USM Boarding
v1.1.913

Components and signal path

A perimeter board is a continuous strip of LED panels installed around the pitch. USM treats that strip as a single canvas. Four components sit between an operator action and the picture on the boards.

Requirements

Starting the application

USM Boarding installs as a standard Windows application and includes its own copy of CasparCG, so no separate render engine installation is required. On launch the application opens on the Dashboard.

Licensing

Playout requires a valid licence. Without one the application still opens and content can be built, but the transport controls remain disabled. The licence is bound to the machine and determines:

• the number of screens that may be configured — screens beyond the licensed count are refused;
• which optional modules are available — Stingers, LiveText, Live Sources, Animations, Starting XI and EQ Comp are enabled per licence key.

Where a module is not licensed, its page and its related toggles are hidden rather than shown in a disabled state. Unlicensed builds apply a watermark to the output.

Status indicators

The Dashboard shows three status cards: Licence (valid or not), CasparCG (running or stopped) and Active project. The status bar at the foot of every page repeats the CasparCG state and shows the age of the last cloud sync.

Projects

A project contains the screens, media, sequences, playlists, cues, stingers, line-ups and settings for one event. All data is scoped to a project; the application remains on the Dashboard until a project is opened.

Switching while a playlist is live

Opening another project while playout is running is permitted but requires confirmation. USM states that the live output continues and that only the project being edited changes. The rendering engine stays on the previous project's screens until it is explicitly started on the new project's screens.

Screens

A screen represents one continuous LED surface driven by one CasparCG channel and one video output. A venue with a perimeter ring and a separate mid-tier strip is configured as two screens.

Row folding

A perimeter is a single long strip — 27 240 pixels in the example on the next page. No video output is that wide, so USM divides the strip into stacked rows on the canvas, and the LED processor reassembles it around the pitch. A banner wider than one row therefore continues on the row below; on the wall that is the next section of the same strip. USM refers to this as folding.

Starting and stopping

Start All Screens boots the engine with every configured screen. Per-screen Start and Stop controls are available for rigs where one wall is worked on while another remains live. Adding a CasparCG channel requires a fresh engine boot: if a newly added screen does not start on its own, stop all screens and start them again.

Screen setup options

All screen properties are set in the Edit Screen dialog, opened from the Edit button on a screen card. The fields fall into three groups: panel geometry, CasparCG output, and colour.

Panel geometry

The dialog shows the resulting layout as you type — panels per row × rows, the size of a partial last row, and the total LED region in pixels, with a scale diagram of the fold.

CasparCG output

Screen colour correction

Red, green and blue multipliers applied to the entire screen, where 100 % means no change. Used to correct a wall that reads warm or cold overall — for example reducing red to about 92 % if every banner appears too red. It applies to stills, video and live sources alike.

Setting up a Free grid screen

A Free grid screen is described in pixels rather than panel counts, so the Edit Screen dialog presents a different set of fields. Everything below the geometry — CasparCG channel, resolution, output mode, display device, presentation and colour — is identical to a Panels screen.

Output modes and presentation paths

Two settings determine how the rendered channel reaches the display: Output mode, which decides whether the window is fullscreen or windowed, and Output presentation, which decides how frames are handed to the graphics driver. The second setting affects playback speed, so it is worth understanding.

Output mode

Output presentation

Output presentation, output mode and display device describe the physical output rather than the project's content, so they travel with a .usm export and a screen or project duplicate, but they are not synchronised to the cloud.

Panels and Free grid

Every screen is created in one of two geometry modes. The mode is fixed at creation and cannot be changed afterwards.

Zones, brightness and schedules

Brightness is applied at three levels, which multiply: the master fader in the transport bar, per-screen brightness, and per-zone brightness within a screen.

Zones

A zone is a named group of panels within a screen that carries its own brightness value. A typical use is reducing a camera-facing straight for broadcast while the ends remain at full output. Zones are defined by selecting panels on the screen's grid. A panel belongs to one zone. Zone brightness applies to everything rendered in that area, including live sources.

Brightness schedules

Each screen can hold a time-of-day schedule consisting of points such as 18:00 → 70 % and 20:00 → 45 %. USM applies each point as the clock reaches it. Individual points can be muted without deleting them, and a schedule can be copied to all walls in one action. The fader reflects the value currently applied, and a manual change overrides the schedule until the next scheduled point.

