Detailed Information
Issue: No Signal to All Screens
When all screens are black or otherwise not showing any signal, the immediate focus should be determining if the system is still functioning normally with no output, or if there has been a server failure. Please follow these guidelines, then consult the 'No Signal to Some Screens' guide for further video signal troubleshooting steps.
- Confirm the displays are powered on and configured for the correct input. The details of this step will vary greatly from site to site, so you may want to check with your AV Partner or onsite staff if you are encountering an issue with the screens themselves.
- Locate the Mezzanine server(s) for your room, and check for power indicator LEDs or fan noises from the device(s). If there are no signs of activity, press the power button on the device(s) and see if the system powers up. If your device(s) does not power on, please contact Oblong Client Support for next steps.
- If the system is powered and active, but the displays remain blank, please attempt rebooting the device(s) either via the Admin Panel reboot button(Soft Reboot, preferred), or by pressing and holding the power button on the Mezzanine server until it powers off and can be restarted(Hard Reboot).
- If the server is powered and active, reboots normally, and you are able to access the Web Intereface/Admin Panel, then it is possible there is an Video Signal issue effecting all displays. Please consult the 'No Signal to Some Screens' guide for video chain troubleshooting steps, or contact Oblong Client Support for further assistance.
Issue: No Signal to Some Screens
If some of your screens are not displaying any signal, this usually indicates the system as a whole is operating normally but there may be Video Signal issues preventing all of your screens from working. Please follow these guidelines.
- In most cases, Video Signal from the Mezzanine device(s) is converted from HDMI to HDBaseT signal by a number of a Crestron(or other mfr) Extenders. Each extender consists of a Transmitter and a Receiver, with the Transmitter accepting input from the Mezzanine system in the rack/closet and the Extender usually installed behind the screens in the room.
- If these are our standard Crestron extenders, all six(or a number matching the number of screens in your room) should be installed adjacent to one another, and you'll see a PWR/LINK status LED on each unit. If one screen is out but the other 5 are on and active, you should expect to see 5 extenders with solid amber LEDs, and one with either a solid or blinking green LED. For problematic extender, first attempt unplugging and reseating the ethernet cable on the back, then the HDMI cable. If the LED turns solid amber, you should be able to see the output on the display now. You can also validate if the Transmitter->Display chain is functioning normally by plugging in an external video source(such as a laptop) to the Transmitter experiencing issues. If the Laptop video signal does not appear on the screen, this indicates a video signal issue between the Mezz and the screens.
- If the PWR/LINK LED is already solid amber, or the issue persists after turning solid amber, this means the video signal is successfully coming out of the Mezz, and through the extender to the far end, but not making it to the display itself. In this case, you would unplug/reseat both the ethernet and HDMI cables coming from the far end of the extender in the room behind the display, or reseat the HDMI connection into the screen.
- If you are unable to address isues with the Transmitters, or the PWR/LINK LED indicates the transmitters are functioning but you still do not see any content in the room, please contact Oblong Client Support for further assistance.
Issue: Screens Duplicated or Out of Order
Mezzanine can reorder and rearrange which displays are receiving which video signals in software. This means if cables are swapped inadvertantly or there is another change to the screen layout, this can be addressed entirely via the Mezzanine Admin Panel without any physical cable swapping. Please follow these guidelines.
- Log in to your Mezzanine Admin Panel. then navigate to the Screen Surfaces tab.
- Click the 'Arrange Displays' button located on the top left of the page. This will expand a section of the page showing icons representing your surfaces as configured in the room. The displays themselves will also display an overlay to help determine if they are in the correct order.
- For any screens that look out of place, simply click their corresponding screen icon on the page, and then click the screen icon for the display you'd like to swap and the screens will exchange displays. Repeat this until you see the proper Left-to-Right 1-2-3 order on all surfaces with no duplicates.
- When everything looks correct, click 'Done Arranging' to save changes, and please reboot your system. If you encounter any issues with using the Arrange Displays utility(e.g., the Arrange Displays Overlay does not appear on the screens when using the tool), please attempt again on a clean reboot and contact Oblong Client Support if the issues persist.
Issue: Color Distortion
Due to the wide array of content a Mezzanine typically renders, users can sometimes encounter issues such as light greys/gradients being washed out, faded/saturated colors, or visual noise on the image. To troubleshoot these issues, please follow these guidelines.
- Before troubleshooting further, determine if the issue only applies to video signal from a device connected via HDMI. If only the input signal is effected and not the overall Mezzanine output signal, please see the 'Video Input - Color Distortion' troubleshooting notes.
- Mezzanine itself does not have any settings or config that effect color output, so if colors appear differently on one screen vs another your first step should be checking the physical display's color settings via the Remote Control and Menu. The exact settings and steps will vary based on display manufacturer and usecase, but as a best practice all displays should be configured identically.
- If only a particular screen or screens is effected, unplug the HDMI cable to that display and plug in a laptop or other external signal source with a known-working HDMI cable. If the problem persists with the new HDMI cable and Video Source, this could indicate a defect with the physical display. Contact your AV Partner or Oblong Client Support for next steps.