# Setting up a Video Wall

**URL:** <https://community.info-beamer.com/t/setting-up-a-video-wall/27>\
**Category:** How-to and Tutorials\
**Created:** [October 18, 2018, 3:05pm UTC](https://community.info-beamer.com/t/setting-up-a-video-wall/27 "2018-10-18T15:05:46Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![infobeamer-fw](https://community.info-beamer.com/user_avatar/community.info-beamer.com/infobeamer-fw/32/3_2.png) [@infobeamer-fw](https://community.info-beamer.com/u/infobeamer-fw)\
**Post date:** [October 18, 2018, 3:05pm UTC](https://community.info-beamer.com/t/setting-up-a-video-wall/27/1 "2018-10-18T15:05:46Z")

</div>

# Small tutorial on how to set up a video wall

![image](https://community.info-beamer.com/uploads/default/original/1X/ee3c2bbdb4d09afc8e1f75b3367c3e966a6c7884.jpeg)

## Hardware requirements

- Screens + HDMI cables
- One Pi per Screen
- Ethernet connection to each Pi (you can also use [WiFi](https://community.info-beamer.com/t/setting-up-wifi/113), but I would suggest you use Ethernet first as it usually “just works”. You can switch to WiFi later)

## Steps

1. [Sign up](https://info-beamer.com/auth/signup) to info-beamer. It’s free and done in a minute.

2. Set up the Pis by following the [installation instructions](https://info-beamer.com/doc/installing-hosted). Installation is really simple (just unzip the info-beamer OS `install.zip` file to an empty SD) and will only take around 2-3 minutes per Pi.

3. Connect all Pis to their screens using an HDMI cable.

4. If you want a video wall like in the picture above, import the [_Magic Video Wall_](https://info-beamer.com/pkg/3028) package into your account.

5. Create a new _setup_ based on this package by clicking on the “Create Setup” button and give your new _setup_ a name. A _setup_ is essentially a configured package that can then be install on any number of devices. In our case we configure the _setup_ to show a video wall on a set number of screens. If you have multiple video walls with different layouts or playlists, you can create a new setup for each of them. Therre’s no need to import the _Magic Video Wall_ package again: You can use the same package multiple times.  
 ![image](https://community.info-beamer.com/uploads/default/original/1X/1f16a37c5c14c52df3a58d6827d0d97bb96ffa88.png)

6. In the resulting _setup_ first click on the _Assigned Device_ Tab. Then install this yet unconfigured Setup to the devices you’ve previously installed. Each will download all files required and show an empty screen.  
 ![image](https://community.info-beamer.com/uploads/default/original/1X/d4b36a740f8cccface66f40ccfc74dc3c61411aa.png)

7. Next, go back to the _Configuration_ tab. It will show the assigned devices as **Not mapped**. Now click on _Save_. The Setup now knows which devices you’ve assigned and each should switch to a screen showing something like a QR code (they are actually [April Tags](https://april.eecs.umich.edu/software/apriltag.html))  
 ![image](https://community.info-beamer.com/uploads/default/original/1X/9e057b63de19dcc083b290e612365c7a27704445.png)

8. You have two options now: You can either Capture a photo of all your screens and upload that to the configuration page. Or you can use a webcam to capture a picture using the configuration website itself. Another alternative is to capture a picture on your phone and use that.

9. Regardless of how to you create a snapshot of your video wall installation, be sure that all tags are visible and that the area captured in your picture covers all screens. So all screens should be completely visible in your picture.

10. Click on _Save_. You’re almost done. Now it’s time to set a playlist

11. Click on the _Playlist Configuration_ setting on the left side, then add images and videos to the play list.

12. Click on _Save_ and your devices will all download the assigned images and videos. When ready they will start showing them across all screens.

If you’re not happy with the layout, just repeat the Photo capture steps to create a new mapping. The devices will almost instantly update and you can see the updated result.

## Best Practices for running an real installation

- Enable the [Peer-to-Peer feature](https://info-beamer.com/blog/introducing-peer-to-peer-content-distribution) of info-beamer. It will allow fast downloads of new content (as only a single Pi will download a new video from the internet, while all other Pis will fetch it from directly from that single Pi). Additionally devices will also check each other to see if they all have the correct time. A correct time is critical for a synced video wall, so it’s highly recommended that you enable Peer-to-Peer.

- Make sure you have a working internet connection. The connection itself doesn’t have to be perfectly reliable (as all videos are cached and played from the local SD card), but the devices **must** have a correct time, otherwise they will be desyned. If you want, you can also provide a local NTP server. In that case the reliability of your outside internet connection isnt’ that important.