Configure Smart Walls

A Smart Wall configuration consists of defining the Smart Wall, adding monitors and defining the monitor layout, and optionally specifying Smart Wall presets and the layout and content of the different monitors.

You need not define Smart Wall presets, if you only want to display cameras and XProtect Smart Client views that your XProtect Smart Client users manually can push onto the video wall.

If you want to use rules to change automatically what is displayed on the video wall, or if you have typical surveillance scenarios where you want to display the same content on the video wall each time the scenario happens, you should define Smart Wall presets.

The configuration of the Smart Wall is very flexible. You can include all monitors on the video wall in one Smart Wall or group the monitors and configure a Smart Wall for each group. Smart Wall presets can change the layout and content of all monitors in a Smart Wall or only some of the monitors. Monitors can be part of several Smart Walls and Smart Wall presets. Create as many Smart Walls and Smart Wall presets you need to optimize the coverage of your typical surveillance scenarios.

a. Define the Smart Wall

Expand Client, and select Smart Wall.
In the Overview pane, right-click Smart Walls and select Add Smart Wall.
Specify the settings for the Smart Wall.
In the General View Item Properties settings, define if you want system status information and title bars to appear above the cameras' layout items.
Click OK.

b. Add monitors and define the monitor layout

Right-click the Smart Wall and select Add Monitor.
Configure the dimensions of the monitor so it resembles one of the physical monitors on the video wall.
Use the preset behavior settings Empty preset and Empty preset item to define what is displayed on a monitor with an empty preset layout or in a preset's empty preset items when a new Smart Wall preset is automatically triggered or manually selected in XProtect Smart Client. You can use empty presets and empty preset items for content not controlled by the Smart Wall preset.
Use the preset behavior setting Element insertion to define what should happen when a user of XProtect Smart Client drags a camera onto a layout item in the Smart Wall preset. Select Independent to replace the camera already in the preset item with the new camera or Linked to push the content of the layout items from left to right from where you inserted the new camera.
Add as many monitors as you have on the physical video wall.
Select the Smart Wall and on the Layout tab, click Edit to position the different monitors so their positions resemble the mounting of the physical monitors on the video wall.
Click OK. The same layout is used in XProtect Smart Client.

c. Add Smart Wall presets (optionally)

Select the Smart Wall and from the Presets tab, click Add New.
Enter a name and a description and click OK.
Click Activate to display the Smart Wall preset on the video wall.
Create as many Smart Wall presets as you need.

d. Add layout and cameras to the monitors (requires a Smart Wall preset)

Select one of the monitors you created and from the Presets tab, select a preset from the list to configure what you want the selected monitor to show when used with the selected Smart Wall preset.
Click Edit.
Click the layout button to select which layout to use with your monitor, and click OK.
Drag cameras from the Device Groups, Recording Servers or Federated Site Hierarchy tab onto the different layout items. The cameras on the Federated Site Hierarchy tab are accessible in a Milestone Federated Architecture setup. You can leave layout items blank, so they are available for other content not controlled by the Smart Wall preset.
If the monitor already has a layout for the selected preset, you can click Clear to define a new layout or to exclude the monitor from the Smart Wall preset, so the monitor is available for other content not controlled by the Smart Wall preset.
Click OK.
Repeat the steps, until you have added a layout and cameras on the monitors you want to include in the Smart Wall preset.