Fade to black

FTB in the transport bar fades the screen to black and holds it there. The playlist retains its position and continues to track; releasing FTB restores the picture. FTB is distinct from Stop, which halts advancing but leaves the wall lit.

How media, sequences and playlists relate

USM separates the file, its position on the wall, and its place in the running order into three objects. One media file can therefore be used in many sequences, and one sequence in many playlists, without being duplicated.

Media library

The Media library holds every still and video in the project. Files are added by drag and drop or through the import dialog. USM reads each file's pixel dimensions and derives default values from them rather than assuming an aspect ratio.

Project media and Global media

The library has two tabs. Project lists the files in the project you have open. Global lists every file ever imported into USM on this machine, across all projects.

The two work together in practice. Artwork that already exists — a league graphic, a returning sponsor, a crest — is taken from Global and added to the project directly. Artwork that is new is imported, which adds it to the project and to Global, so the next event can reuse it the same way.

Importing media

+ Import Media adds files to the project; files can also be dragged onto the library. USM then shows the media defaults dialog. The values set here are stored with the file and applied every time it is placed in a sequence, so they only need to be decided once.

Scale modes

Later adjustments to an individual placement — crop position and zoom — are made in the Sequence Designer rather than here; these defaults apply to the file itself.

Repeat

Media narrower than the wall can be repeated. Repeat N× places a fixed number of copies. Fill all rows tiles the media across the whole perimeter, folding across row seams and handling a partial last row. A repeat count cannot exceed the number of panels that fit.

Colour correction and video proxies

Per-media colour correction applies RGB gain and offset. The corrected result is baked into a separate copy so playback cost is unchanged, and it previews live in the Sequence Designer.

Separately, USM can generate fast-decode video proxies — re-encoded copies tuned for smooth playback. Rebuild video proxies and Rebuild thumbnails regenerate these after a change. Re-running either when nothing has changed performs no work.

Loop and freeze last frame

A video banner is frequently shorter than the slot it occupies — a 10-second clip in a 20-second slot, for example. When the clip ends decides what happens for the remainder of the slot.

Where it is set

The value applied is resolved in this order: per-placement override → per-media default → loop. A placement left on Video default therefore follows whatever the file is set to, and changing the file's default updates every placement that has not been overridden.

Behaviour at playout

• The freeze is scheduled shortly before the clip's natural end, so the held frame is the last frame of the clip rather than a black frame.
• Looping remains enabled underneath as a fail-safe, which guarantees there is always a live frame to hold. A freeze can never result in a black wall.
• A clip longer than its slot is unaffected — the slot advances normally and the clip is simply cut off at the transition.
• A clip whose duration cannot be determined continues to loop.

Sequence Designer

A sequence is a complete layout of one screen: which media occupies which panels. The Designer is where sequences are built. Select a screen, create or open a sequence, and place media until the wall is covered.

Placing media

• Click an empty panel to assign media, or drag a file from the media sidebar.
• Click a placed item to focus it; ← → then step through the media list on that panel.
• Ctrl+N fills all rows with the focused item.
• Ctrl+C copies, Ctrl+V pastes after the focused item, Ctrl+D duplicates.
• Delete removes the focused item.

Role flags

Each sequence carries Show in flags: Sequence, Stinger and Starting XI. These control which pickers the sequence appears in, so that stinger content does not appear in the playlist rail and vice versa. Roles belonging to unlicensed modules are hidden.

Pixel mode

Panels mode snaps content to panel boundaries. Pixel mode removes that constraint for a single sequence, allowing content on a Panels screen to be positioned freely in pixels — the same positioning model a Free grid screen uses. The screen itself is unchanged.

Templates and blocked regions

Some areas of a wall are occupied by an overlay rather than by sequence content — a scoreboard on the mid tier during the halves, for example. Those areas must be kept free of banners in the affected sequences, but nothing needs to be played there. Blocked regions reserve the space.

Blocked regions

A blocked region is a keep-out rectangle on the designer canvas. Media cannot be placed or dragged onto it, and it appears as an amber-hatched marker in both the pixel ruler and the panel grid. It never starts a producer at playout. Add one with right-click → Add blocked region, specifying a label, position and width.

Templates

A template is a per-screen sequence holding blocked regions and, optionally, media. Create one with + Template in the Designer. It is seeded from the current positions of that screen's Sources overlays and scoreboard placements, so the regions do not need to be measured manually. Templates are badged as such and are excluded from the playlist rail and the stinger and Starting XI pickers; they cannot be applied to a slot.

