Files, in particular videos, come in a lot of different shapes and forms. Even though a file type may be supported by the OnSign TV platform, it may not have the specifications your hardware can deal with. The majority of playback errors or black screens during playback come from unsuitable video specifications. Therefore it is important to know where to look.

An easy example of files not compatible with hardware is a MOV video file. MOV is a file format created by Apple Inc. This is the file format you will get when recording a video on your iPhone, your iPad, or on a MacBook. However, naturally your Android media player which the OnSign TV application runs on will not easily support this file type. In this case it is better to convert a MOV video to MP4.

Yet, this is just one of several specifications to watch out for when you want to run a smooth digital signage operation.

On the OnSign TV platform, you can easily view the specifications of any file you have uploaded to your account.

1. Look for the file in your Content.
2. Uncollapse the right side panel. 
   (The right side panel also gives you a reference at the bottom to how much more storage space you have on your account.)
3. Click on the file.

File specifications

You will see specifications such as: Type, ID, Size, Duration, Dimensions, last Modification, Bit rate, Video codec, and Frame rate. Sometimes not all specifications are provided by the file.

We want to highlight key specifications which can be a source for issues:

• Dimensions: Images and videos come in all shapes and sizes, but for your video decoder it is best to use a file which has the same dimensions as the output. Otherwise, the device has to work extra hard to scale the image or video to the output. It is more critical for videos than for images, but also too large images can cause the player to crash. For images or videos which will be shown in fullscreen, you can check your player information for the detected screen resolution. For images or videos in a campaign region, check the dimensions of the region in your custom layout.
• Bit rate: Below 5 Mbps or 10 Mbps at most (Megabits per second) is best.
• Video codec: This is where there is the most variety in specs. H.264 has proven to be the most widely accepted codec. Much more than H.263 or H.265 for example. AV1 is only supported from Android 10 onwards. Another aspect to look at is the codec profile which often comes in High, Main, or Baseline. High is too high for the majority of decoders. Choose Baseline or at most Main.  
• Frame rate: Around 25-30 fps (frames per second) is best. 60 fps is not supported by many devices. Most likely you will have several videos playing in sequence. It is recommended to keep the same frame rate across all videos on the same player, so that playback stays smooth and the hardware decoder does not need to adjust timing between videos.

If your video file falls out of the recommended ranges, you can reencode it. Handbrake is a free web tool which we use a lot.

Storage space

The right-hand side panel has another useful information for you. At the very bottom it shows you how much cloud space you still have available for new uploads.