Adding Displays

A display is the fundamental pixel output unit in WATCHOUT. It is a 3D camera that captures pixels from the Stage (which is itself a 3D space — see Welcome to WATCHOUT 7) and routes them to an output device on a specific node. Every cue that appears on-screen is rendered through one or more displays.

A display is defined by two independent choices:

Positioning — how the 3D camera is parameterized on the Stage. Either a 2D Display (a flat rectangle on a plane) or a 3D Projector (a perspective frustum with Eye, Target, Roll, and lens parameters).
Output device — where the captured pixels are routed. One of GPU, SDI, ST 2110, NDI, or Virtual.

Positioning: 2D Display vs 3D Projector

Both positioning modes define a 3D camera capturing pixels from the Stage. The difference is how the camera is parameterized:

Positioning	How the camera is parameterized	Automatic Edge Blending	When to Use
2D Display	Origin, size, and Z-axis rotation on a plane. Stage size follows output raster by default. Suitable for flat or gently curved surfaces; curvature is handled later by Warp Geometry.	Yes — overlapping displays on the same stage tier receive automatic soft-edge blending.	Flat screens, LED walls, monitors, and projectors aimed at flat or warp-correctable surfaces.
3D Projector	Eye, Target, Roll, lens shift, and width-distance ratio — a real projector frustum. See 3D Projector.	No — manage overlap manually with Display Masks.	Projection mapping onto complex 3D objects whose surface is represented by a 3D model in WATCHOUT.

The Virtual routing makes a fourth case: a 2D Display whose captured pixels go to an internal texture buffer instead of a physical connector. See Virtual Output.

Output Devices

A display's routing is determined by its Output Type. WATCHOUT supports five output devices:

Output Type	Routing Target	Channel/Port	Dedicated Page
GPU	Physical GPU output on a node	Numbered channel	GPU Output
SDI	SDI output interface on a Deltacast SDI board	Numbered channel	SDI Output
ST 2110	Multicast IP stream from a Deltacast ST 2110 IP board	Numbered channel + multicast address/port	ST 2110 Output
NDI	NDI network stream	Stream identity	NDI Output
Virtual	Internal texture buffer (no physical output)	None	Virtual Output

GPU is the default when creating a new display. Each output device has its own page covering the parameters specific to that routing. For ST 2110 board commissioning, see ST 2110 Video Over IP and Setting Up ST 2110.

Where to Add Displays

You can add displays from several places depending on your workflow:

Stage → Add Display — adds at a default stage location
Right-click in Stage → Add Display — adds at the clicked position, useful when building screen arrays directly on the stage
Right-click a node in the Network/Nodes window → Add Display — adds a display already assigned to that node

New displays are automatically named in sequence (Display 1, Display 2, etc.) with a default resolution of 1920 × 1080.

If you know the target machine first, add from the Network/Nodes window — the node assignment is filled in automatically. If you are sketching stage geometry first, add from Stage.

Configuring a Display

After creation, select the display and open the Device Properties panel. Configuration is grouped into several sections.

General

Name — a clear operator-facing label (for example Left_LED_Wall_A)
Node / Address — the node that will render this output
Enabled — controls whether the output is active; new physical displays start disabled and must be enabled once routing is confirmed
Color tag — a visual identifier used on the stage to distinguish displays at a glance
Lock — prevents accidental edits to the display once configuration is finalized

Output and Routing

Output Type — GPU, SDI, ST 2110, NDI, or Virtual
Channel — the physical output port number (shown for GPU, SDI, and ST 2110)

If two displays are mapped to the same node and channel, WATCHOUT flags a resource conflict.

An ST 2110 display also needs a Multicast Address, Port, and TTL (plus optional SPS redundancy). See Setting Up ST 2110 for the full procedure.

Dimensions

Resolution (width × height) — must match the real output raster of the connected display device or processor
Use as Input Resolution — when enabled (default), the display's stage size follows the output raster, so a 1920×1080 output is also 1920×1080 on stage; when disabled, the stage size can be modeled independently

Signal, Warp, and Color

Signal settings (color depth and space, EDID, link type, interlaced, delay), warp, masks, soft edges, and white point are configured after the basics above. They depend on the routing. For the full group-by-group reference, see Display Properties.

Placement on Stage

Set the display's position and size to match the real-world layout of your screens, projectors, or LED walls:

Use the exact raster dimensions from the processor or projector chain
Align displays in stage coordinates before programming cues
Use Frame All Displays to verify overall geometry
For repeated arrays, use Create Display Grid and then fine-tune individual positions

Verifying Outputs

Validate routing before building show content. In Device Properties → Test Pattern, switch the display through the White, Masked, and Pattern modes to check white point, brightness uniformity, coverage, and projector focus. Enable Render Info to identify which output is which. See Test Patterns for what each mode is for.

Physical displays start disabled by default. You must enable a display in Device Properties before it will produce output.

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