- Solstice Documentation
- Manage Solstice
- Manage Solstice Locally with Solstice Dashboard
- Appearance and Usage Settings
Appearance and Usage Settings
To make it easy for users to discover and connect to the right Solstice display, Mersive recommends renaming each Pod or Windows-based display to correspond to the meeting room or space it is installed in. You can also change the appearance of the Solstice display's welcome screen to match your organization's branding by updating the display's background images, adding customized connection instructions, changing the text color, and more.
How To
In Solstice Dashboard, select a display (Pod or Windows Display Software) from the list of Your Solstice Instances.
Go to the Appearance and Usage tab.
In the Display Name section, change the Name to one that corresponds with the location or room the display is in. For example, you can change a Pod name to 'North Conference Room' to match the name of the room it is in. This makes it easier for users to know which Solstice display they are connecting to.
Click Apply.
Repeat steps 1–4 for all displays in your Solstice deployment.
In Solstice Dashboard, select your displays in the list of Your Solstice Instances.
Go to the Appearance and Usage tab.
Under Customize Welcome Screen, select the Modern Splash Screen option.
Under Background images, click on the image you want to change. A file explorer window will opens.
Browse to the image to add, select the file, then click Open.
To disable a background image, uncheck the box to the left of the image. You can use as few as one or as many as six background images for each display.
To change the images back to the default background images, click the Reset to default images button.
To avoid the potential for "burn in" that may occur from the background image being displayed continuously in the same location, you can select Background pan effect. This moves the background image slowly right and left across the display's background area.
Click Apply.
Connection instructions that appear on the Solstice Welcome Screen give meeting participants the information they need to quickly connect to a Solstice display. You can customize these instructions according to how your organization has configured Solstice.
In Solstice Dashboard, select your displays from the list of Your Solstice Instances.
Go to the Appearance and Usage tab.
In Connection Instructions Overlay under Appearance, check Custom instructions overlay.
In the field that appears, enter the custom connection instructions to appear on the display’s welcome screen. Both plain and rich text formats are supported.
Tip
You can include responsive variables, which will be automatically replaced with Pod-specific information, in your custom instructions. Available variables are
[RoomName],[ScreenKey],[WifiNetworkName],[WifiIP],[EthNetworkName], and[EthIP]. Note that variables are case sensitive.You can use the following as a starting point for your custom instructions:
To get started: 1. Browse to share.mersive.com 2. Enter [EthIP] or [WifiIP] 3. Enter the Screen Key [ScreenKey] and connect 4. Share content to this screen!
To add a dynamic IP address to the instructions, enter the network name in brackets, e.g.
[INTERNAL]. The string is replaced with the corresponding IP address when it appears on the welcome screen.To remove instructions for how users can connect to the display using AirPlay or Miracast, uncheck the Show AirPlay and/or Show Miracast options.
Click Apply.
Tip
Not sure how to get started with your custom instructions? Copy and edit the sample below:
To get started: 1. Connect your device to [EthNetworkName] 2. Open the Solstice App 3. Tap [RoomName] 4. Enter [ScreenKey] when prompted for the Screen Key 5. Share content to this screen! 6. First time? Visit https://[EthIP] Tip: Stash on-screen content by dragging it to the dock on the left
In Solstice Dashboard, select your displays from the list of Your Solstice Instances.
Go to the Appearance and Usage tab.
In Connection Instructions Overlay under Appearance, select either Hide instructions overlay or Show instructions overlay.
To show a summary of upcoming events on the room calendar associated with the display, check Show calendar overlay. For more information on configuring a room calendar for a Solstice display, see Room Calendar Settings.
Click Apply.
The message bulletin or RSS feed shows messaging at the top of the Solstice display's welcome screen when digital signage is not running. In the event of an emergency, Solstice also can push out an emergency message as a banner that appears across the top of Solstice displays, including during meetings and sharing sessions.
In Solstice Dashboard, select your displays from the list of Your Solstice Instances.
Go to the Message Center tab. In Message Bulletin Feeds, you can add an URL-based RSS feed or enter a custom message to appear in the RSS banner at the top of the Solstice display.
To add an URL-based RSS feed:
Click the Add RSS URL button.
In the box that appears, enter the URL for the RSS feed to run on the Solstice display.
Click OK.
Click Apply.
To display a custom message in the RSS banner:
Go to the Message Bulletin Feeds table, then click in the Source column of the Custom Message row. A Custom Bulletin Text pop-up appears.
Enter in the message to appear in the banner, then click OK.
Click Apply.
Use the Emergency Broadcast to push an emergency message to Solstice displays. To activate an emergency broadcast:
Check Enable Emergency Broadcast.
Enter your message in the Emergency Message line.
To send the message to all displays in the list of Your Solstice Instances, regardless of which instances are currently selected, check the Apply emergency setting to all managed displays... box.
Click Apply and confirm you want to start broadcasting the emergency message by clicking Apply Changes.
Note
Note that part or all of the Solstice display sharing area is unusable while the emergency broadcast appears.
The presence bar at the bottom of the Solstice display's welcome screen shows the display's information so that users can easily find and connect to the Pod, even during a collaboration session. Solstice allows you to set whether or not the presence bar appears, as well as the information it contains.
In Solstice Dashboard, select the desired displays from the list of Your Solstice Instances.
Go to the Appearance and Usage tab.
In Appearance, select check Show Presence Bar to show the presence bar at the bottom of the Solstice display.
Select the following options based on your preferences:
Presence Bar - Display Name shows the Display Name defined at the top of Appearance and Usage on the presence bar.
Presence Bar - IP Address shows the display's IP address (or DNS hostname, if defined) on the presence bar.
Presence Bar - Screen Key shows the four-digit screen key required to connect to the display on the presence bar. (Screen key is enabled in Security > Access control.)
