DIRECTV Message Board

DIRECTV Message Board

DIRECTV Message Board is an exciting new product for commercial customers. It is being shown at DIRECTV Revolution 2012 for the first time, but the Solid Signal team were lucky enough to get exclusive access and we re proud to take you Hands On with a product that puts in-premises advertising in the reach of every DIRECTV commercial customer. What is it? DIRECTV Message Board lets you customize your customers TV experience just like the professionals. You can use simple, web-based tools to create eye-catching L-Frames that can be used to advertise your business, or you can sell advertising to local businesses. Like the picture above, your custom message appears around the TV picture. You can create a number of slides that change every few seconds to keep people excited, or you can keep one slide on for a long time to make sure it is seen by as many people as possible. 2 2012, SolidSignal.com Reproduction is permitted provided copyright information is intact.

HOW DOES DIRECTV MESSAGE BOARD WORK? DIRECTV Message Board starts an off-the-shelf HR24-500 DVR. This is solid, reliable technology and you may already have a DVR like this if you have DIRECTV service at home. However, it works differently from your home DVR. For starters, all recording services are disabled. DIRECTV Message Board uses the hard drive to store all the images you ve created. When the HR24 is connected to the internet, it receives the images and schedules you ve created and runs an automatic slideshow while video continues in the upper left corner. The video is high definition, although the menus are based on the older blue menu system that is no longer used by DIRECTV receivers. This has some effect on the quality and legibility of the images you create, but there are ways to minimize the effect. Slide generation is handled through any web browser. Once you have signed up for the DIRECTV Message Board service, go to the supplied web site and fill out the form for new user registration. If you already have a username and password, fill it in. DIRECTV Message Board s web interface can be configured to handle multiple commercial accounts in multiple regions. Once you have logged in, you will be presented with a screen giving you the option to manage all accounts, all accounts within a region, or a single account. In general, unless you are coordinating a large national organization, it makes the most sense to simply choose All at this point. If you only have one account, all three options will take you to the same place. 3 2012, SolidSignal.com Reproduction is permitted provided copyright information is intact.

CREATING AN L-FRAME USING DIRECTV MESSAGE BOARD The areas you can customize in DIRECTV Message Board are called L-frames because they look like backwards letter L s. It doesn t take any art experience to create a simple message from within the Message Board web page. At the Home screen choose Add a Message. This will let you create a message using one of the templates provided. The process is easy and if you ve used computers at all you ll have no problem. At the next screen, click on Create. You ll see a screen that shows you all your options for creating a new message. Start by selecting a template for your message. You can see a list of the available templates across the top of the screen under Select a Template Below. If you want a bigger look at the templates available, click on View All Templates. DIRECTV has created a total of 58 templates for you to choose from, ranging from solid colors to scenes that you might typically think of for commercial applications. If you re looking at the scrolling list, just click on a template to see how your slide will look. If you re on the View All Templates screen, click to select a template and then scroll all the way down to Save Selection and click on that. The templates are shown as pictures, and then the design part of the template sometimes puts a solid color bar above them to make things easier to read. It s not possible to disable this solid colored bar. 4 2012, SolidSignal.com Reproduction is permitted provided copyright information is intact.

Logos Your first choice is whether or not to include logos. There are two logo positions, one at top right and one at bottom left. You can use both, either, or neither. There is a check box next to the words Attach Logo/Image. They are both checked when you design a new slide. If you only want one logo, click the check box to turn the other logo off. Logos can be attached as JPEG, PNG, or GIF files. If they are very large the page will shrink them down for you. Once the logos are in place you can move or size them just by clicking and dragging. Text There are four text areas, two at the top and two at the bottom. Type your text in the Header Text 1, Header Text 2, Description Text 1, or Description Text 2 fields on the right side and the text will appear on your slide. You can change the size a little bit, but you can t change the font color, style, or position. You re also limited to 30 characters for Headers and 100 characters for Descriptions. When you re done creating an L-Frame, scroll to the bottom of the page and click Save. You can always edit a slide later by going back to the Home screen and choosing Edit Message. The Message Library tab will also bring up a list of all your current messages. Messages than can be edited will be shown with an Edit link to the left of their images. It s also possible to create whole L-frames in a program like Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro and bring them in. If you do that, you will not be able to edit them using the Message Editor. 5 2012, SolidSignal.com Reproduction is permitted provided copyright information is intact.