Templates can be disabled entirely under Settings → Sequence Designer → "Live source templates". Existing blocked regions remain visible and editable when the feature is off.

Playlists and the rundown

A playlist is an ordered list of slots. Each slot references one sequence and carries a duration and a transition. Playlists appear as tabs above the rundown.

Weighted playlists

Sponsorship is normally contracted as a number of exposures rather than as fixed list positions. The weighted builder generates a rundown from a repeat count per sequence, distributing the repeats evenly and preventing identical items from appearing consecutively.

Multi-screen weighted groups

Where a sponsor holds inventory on more than one screen, both walls must show that sponsor at the same time. The multi-screen builder plans a synced group from a grid of sponsors against screens and produces paired playlists whose corresponding slots align. Synced groups are marked in the playlist tabs, and editing one member warns that the pair is linked.

Auto-fill

For a simple rotation, auto-fill builds a playlist directly from the project's media: one sequence per file and one slot per sequence. Duplicate protection prevents the same file being added twice.

Transport bar

The transport bar is fixed above every page, so playout control remains available while editing. It is the primary control surface during an event.

State display

The bar shows ON AIR or READY — NOT ON AIR, followed by Elapsed and Remaining for the current slot to a tenth of a second, the current slot number and total, the slot type, and a progress bar. Controls are greyed out when the engine is offline or idle.

Single Mode

Single Mode is the default view: one screen selected, one playlist on air, one rundown displayed. It is used for single-screen installations and when working on one wall of a multi-screen rig.

Typical sequence of operation

Auto and Manual

Auto advances each slot for its exact duration on a frame-accurate timer that does not accumulate drift over a long period. Manual holds each slot until the operator advances. Manual is used where content follows individual competitors — equestrian classes, for example, where each entry has its own slot and the operator advances as they enter.

Switching playlists during playout

Selecting another playlist tab while live stages the incoming content and crosses over without a black frame. Transport state is preserved: switching while paused remains paused, and switching while held on a step remains held.

Multi Mode

When a project contains more than one screen, Multi Mode displays them side by side. Each screen has its own playlist, rundown and transport controls, below the master transport in the bar above.

Cues

A cue is a named action that sets every screen to a defined state in one command. Cues are used for scripted points in an event such as kick-off, half time and post-match.

What a cue defines

• A playlist per screen, so multiple walls change to their paired rundowns together.
• Optionally a start sequence rather than only a playlist, so the cue opens on a specific item.
• The start position is positional: a pin to slot 2 continues to mean the second slot after the playlist is reordered.

Execution

A cue is staged and synchronised: incoming content is prepared on hidden layers while the outgoing content remains on the wall, then all screens reveal at the same instant. No black frame occurs on either wall.

Live content overview

Live content is anything rendered on top of, or in place of, the running playlist. All of it composites over the rotation without requiring it to be stopped. Each type is configured under the Live Content menu.

Live sources

A source is a live input composited over the running playlist. Three types are supported: NDI feeds from the network, browser pages, and BlackMagic DeckLink capture cards.

Placements

A single feed often needs to appear at several positions around the perimeter. + Placement adds another position for the same source. The feed selection, show/hide state and quick-toggle button are controlled from the first card; each placement card defines only its own position and crop. All placements of a source are shown and hidden together.

Position and crop

Position is specified in pixels with (0,0) at the top-left of the bound screen. A position can be entered as X and Y coordinates or as a start pixel along the strip — for example pixel 13 280 of 27 240. The output size is determined by the crop region rather than entered separately, which makes the result pixel-exact.

The Crop editor defines which rectangle of the incoming frame is used, with separate scale and zoom controls. This is normally required: a 16:9 camera frame mapped across a strip of roughly 20:1 is unusable, so a horizontal band is cropped from the frame instead. A cropped feed folds across row seams, with each row showing its own horizontal slice of the cropped image.

NDI

NDI carries video between machines over a standard network. USM discovers available senders, receives feeds for use on the wall, and can transmit its own output.

Stingers

A stinger is a named sequence fired on demand over or in place of the running playlist — for example a goal graphic, a sponsor takeover or a substitution graphic. Each stinger is bound to one sequence and configured once.

Settings

Modes

Duration and video playback

Follow media is the default and leaves each clip's own play mode unchanged. Loop forces every video in the stinger to loop; Freeze last frame forces each to play once and hold. Live NDI inside a stinger is never forced, as a live feed has no end point.

