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Input Viewer - User Guide

Input Viewer is a lightweight video input display application for viewing multiple video feeds simultaneously. Perfect for presenter booths and control rooms.

Features

  • Dual/Single View - Display one or two video inputs side by side
  • No-Signal Detection - Automatically shows "NO SIGNAL" when input is disconnected
  • 29 Screensavers - GPU-rendered, shown when all inputs have no signal (5 min timeout)
  • Freeze Frame - Pause the display without affecting the source
  • Audio Controls - Control capture card volume and system output
  • Remote Keyboard - Forward clicker presses to a presenter PC over network
  • Touch Support - Tap-friendly dropdown menu

Installation

Download the latest version from GitHub Releases:

  • macOS: Input-Viewer-X.X.X.dmg
  • Windows: Input-Viewer-Setup-X.X.X.exe

The app auto-updates when new versions are available.

Presenter Booth Setup

  1. Connect your laptop using the Thunderbolt (USB-C) cable in the presenter booth
    • The cable is marked with "UP" - this side should face up when plugging in
  2. Wait about 10 seconds for your screen to appear
  3. This cable connects to a docking station, which is connected to the PC controlling the videowall
  4. Your laptop screen will appear as an input in the Input Viewer app

Basic Usage

Selecting Inputs

  1. Hover at the top of the screen to reveal the dropdown menu
  2. Select which video input to show on each side (Dual view) or single input (Single view)

View Modes

Mode Description
Dual Two inputs side by side (for wide screens)
Single One input fills the screen

The app automatically selects the default mode based on your screen aspect ratio.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Hover the bottom edge of the screen to bring up a legend of every shortcut, the same way hovering the top edge brings up the input dropdown. The legend is generated from the app's own bindings, so it always matches what the keys actually do.

Key Action
1 - 4 Select input 1-4
D Switch to Dual view
S Switch to Single view
Space Freeze/Unfreeze frame
F / F11 Toggle fullscreen
Esc Exit fullscreen / Unfreeze / Close menus
Q Quit application
V Show or hide the screensaver immediately, without waiting out the 5-minute no-signal delay
+ / - Step forward or back through the screensavers while one is showing
← → PgUp PgDn Remote keyboard (if enabled)

Settings

Open Settings via the dropdown menu (gear icon).

Each input in the dropdown shows a snapshot of what it is currently sending, taken when the dropdown opens. These are stills, not live previews — they are as recent as the moment you opened the panel. An input that is not currently on screen is sampled briefly to take its picture; one that cannot be reached, or that has nothing plugged into it, keeps an empty tile.

Inputs

  • Enable/Disable inputs using the toggle
  • Rename inputs for easier identification
  • Set Default input to load at startup

Layout

  • Center Gap - Space between dual view panels
  • Side Borders - Black borders on the left/right edges

No-Signal Detection

Capture what your capture card shows when nothing is connected. This allows the app to detect "no signal" and show the overlay.

  1. Disconnect the input from your capture card
  2. Click "Capture Left" or "Capture Right"
  3. The app will remember this pattern

Volume Controls

In the dropdown menu:

  • Input sliders - Control audio from each capture card
  • Output slider - Control system volume

The output slider syncs with your system volume every 2 seconds.

Remote Keyboard

Control presentations on a remote PC using a wireless clicker.

How It Works

┌─────────────┐     ┌─────────────┐     ┌─────────────┐     ┌─────────────┐
│   Clicker   │────>│Input Viewer │────>│   Arduino   │────>│ Presenter   │
│  (RF/BT)    │     │     App     │     │  (ESP32-S3) │     │     PC      │
└─────────────┘     └─────────────┘     └─────────────┘     └─────────────┘
                         WiFi              USB HID
  1. Press a button on your wireless clicker
  2. Input Viewer receives the keypress
  3. Input Viewer sends HTTP request to Arduino over WiFi
  4. Arduino sends keypress to presenter PC via USB

Setup

In Input Viewer:

  1. Open Settings > Remote Keyboard
  2. Enable the toggle
  3. Enter Hostname: space_keyboard (or the Arduino's IP)
  4. Enter API Key: the secret key configured on the Arduino

Arduino side:

The Arduino (ESP32-S3) must be:

  • Connected to the same WiFi network
  • Connected to the presenter PC via USB
  • Configured with matching API key

Supported Clickers

The app listens for multiple key types to support different clickers:

  • Arrow keys (← →)
  • Page Up / Page Down

Touch Screen Support

For touch screen setups:

  • Tap the dropdown trigger area to open/close the menu
  • Tap outside the menu to close it

Screensavers

When all video feeds show "no signal" for 5 minutes, a screensaver appears. There are 29, one picked at random, and it changes every 10 minutes. The rotation never picks the same one twice in a row.

Each screensaver also looks different every time it starts — the random choices inside it are seeded from the clock — so the same one twice is not the same picture twice.

To exit the screensaver:

  • Move the mouse
  • Shake the mouse rapidly
  • Press any key
  • Touch the screen

You can also drive it by hand: V shows or hides it immediately rather than waiting out the five-minute delay, and + / - step through the set in the order below.

The split-flap board is not one of them

When a feed loses signal you first see a split-flap departures board. That is the no-signal display, not a screensaver: it appears straight away rather than after five minutes, it never comes up in the rotation, and + / - cannot reach it.

The screensavers

Listed in rotation order, which is the order + and - step through.

  1. DVD Logo
  2. Plasma
  3. Flow Field
  4. Raymarch Fractal
  5. Julia Family
  6. Burning Ship
  7. Reaction Diffusion
  8. Particle Swarm
  9. White Particles
  10. Boids
  11. Strange Attractor
  12. Voronoi
  13. Metaballs
  14. Game of Life
  15. Matrix Rain
  16. Starfield Warp
  17. Pong
  18. Truchet Tiles
  19. Moire Interference
  20. ASCII Doughnut
  21. Double Pendulum
  22. Wave Tank
  23. Falling Sand
  24. Frost
  25. Tree Growth
  26. Physarum
  27. Aquarium
  28. Bicycle Horizon
  29. Weather

Weather and Art-Net

Two of these reach outside the machine, and both are off until you turn them on:

  • Weather (number 30) draws the live conditions for a configured latitude and longitude. With it off, it is skipped in the rotation. It fetches from a public weather service every 15 minutes while enabled.
  • Art-Net reactive mode is not a screensaver but affects them all: it sends the colour of whatever is on screen to a lighting service, so the room matches the wall.

Neither makes any network request until enabled and configured. See the Configuration section of README.md for the settings and exactly what each one sends.

Troubleshooting

Problem Solution
No video showing Check capture card connection and permissions
"NO SIGNAL" not detecting Re-capture the no-signal reference in Settings
Remote keyboard not working Check WiFi connection and API key
Audio not working Ensure capture card provides audio (not all do)
Touch not opening menu Tap near the top center of the screen

System Requirements

  • macOS 10.13+ or Windows 10+
  • USB capture card (HDMI/SDI to USB)
  • For remote keyboard: ESP32-S3 Arduino + WiFi network