiver cards until you click the last square block, which will be labeled “E” marking the endpoint of the receiver card connection in a chain.
After finishing the configuration for Screen 1, switch to the “Screen 2” tab to configure the second screen. The steps will largely mirror those for Screen 1; however, ensure you select the appropriate port for Screen 2—in our example, that would be port 2. Follow the same procedures as you did for Screen 1.
Additionally, you can use the “Quick Connection” feature, which integrates common basic line drawing connections. This can streamline the process if it matches your screen’s existing layout.
Once all screens are configured, click the “Send to HW” button to save the settings temporarily to the hardware (note that these settings will be lost if the power is turned off). To save the configuration permanently, don’t forget to click “Save” to guarantee your settings remain safe even if the power is restarted.
Step 3: Troubleshoot Screen Connection
in addition, there are two highly useful functions at the bottom left of the interface: “Detect Communication Status” and “Read the Number of Receiving Cards“. you can use them to troubleshoot the screen connection.
First, click the button “Detect Communication Status” and it will prompt a screen list, allowing you to verify the Ethernet cable connection status for each screen.
Then select the screen you want to check, and click “OK“, soon the interface will display the result list including. A green indicator means normal status, while any other color denotes a fault. As shown in the following image, the receiver cards status are all normal.
Then, you can also click the button “Read the Number of Receiving Cards” and it will display the total number of receiver cards for each output port of the sending card. If the quantity is correct, then the screen connection is successful.
Setting Up Multiple-Screen Management
After configuring the screens, you may need to adjust the brightness or monitor the status of the screens. Here’s how to manage these tasks if you haven’t set up Multi-Screen Management:
Brightness Adjustment
Once the screen connections are established, return to the main interface of NovaLCT and click on “Brightness Adjustment“. You’ll notice two tabs labeled “Screen 1” and “Screen 2“. To adjust the brightness, you’ll need to switch between these tabs, which can be cumbersome since adjustments need to be made separately for each screen.
Similarly, in the “Monitoring” interface, you will also find tabs for “Screen 1” and “Screen 2” adding to the inconvenience.
To streamline this process, NovaLCT offers a “Multiple-Screen Management” function.
How to Set Up Multiple-Screen Management
Access Settings: Click on “Settings” and select “Multiple-Screen Management” from the dropdown menu. This will take you to the “Configuration of Combined Screen” interface.
Define the Number of Combined Screens: Here, enter the value for the “Number of Combined Screens” parameter and click on the “Configuration” button. Here in our example, we need to combine 1 screen.
Configure Combined Screen: After that, you will see a tab named “Combined Screen 1“. Enter the number of screens you want to combine; in this case, it’s 2. You can also rename “Combined Screen 1” for better management—let’s rename it to “Demo” as an example.
Finalize the Configuration: Then, click the “Configuration” button within this tab. You will now see several blue rectangles representing the screens. In our example, there are two blue rectangles, each currently displaying a “?” symbol, indicating that no screens are associated yet.
Associate the Screens: Right-click on the first blue rectangle; this will open a new interface where you can select which screen to associate. Click on the small green rectangle labeled “1” to link it with the first blue rectangle. After that, The software will automatically associate Screen 1, and this rectangle will display the corresponding information. Repeat this step for the second blue rectangle, associating it with the second screen.
Organize the Screens: Once both blue rectangles are linked to their respective screens, click on the second blue rectangle and drag it next to the first one.
After aligning them, click “OK.”
Return to Monitoring and Brightness Adjustment: Go back to the monitoring interface, and you’ll now see a single tab for the combined screen rather than two separate tabs.
In the “Brightness Adjustment” interface, you will find just one combined screen named “Demo” This allows you to adjust the brightness of both screens simultaneously.
As shown in the above image, it is convenient to adjust brightness and monitor status with screen management.
Useful Resource
If you have not downloaded the Novastar NovaLCT software, you can check this page: Novastar NovaLCT Download.
For an advanced brightness adjustment guide, check this post: LED Screen Brightness Adjustment with NovaLCT.
For a comprehensive guide about how to set Novastar NovaLCT Screen Configuration, check this.
Don’t know where to get the multiple screens? check our product page: LED display product.
To Sum up
Multi-screen connection and management is an essential tool for efficiently controlling and configuring multiple screens. By following the steps outlined in this guide, you can set up connection and manage multiple screens seamlessly.
If you have any further questions about the multiple screen connection and management, please feel free to contact us. For more LED display tutorials, check here.