Extron Electronics VN-QUANTUM User Guide - Manual (Page 74)

Section 3: Functional Overview VN-QUANTUM User Guide
Page 74 I455GB issue 8
Understanding the Display Architecture
When VN-QUANTUM is controlled by VN-COMMANDER, sources are placed on the display in
‘windows’ which are fully resizable and can be positioned anywhere on the display.
NOTE: VN-QUANTUM ‘remembers’ the last display layout in force before being powered-down. Prior
to shipping all new VN-QUANTUM systems have a single, full-size window, placed on the display
containing a VN-QUANTUM logo design. This logo is stored on the internal flash drive/hard disk.
The architecture of the target display effectively comprises two ‘layers’:
PCI source layer which is used to display sources delivered via the PCI bus,
i.e. local or network-based images, and
RAPT source layer which is used to display sources delivered via the RAPT bus,
i.e. digitized sources from the Input Cards and VN-GLIMPSE sources.
When no source windows are present, the PCI source layer is black and the RAPT source layer fully
transparent, thus making the entire display appear black.
The layer on which source windows get placed is determined automatically by VN-QUANTUM and
VN-COMMANDER, and needs no user intervention. However, it is important to understand the
maximum number of windows that can be displayed on each layer.
Rectangulation Limit (RAPT Source Layer)
There is no limit to the number of source windows that can be placed on the PCI source layer.
However, the maximum number of windows that can be displayed at one time on the RAPT source
layer is dependant on a ‘rectangulation limit’. In simple terms this relates to the maximum number of
rectangles needed to draw the display layout. For example, the following display layouts both use two
windows, but note the different number of rectangles used to draw each layout:
From this example you can see that, in terms of using the least number of rectangles, the most
efficient display layout is for the source windows to be displayed as an array, i.e. with no gaps or
overlaps.
The ES3310 Output Card can support layouts that require a maximum of 64 rectangles in total shared
between both output channels, e.g. 32 on each channel or 64 on one channel.
Therefore, up to 64 video, RGB, DVI and/or VN-GLIMPSE sources can be displayed on single screen,
assuming the rectangulation limit is not exceeded.
For further details on controlling source window content, size and positioning please refer
to the VN-COMMANDER User Guide.