Sprite Media Player (DV-S1): Chose the PlayMode

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In this tutorial you will learn how to select the correct “Play Mode” for Sprite Media Player.

Material list

1x Sprite Media Player (DV-S1)

  • America, International – AtmosFX Inc. – Click here¹
  • Europe – Digital Signage Hamburg GmbH (Sirkom) – Click here¹

1x USB-Stick/USB-Harddrive/SD-Card

  • USB Stick/Harddrive – max. 2TB – Speed USB2.0
  • SD-Card – max. 128GB

1x Projector/TV/Screen/Jukebox (or similar)
Which video or audio device you connect depends entirely on your application. The player offers HDMI, AV and jack 3.5mm as connections.

1x Suitable video/audio cable

How do the play modes differ?

With the “Play Mode” you decide which files the Sprite Media Player should play (video, audio, images) and in which order and when it should play them.

Repeat all in order (Video/Audio/Photo)

Plays the files in alphabetical order.

Repeat all random (Video/Audio/Photo)

Plays the files in random order.

Control Mode (Video/Audio)

Plays the file with the name 000 in loop. By firing a trigger event, certain event files named between 001 to 200 can be played.

You can find more about this topic here:


How-To Guide

  1. Turn on the Sprite-Player

    It does not matter if a storage medium is plugged in at this time. However, a display device should be connected so that we can work with the menu in the course of the guide.

  2. Select the Play Mode

    Press “Setup” on the remote control. The menu should open. Then navigate with the arrow keys down to the item “Play Mode”. Select your desired mode and confirm it with “Enter”. Exit the menu by pressing “Return”.

  3. Done!

How-To Video

Tips and Tricks

My File will not play or not trigger

Do not use folders. Put files directly on the root of the SD or USB.

Try to play the file using the remote control. Press the blue File button, and then navigate to the file using the green Enter key and the orange Arrow keys. Select the file and press the Enter key. If the file plays, it may not be named properly or the Sprite® is not in the correct Control Mode.

If using video files, the Sprite® must have the Play Mode set to Video or Video Control Mode. If using audio files, set to the Audio or Audio Control Mode. Control Modes require at least 2 files.

The looping file must be named 000 and the first trigger file named 001.

If the file will not play by using the remote control, then it may be corrupt or made with parameters not supported by the Sprite®. Make sure the pixel size is a “television” size, 1920 x 1080, 1280 x 720, 720 x 480 or 640 x 480 etc. Videos made for websites at odd pixel sizes will play on your PC but not on the Sprite®.

The Sprite® will not play 4K video files. Files with pixel sizes of 3840 x 2160 or 4096 x 2160 are 4K. Please convert the files down to 1920 x 1080 sizes using video editing software.

—Quote from “DV-S1 Sprite® Manual revision 4.00 for firmware version 20210416” (Source: medeawiz.com/Downloads.html)

No video output on my monitor

If you do not see any video or Setup Menu displayed: Verify the blue power LED is on. Try pressing the HDMI or AV keys on the remote to switch the outputs. Verify the monitor is set to the input used. Verify the monitor and HDMI cable are good by swapping or trying another device on the input.
—Quote from “DV-S1 Sprite® Manual revision 4.00 for firmware version 20210416” (Source: medeawiz.com/Downloads.html)

My Sprite® feels warm to the touch

The Sprite’s aluminum housing is designed to be part of the heat management system. The internal microprocessor has a solid copper heatsink that transfers heat to the outside air through the housing. While it is normal for the Sprite® to feel warm, if the ambient temperature is well over 100F (40C), extra heat management may be desired. Simply placing the Sprite® flat on a metal surface can reduce the temperature. A clean, unpainted aluminum plate, at least 12 x 12 inches (30 x 30 CM) works well.
—Quote from “DV-S1 Sprite® Manual revision 4.00 for firmware version 20210416” (Source: medeawiz.com/Downloads.html)

Should I use an SD card or USB drive to hold the video files?