CREATING SCHEDULES Schedules are the lists of what messages get shown where. The easiest way to create a new schedule is to go to the Home tab and choose Create New Schedule. Schedules can be edited any time. Another option is to go to the Schedules Tab and choose Create New Schedule. Either method works the same. Here in the Add A Schedule screen you have the option of creating new messages or uploading pictures you ve already created. Most likely you ve already created all the messages you need and they are already waiting for you. So, choose Select A Message from your Message Library and click Select. You will see a list of the messages you ve created. Check the box to the left of any messages you want to add. Messages are ordered by date created, with the newest being on top. If you want to see older messages, scroll to the bottom and click on one of the numbers at the lower right to go to additional pages. Any boxes that you ve checked will be saved. Messages When you re done selecting messages, click Save Selection. You ll be taken back to the Schedules screen. Here, you can make last minute changes to the design of the message by clicking Edit and change the amount of time the slide spends on the screen. Change the number under Duration to show the number of seconds you want each slide on screen. If there is only one slide, it will stay on the screen all the time, except for an automatic black period every 15 minutes or so to keep your screen from burning in. Click on the trash can to remove a message from a schedule. This won t delete the message, but it will take it out of the schedule. If you have more than one message, you can reorder them by typing in a new order to the left of the little picture, or use the arrow also to the left of the picture to move a slide up by one. If you have ever re-ordered your Netflix queue, it s just like that... hard to explain but once you do it you ll realize it s very easy. 6 2012, SolidSignal.com Reproduction is permitted provided copyright information is intact.

CREATING SCHEDULES Televisions When you re done with adding messages, it s time to decide what televisions will be showing the messages. The list of televisions will be automatically added from your account. You can add a nickname to each TV if you have more than one. Just go to the DIRECTV box and open the door on the front right (where the reset button is.) There is a Receiver ID listed there, and it is also shown on the list of televisions. You may need to click the blue plus sign to the left of the word Televisions to see the list, and if you need to, click the minus sign to the left of the word Messages to make more room on the screen. Check the box to the left of the TV that you want to display the message on, then move on to the Date and Time. Date and Time If you ve ever bought airline tickets online, you ll find this to be easy and familiar. Give the schedule a name (so it s easier to remember later) and enter the dates you want the schedule to start and end. If you don t ever want it to end (or you don t want to decide right now) leave the end date blank. A calendar will pop up to help you choose dates. Choose the times and days of the week you want as well. You can have different schedules for different times of day, or different days of the week. It s very flexible. When you re done, you have the option of previewing your slides, but in general this isn t necessary, because you ll want to preview them on the TV anyway. Click Save Changes and, if possible, take a walk to the TV showing your message board. HOW DIRECTV MESSAGE BOARD UPDATES YOUR RECEIVER New messages are sent to your DIRECTV receiver over the internet, and the process isn t instant. It can take a few minutes for a receiver to update. If it s running an existing schedule, it may wait until the end of that schedule before it starts a new schedule. Messages are stored on the receiver s hard drive, so once they come over the internet, they run quickly. There are no options for movement or animation... the slides just come up one at a time. If you have waited several minutes and your new schedule hasn t started, try changing the channel. This seems to signal your receiver to start a new schedule. If that still doesn t work, go back to the web page and check the dates, times, and television selection. Mistakes do happen, and that s why DIRECTV makes it easy to edit schedules. It s important to take the time to run through every slide on the actual TV. That way you can make sure important information isn t cut off, and that the slides aren t too fast or too slow. Remember, each slide can have its own duration setting so you can have one slide last as long as you want while the others go by very quickly. 7 2012, SolidSignal.com Reproduction is permitted provided copyright information is intact.