Presence Bar - Always show sets the presence bar to always appear at the bottom of the screen, even during collaboration sessions. By default, the presence bar minimizes when a collaboration session starts.
Note
If the presence bar is hidden, you can plug a USB mouse into the Pod and long click to show the presence bar and access the Pod's local settings.
Click Apply.
The display options allow you to configure how Solstice content appears when connected to two display monitors. By default, Solstice is set to Mirror mode to be compatible with both single and dual displays.
In Solstice Dashboard, select the display(s) from the list of Your Solstice Instances.
Go to the Appearance and Usage tab and scroll to Usage and Feature Management.
Under Display Options, select one of the following settings:
Mirror (default): The second display mirrors, or shows the same content as, the first.
Extend: Two displays are treated as a single collaboration panel. Content can be shared to both displays and moved between them. Solstice intelligently knows where one display ends and the next begins and never breaks a content post across the two displays.
Seamless Extend: Content is posted across both displays as if they are a single seamless display. This mode is recommended for video walls or other setups where there is no bevel or seam between the two displays.
Click Apply.
The HDMI-in port on Gen3 Solstice Pods can be configured for a preferred input resolution, up to 1080p.
Important
Do not change the Preferred HDMI Input Resolution for a Solstice Pod while there is an active HDMI-In connection to the Pod. This can disable the HDMI-In port in some cases.
In Solstice Dashboard, select the desired Gen3 Pods from the list of Your Solstice Instances.
Go to the Appearance and Usage tab and scroll to Usage and Feature Management.
Under Preferred HDMI Input Resolution, select Enable Preferred Input Resolution.
Select the desired Preferred Input Resolution for HDMI input, 1080p, 720p, or VGA.
Click Apply to send the new HDMI input resolution setting to selected Pods.
Note
The HDMI-in port on Pods affected by this change must be reset for the new resolution preference to take effect. This can be done by physically disconnecting and reconnecting the HDMI cable from the HDMI-in port, turning the HDMI input port off and on again using the OpenControl API, or rebooting the Pod (System tab > Tools > Reboot).
You can set the default behavior for a wired source connected to the HDMI-in port of a Solstice Gen3 Pod. This is useful if you want to use a persistent wired input source such as a dedicated in-room computer, an integrated video room system device, or a digital signage media player between collaboration sessions.
In Solstice Dashboard, select the desired Gen3 Pod(s) from the list of Your Solstice Instances.
Go to the Appearance and Usage tab and scroll to Usage and Feature Management.
Select one of the following options HDMI input behavior mode options:
Standard Post (default): If a wired HDMI-in source is connected to the Solstice Pod, it is treated as a standard Solstice content post. For example, choose this if guest users often use the HDMI-in port to connect to the Solstice sharing space without network access.
Persistent Post: A wired HDMI-in source persistently connected to the Solstice Pod, appears full screen while there are no other posts shared to Solstice. When another post is shared, the wired HDMI-in source is automatically moved off screen to the dock. When all wireless posts are deleted, the wired HDMI-in source automatically returns to full screen. This mode is designed to support wired inputs that should appear anytime users are not actively sharing content to Solstice.
Note
In Persistent Post mode, the post from the HDMI-in port is docked during wireless sharing but cannot be deleted. To remove the post, unplug the wired HDMI-in source.
Click Apply.
On Solstice Gen3 Pods, the HDMI input is HDCP-compliant, which means a laptop or other device can connect to the HDMI-in port and pass digitally protected content through the Pod. HDCP support is disabled by default.
In Solstice Dashboard, select the desired Gen3 Pods from the list of Your Solstice Instances.
Go to the Appearance and Usage tab and scroll to Usage and Feature Management.
Under HDMI Input Mode, select HDCP Support.
A confirmation screen appears where you are prompted to agree to abide by the copyright laws of your jurisdiction.
Click Accept.
Click Apply.
When a USB device with audio output, such as a composite camera, is connected to a Gen3 Solstice Pod, audio output for the Pod is routed through the USB port to the USB device by default. However, starting in Solstice 5.4 you can choose for audio to instead be routed to the HDMI output, or HDMI outputs if the Pod is connected to more than one display monitor.
In Solstice Dashboard, select a Pod from the list of Your Solstice Instances.
Go to the Appearance and Usage tab.
In the Usage and Feature Management section, find Audio Options.
To redirect USB audio to the HDMI Output(s), check Route audio to HDMI Out.
Click Apply.
Note
The Solstice QuickConnect client was deprecated in Solstice 6. The Client QuickConnect Action section was removed from the Pod's direct configuration options, accessed from a browser or the Pod's local configuration menu. This section still appears in Solstice Dashboard, but its options do not affect Pod functionality.
Use the content alignment options to determine how content shared to Solstice displays are aligned. This standardizes users' experience of Solstice displays in your organization or allow users to choose their own layout options.
In Solstice Dashboard, select the desired displays from the list of Your Solstice Instances.
Go to the Appearance and Usage tab and scroll to Usage and Feature Management.
Under Media Alignment Default, select one of the following options:
Align to Grid: The content alignment is set to grid mode and users cannot change it.
Freeform: The content alignment is set to freeform mode and users cannot change it.
Determine at Runtime (Recommended): Allows users to choose and change the alignment mode in the Solstice app for each sharing session.
Click Apply.
Solstice can read the four-digit screen key aloud when a user attempts to connect to a Solstice display. The screen key is spoken a maximum of one time every 10 seconds if multiple connection attempts occur in short succession. The screen key is enabled separately in the Security tab.
In Solstice Dashboard, select the desired displays from the list of Your Solstice Instances.
Check Speak Screen Key when user connects to help vision-impaired users access the selected Solstice displays.
Click Save.