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 rst 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.

DIRECTV Message Board

starts an o-the-shelf HR24-

500 DVR. is is solid, reliable

technology and you may

already have a DVR like this

if you have DIRECTV service

at home. However, it works

dierently 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

le corner. e video is high denition, although the menus are based on the older

“blue” menu system that is no longer used by DIRECTV receivers. is has some

eect on the quality and legibility of the images you create, but there are ways to

minimize the eect.

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 ll out the form

for new user registration. If you already have a username and password, ll it in.

DIRECTV Message Board’s web interface can be congured 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.

HOW DOES DIRECTV MESSAGE BOARD WORK?

CREATING AN L-FRAME USING

DIRECTV MESSAGE BOARD

e 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.”

is will let you create a message using one of

the templates provided. e 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.

e 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.

Logos

Your rst choice is whether or not to include logos. ere are two logo positions, one at top right

and one at bottom le. You can use both, either, or neither. ere is a check box next to the words

“Attach Logo/Image.” ey are both checked when you design a new slide. If you only want

one logo, click the check box to turn the other logo o. Logos can be attached as JPEG, PNG, or

GIF les. 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

ere 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 elds 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.”

e “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 le 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.

CREATING SCHEDULES

Schedules are the lists of what messages get shown where. e 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 le 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. is 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

le of the little picture, or use the arrow also to the le of the picture to move a slide up

by one. If you have ever re-ordered your Netix queue, it’s just like that... hard to explain

but once you do it you’ll realize it’s very easy.

CREATING SCHEDULES

teLevisions

When you’re done with adding messages, it’s time to decide what televisions will be

showing the messages. e 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.) ere 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 le of the word “Televisions” to see the

list, and if you need to, click the minus sign to the le of the word “Messages” to make

more room on the screen. Check the box to the le 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 nd 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 dierent schedules

for dierent times of day, or dierent days of the week. It’s very exible.

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.

DIRECTV Message Board’s web interface

is easy, but it isn’t very powerful. You

can create 15 messages in half an hour,

but aer 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. e Paint

program in Windows 7 works ne, 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? e image on the le is from DIRECTV Message Board. e

one on the right is from a graphics program.

Create your le 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 sta is under the age of 25, you’ll probably nd 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 nd someone who can do this work for you.

You can also look to the people who create your menus or business cards. ey probably have all the tools

they need and just need to know the exact specs.

THE SECRET TO USING DIRECTV MESSAGE BOARD

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. e

Message Image le design specication 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 le peach-colored area won’t show at all, anything in the dark blue area will

denitely show, and anything in the light blue area might not show.

at 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 exibility.

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.

BEST PRACTICES FOR CREATING L-FRAMES

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