THE SECRET TO USING DIRECTV MESSAGE BOARD DIRECTV Message Board s web interface is easy, but it isn t very powerful. You can create 15 messages in half an hour, but after a while you ll feel like all your messages look the same. You re limited in your choices when it comes to text, and you ll probably run into situations where you want more text than the editor will let you put in. You may feel like the system is too limited for you to use every day. That s why DIRECTV included a secret weapon. It s a weapon of such power that you ll want to use it all the time. You can create your L-Frames in any graphics program and import them straight into your DIRECTV Message Board. If you don t have a graphics program, there are free and low-cost alternatives. The Paint program in Windows 7 works fine, and so does GIMP, and they are both free. Both Photoshop Elements and Paint Shop Pro can be bought at online retailers and department stores and are both under $100. Because, really, which would you rather see? The image on the left is from DIRECTV Message Board. The one on the right is from a graphics program. Create your file using the downloadable templates from the upload page, save it as JPEG and attach it using the upload page. Messages you create in a graphics program work just exactly the same as those created in DIRECTV Message Board and with a little work, they look a lot better. You can choose any layout you want, make things as big or as small as you want, and without any problem. If you ve never used a graphics program and you don t think this is the time to start, you still have options. If anyone on your staff is under the age of 25, you ll probably find someone who has created some graphics. It s part of the educational process these days. Reach out to your kids or to your friends. You ll probably be surprised how common it is to find someone who can do this work for you. You can also look to the people who create your menus or business cards. They probably have all the tools they need and just need to know the exact specs. 8 2012, SolidSignal.com Reproduction is permitted provided copyright information is intact.

BEST PRACTICES FOR CREATING L-FRAMES If you ve decided to create L-Frames using a graphics program, you have all the resources you need at the DIRECTV Message Board web site. When you go to the upload screen, you have the option of downloading three resources. The Message Image file design specification is a PDF that gives you detailed instructions on how to create images for L-Frames. It s a lot of information to digest, but it boils down to 3 important things: Your final image must be EXACTLY 720 pixels by 476 pixels or it won t work. You must save your final image in JPEG format or it won t work. Your image must also take the above specs into account or it wont work. Anything in the upper left peach-colored area won t show at all, anything in the dark blue area will definitely show, and anything in the light blue area might not show. That seems like a lot of work, right? Once again DIRECTV makes it easy. Download the message template in JPG format for most graphics programs. If you re giving this task over to a pro, he might also like the template in SVG format which will give him more flexibility. Starting with the template, just put all your important information in the SAFE AREA. You might be able to use the BLEED AREA as well; you should do some tests with your televisions. Some will show things in the bleed area, some won t at all. Helpful Hints When doing graphics, don t zoom in too close. The image you work with on the screen should be no larger than your hand. If you can read the text at that size, others will be able to read it from across the room. Try to use colors that look nice together but make sure that it s easy to read the text. Remember, the background isn t the most important thing. Make sure your text stands out clearly. Concentrate on using as few words as possible and make them as large as possible. This will let your audience read the slides quickly and will keep them from losing interest. It s ok to make all the slides look different but try to avoid fonts that are very hard to read. 9 2012, SolidSignal.com Reproduction is permitted provided copyright information is intact.

SolidSignal.com is your source for DIRECTV equipment, supplies, and support. We have over 10 years experience in installing and supporting satellite equipment. Our technical staff is ready to answer all your questions! visit SOLIDSIGNAL.COM for the best selection of equipment and supplies for the high-end installer or do-it-yourselfer! FORUMS.SOLIDSIGNAL.COM is your source for 24-hour support! BLOG.SOLIDSIGNAL.COM is your information destination for news, reviews, and tips! 7 2012, SolidSignal.com Reproduction is permitted provided copyright information is intact.