Stinger groups and firing behaviour

A stinger group is a number shared by several stingers. Firing the group fires every member. Groups are used on multi-screen rigs where the same graphic must appear on all walls simultaneously.

Group fire sequence

1. All members start at the same time; the fan-out is parallel rather than sequential.
2. Each screen performs its preparation on hidden layers — composite parked in the background, videos warmed — while the outgoing content remains on air.
3. Each screen reports ready. At one instant, all screens issue their reveal. Measured on a test harness, two screens reveal within about 1 ms of each other.

This applies to the transport bar's cross-screen buttons, the external control group endpoint, and the redundancy slave's mirrored fire.

Other behaviour

LiveText

LiveText renders typed text on the wall. Text flows continuously along the perimeter rather than wrapping as a paragraph, because the wall is a single continuous line.

• Multiple texts per project — typically one per side of the perimeter, each activated independently.
• Folding — panel-height lines wrap correctly across row seams, with a live width readout.
• Background sizing — the background runs from the start panel to the last character rather than filling the whole row.
• Activation — messages can be assigned to transport bar quick buttons.

Scoreboard and match control

USM includes a scoreboard providing team names, crests, score and a match clock. It is rendered either onto the wall as a placed source or transmitted over NDI.

The scoreboard can also be driven from an external trigger or control surface, allowing a timing system or a control panel to maintain the clock.

Starting XI and Squad

Both modules display a team line-up on the wall, revealing players individually during the team announcement. They differ in how a player is addressed.

Perimeter scroll

Perimeter scroll moves the entire board loop around the pitch as one continuous image rather than cutting between banners. It is a licensed module, enabled per licence key.

• Scroll intent is stored per sequence, so a playlist can mix scrolling and static slots.
• Motion is frame-locked to the output, producing continuous movement rather than stepping.
• Supported on Free grid screens with variable row widths as well as uniform panel walls.

External interfaces

USM accepts commands from control surfaces and timing systems, can mirror itself to a second machine, and records what was played for reporting. This part covers those interfaces.

External control

USM runs a local HTTP and WebSocket control interface. Any device or program that can send an HTTP request can drive playout — a Stream Deck via the bundled Companion module, a vision mixer, a timing system, or a script.

Available commands

Hotkeys and F-keys

Transport actions can be bound to operator-chosen keys, and F-keys can be bound to cues, allowing a scripted event to be run from the keyboard without a control surface.

Bitfocus Companion module

Bitfocus Companion turns a Stream Deck into a control surface. USM ships its own Companion module, so the buttons, dropdowns and status feedback are built for USM rather than assembled from generic HTTP requests.

Where to download it

The module is bundled inside the application — there is no download from the internet and no GitHub account required. Go to Settings → Connectivity → External Control and use Download Companion module at the foot of the card. USM saves a .tgz package and shows its version and size next to the button.

Installing it in Companion

1. In USM, click Download Companion module and note where the .tgz is saved.
2. Open Companion v3 in your browser and go to Connections.
3. Choose Manage developer modules.
4. Choose Import and select the downloaded .tgz.
5. Back in Connections, add a new connection and select the USM Boarding module.
6. Enter the address of the USM machine and the API port, then save. The connection turns green when Companion reaches USM.

Confirming the connection

The same settings card reports connected control surfaces as a count of WebSocket clients, and an API activity panel showing requests served, the time of the last request and which remote address it came from. If a Stream Deck appears dead, these two readouts show whether Companion is reaching USM at all.

Redundancy

USM can run on two machines as a master and backup pair. The master is operated normally; the backup mirrors its state and can take over the output if the master fails.

The backup's media library is kept in step automatically, and superseded mirrored media is removed so the backup's disk does not grow with each push. Both machines should run the same USM version; a version mismatch can cause newer settings to be dropped from the sync.

Reports and logs

USM records every slot played and can export that record for reporting to sponsors.

Technical logging

Separately from proof-of-play, USM keeps rolling per-session technical logs and archives engine boot logs. These are the files required when reporting a fault.

Licensing, updates and cloud

Keyboard shortcuts

Troubleshooting

Glossary

About this manual

This manual describes USM Boarding v1.1.913. Screenshots were taken from a live two-screen installation — one Panels screen and one Free grid screen — running v1.1.912 and v1.1.913 with the system on air.