Outputs Tab: Global Surface Properties; Outputs Tab: Window Mode Properties - PRG MBOX User Manual

Outputs Tab: Global Surface Properties
The global surface in Mbox v4 is the "sandbox" that all rendering for the application happens in. This means that any
imagery that is intended for output as video or as pixel mapped data must be rendered onto the global surface. All
rendering happens on the global surface and is then "copied" to an output or to the pixel mapping engine for conversion.
Therefore, the global surface needs to be sized to be at least as large as the combined area of all outputs plus any area
devoted to pixel mapping. The rendering area for one or more outputs (and the pixel mapping) can be overlapped or
combined however.
The global surface has a size of 1920x1080 pixels. If there is only one display device connected to the server, and that
display has a resolution of 1920x1080 then there is no additional configuration required. If there are two outputs, each
1920x1080 with no overlap, then the global surface doesn't needs to be made bigger, 3840x1080 in this case. Adding
an overlap to these two outputs would reduce the overall width of the global surface.
Mbox v4 has eliminated the concept of Texture Size that limited the rendering in previous versions of Mbox. Mbox v4
automatically sizes its playback engine no matter the size of the content, and therefore the size of the content doesn't
need to be factored into the configuration of the global surface (or anything else). Of course, larger content will have an
impact on server performance, so content should be kept as small as possible to meet the needs of the show.
CAUTION! In most cases, the global surface should not be larger or smaller than the total area covered by the outputs.
Making the global surface too large affects performance, and making it too small means that some portions of outputs
may be unable to show any imagery.
The global surface's width and height can be independently adjusted keeping two limits in mind:
+ The global surface's width and height both have maximum sizes of 8196 pixels. The larger the global surface is,
the more impact it will have on performance, so the global surface's size should be kept to a minimum to allow all
outputs and mixes to be placed on it as desired.
+ The global surfaces width and height must each be divisible by 16. If incompatible values are entered, Mbox will
make the global surface slightly larger so that the width and/or height are divisible by 16.
When the auto resize checkbox is checked, the global surface will auto resize to enclose all outputs and mixes. When
adding and moving outputs or mixes this can be useful. If the auto resizing is disabled, outputs and mixes can be
placed partially or entirely outside the boundaries of the global surface.
Outputs Tab: Window Mode Properties
Three controls on the Outputs tab allow for the adjustment of window sizing in Window mode, and for turning on and off
an optional window for the global surface.
+ The window scale property assigns an overall scaling percentage to all output windows, including the global surface
window (if enabled).
+ Checking the global window checkbox causes an additional, separate window to be drawn that shows the full global
surface.
+ Because it might be a very large window, there is an additional scaling factor pop-up for the global surface window.
The size of the global window is scaled by both the window scale and global scale values. e.g. 50% and 50% = 25%
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