While files will play from the USB port from a USB drive, some HD video may not play well from some USB drives. For high bit rate files we recommend using the SD port with an SD card of sufficient speed to match your video file’s bit rate. For some HD video files a Class 4 may be ok, while others may need a faster Class 6 or Class 10. Test your video.
—Quote from “DV-S1 Sprite® Manual revision 4.00 for firmware version 20210416” (Source: medeawiz.com/Downloads.html)

Do I have to name the files with those numbers or can I use names?

A) Video Control Mode or Audio Control Mode (any Trigger or Serial Control use):
The Sprite® searches for the 000 to use as the looping file, and searches for 001 to use as the trigger.
However, you can name them this way:
000.myfilename.xxx or 001.someverylongnamefile.xxx
Do not use spaces, underscores or other special characters. Use 32 or less characters including the 2 periods. We explain the operation in this manual using only numbers to keep it simple.
We suggest you use the numbers 000, 001, etc. to test your files as a starting point, and then add the longer names if you want them.

B) Video Repeat All, Audio Repeat All, Photo Repeat All (Not Trigger or Serial Control)
File play order will follow ASCII code sort order
Order of precedence:
– Space
– Numbers
– Capitols
– Underscore
– Lower case
Each file name is analyzed at each character position left to right for the sort order priority to determine the order the files will play in. To learn more about this, search for “ASCII sort order” in a web browser. To keep it simple you can use the naming method in section A above, or just use the numbering system 001, 002, 003, etc. to play files in order.

—Quote from “DV-S1 Sprite® Manual revision 4.00 for firmware version 20210416” (Source: medeawiz.com/Downloads.html)

Can I synchronize 2 or more Sprites to play together?

The Sprite® has no way to Genlock or synchronize with any external device or another Sprite at frame accuracy. You can start trigger files on 2 or more Sprites with a single pushbutton or serial control. However there are very slight differences in the internal oscillator components that allow sprites to run at slightly different frame rates. Depending on your application and video files, the frame rate difference may be acceptable and unnoticed, or may not be acceptable. The longer the video in time, the more out of step the players will become until the next trigger. You should use the same encoding parameters, CODEC, pixel size, frame rate, bit rate and etc. for all files for best results. If you want, you can get better results by comparing a few Sprites to get a better match, or altering the video on the “fast” Sprite. Adding a few duplicate frames in the video file at regular intervals will “slowdown” the progression of the scene to better match the slower Sprite.
—Quote from “DV-S1 Sprite® Manual revision 4.00 for firmware version 20210416” (Source: MedeaWiz.com/downloads)

How short or how long can my files be?

For all video and audio files:
Any file under approximately 3 to 5 seconds may be a problem. If they are too short, there may be unwanted results in some control modes.

The 000 loop / ambient file should in most cases be longer. A longer loop file will allow your SD card to last longer. A short file looping continuously reads a small area on the SD card. A long file stored across more bytes of the SD results in less reads per byte over time. All SD and USB have a MTBF rated average number of reads. This number is very large, but in an application that runs all day, every day, this will add up. If you make the 000 loop file 10 times longer, your SD card should last 10 times longer as well. Keep in mind that if you are using one of the Trigger Delay settings, your trigger file will not play until the end of your 000 loop file.
Most users will never have an issue with a file that is too long. The time limit for the length of any file depends on the file encoding and bits used per second. Lower bitrates, lower frame rates and reduced pixel size can increase the time allowed. The file size is normally limited to 4 GB. Larger files may be stored on the SD card or USB drive if it is formatted to NTFS.

The maximum SD card size for the Sprite is 128GB. The USB port will support up to a 2TB USB hard drive at USB2 speed.

—Quote from “DV-S1 Sprite® Manual revision 4.00 for firmware version 20210416” (Source: medeawiz.com/Downloads.html)

Help

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