Channel Assignment
Once you have set up a display, you must assign a channel to a display to view your content.
This page shows assigning a channel to your display, understand channel properties, and DayParting.
Assigning a Channel
Follow the sections below to create an AEM Screens project and assign a channel to a display.
Creating an AEM Screens Project and Channels
Follow the steps below to set up a project and a channel:
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Create an AEM Screens Project titled as DemoScreens.
note note NOTE Refer to Creating and Managing Projects to learn how to create an AEM Screens project. -
Create a sequence channel titled as Cafeteria in the Channels folder.
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Select the channel and click Edit from the action bar to add content to your channel.
For example, the Cafeteria channel now displays the following images:
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Create a Location titled as SanJose and a display as Lobby.
Assigning Channel to a Display
Once the project set up is complete, you must assign the channel to a display to view the content.
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Navigate to the required display, for example, DemoScreens –> Locations –> SanJose –> Lobby.
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Tap/click Assign Channel from the action bar.
Or,
Tap/click Dashboard from the action bar and click +Assign Channel from the ASSIGNED CHANNELS & SCHEDULES panel.
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The Channel Assignment dialog box opens.
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From the Settings option, you can choose the channel by path or by name, enter the Channel Role, Priority, Supported Events, and Interruption Methods. Additionally, you can enable the attraction tooltip from this dialog box.
note note NOTE Refer to Channel Properties section to learn more about channel assignment properties. -
From the Schedule option select the Activation Window and Recurrence Schedule.
note note NOTE Refer to Channel Properties section to learn more about channel assignment properties. -
Click Save once you have configured your preferences.
Viewing the Content in Chrome Player
This example showcases the output on a Chrome Player. Once you have assigned the channel to your display, you must register the device to a player.
Refer to Device Registration to learn how to register a device on an AEM Screens player.
You will view the following output on your choice of player:
Timeline View
Once you have assigned a channel to a display and set up a recurrence schedule, you can view the timeline from the ASSIGNED CHANNELS & SCHEDULES panel.
Follow the steps below to navigate to the timeline view:
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Navigate to the required display, for example, DemoScreens –> Locations –> SanJose –> Lobby.
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Tap/click Assign Channel from the action bar.
Or,
Tap/click Dashboard and click Timeline from the ASSIGNED CHANNELS & SCHEDULES panel.
Understanding Channel Properties from Channel Assignment Dialog Box
The following properties are set from the Settings option in the Channel Assignment dialog box.
Select a Channel
Selecting a channel allows you to provide a reference to the desired channel, either by channel name or by channel path.
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by path: you provide an explicit reference using the absolute path of the channel.
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by name: You enter the name of the channel that will resolve to an actual channel by context. This feature allows you to create local version of a channel, in order to dynamically resolve location-specific content. For example, a channel with name deals of the day, where the actual content would be different in two cities, but you still have the sane channel role on all the displays.
Channel Role
Channel role defines the context of the display. The role is targeted by various actions and is independent of the actual channel that fulfils the role.
Priority
Priority is used to order the assignments in case multiple ones match the playing criteria. The one with the highest value will always take precedence over lower values. For example, if there are two channels A and B. A has a priority of 1 and B has a priority of 2, then channel B is displayed, as it has a higher priority than A.
Supported Events
- Initial Load: loads the channel when the player is started. It can be assigned to multiple channels in combination with schedule
- Idle Screen: loads when the screen is idle. It can be assigned to multiple channels in combination with schedule
- Timer: needs to be set when a schedule is provided
- User Interaction: the player will switch to the specified channel, if there is a user interaction on the screen (touch) in an idle channel and will load when the screen is touched
Interruption Method
As a content author, you should be able to specify when a channel is interrupted so you can choose to cut off non-critical content, but have the option to let important content fully play before cutting off playback because of scheduling.
Select from one of following options that are available to set the interruption method from the Channel Assignment dialog box:
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Immediately: whenever the schedule activates or an update is received, you can cut off the playback and immediately refresh or play the new content
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At the end of the current item: when a new schedule activates or an update is received, you have the option to wait for the current item in the sequence to finish playing, and only after that you refresh or play the new content
note note NOTE This option is selected by default. -
At the end of the sequence: when a new schedule activates or an update is received, you have the option to wait for the whole sequence to reach its end, and just before the desired sequence, you loop back to the 1st element, you refresh or play the new content
note note NOTE Using the second or third option may result in the scheduling times defined on the assignment to be slightly deferred as the player will wait for the end of the item or sequence (after the specified time) before refreshing. The delay will depend on the playback duration of the item.
The following properties are set from the Schedule option in the Channel Assignment dialog box.
Activation Window
The Activation Window allows you to select a Start date and an End date to display your content.
Recurrence Schedule
The Recurrence Schedule allows you to set a recurring schedule for your content. Click on + Add Schedule to add a recurrence schedule to your channel.
Recurrence Schedules introduces DayParting, that allows you to set a global schedule with multiple channels running at specific times of the day, and re-use that setup for all your displays at once.
You can set the following options:
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Name: Title of your recurrence schedule.
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Repeat: Choose whether the schedule runs Daily, Weekly, Monthly, or Yearly.
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Start: The start time for your schedule.
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End: The ending time for your schedule. You can set the it by time or duration.
- Time: The schedule will end at a specified time.
- Duration: The schedule runs for a particular duration of time in hours or minutes.
DayParting
DayParting refers to splitting up a day into time slots and specifying which content plays at the desired time. AEM Screens allows you to schedule channels in terms of DayParting within a day, week, or month as per the requirement.
The following examples explain DayParting in channels in three different scenarios:
Playing content on a single day divided into multiple time slots
This example shows how a restaurant uses DayParting to showcase its breakfast, lunch and dinner menu everyday.
Here, we will divide each day into different time slots, so that channel content plays as per the specified time of the day. Set the following properties of the Recurrence Schedule for your channel to play the content as per this use case.
Playing content on a particular day of the week
This example shows the DayParting implemented in a casino where live event occurs every weekend from 8:00 pm until 10:00 pm and specials are available for dinner menu after 10:00 pm until 1:00 am.