Using Multiple Monitors in RightBooth

UPDATE:  Feb 2022  

Starting from RightBooth version 7.7.15, you can now run multiple instances of RightBooth to  allow you simultaneously play and interact with multiple events on different monitors connected to the same computer.  Details on how to do this can be found at the following places:

• YouTube demo video
• Option 4 PDF document on this web page.
• The RightBooth User Manual

The rest of this article explains how you can use 1 instance of RightBooth to show event screens on up to 4 different monitors attached to the same computer.  In this arrangement, only one of the monitors can take user input and the others will be displaying non-interactive event screens

RightBooth can make use of up to 4 monitors attached to your computer for displaying screens independently from each other.

Multiple monitor screens will run as a non-interactive slideshow and will be shown at the same time as (and independently to) the main RightBooth recording event on the primary monitor.  This can be useful if you want to show information screens, advertising screens, web sites or screens containing videos and photos that are being recorded by users on the Primary monitor.

For example, your primary monitor might be housed inside a booth (or kiosk) with a second monitor outside the booth (or in a separate room) in order to attract passers-by to the system.

To make use of the RightBooth multi monitor features, Windows must be configured to provide an extended desktop.  Details on how to do this are outside the scope of this Blog but full details can be found in your Windows Display Settings.

When you have your additional monitors attached to your computer and configured as an extended desktop, you then can turn on and access the RightBooth multi monitor features for a particular event. Here we will show an example of using a second monitor.
To do this in RightBooth:

• Open the required event file
• Go to the Event Designer
• In the Event Designer panel, click on the Event structure tab
• In the section: Multiple monitors, tick the option: Monitor 2 screens

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If you now visit the Screen Editor your second monitor will be enabled and you will see the options for Monitor 1 (the primary monitor) and Monitor 2 (the second monitor) at the top of the Screen Toolbox.
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To add screens to Monitor 2:

• Click the Monitor 2 radio button, notice when you do this that all the RightBooth toolboxes will move over to the second monitor screen.
• Click the Add items checkbox to show the Add items toolbox.
• Click the Screen button to add a new screen to the Monitor 2 screen list.

You can then select a screen from the list and add items to it such as text, images, video files and the live webcam.  You can add as many screens as you need to the list, containing any items you require.
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In progress screens
Two screens which are included by default on the second monitor are Video in progress and Photo in progress.
These screens will automatically be displayed (and will interrupt the second monitor screen slideshow) whenever a video is being recorded or a photo is being taken by users on the primary monitor.

The 'In progress' screens can be useful in helping to reduce the graphics activity of your computer during any recording on Monitor 1.

You can also consider adding a webcam item to the 'In progress' screens.  The webcam item will show a duplicate feed of the webcam camera, allowing spectators of Monitor 2 to watch each video being recorded and photo being captured on Monitor 1.
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Adding Sequence Items
You may want to add video, image and sequence items to Monitor 2 screens.  During the Monitor 2 slideshow, these items can be designed to show sequences of previously recorded videos, photos and messages, allowing passers-by to watch recordings made earlier by other users.

Note: The above example for Monitor 2 can be repeated for monitors 3 and 4.

Multicasting
Multicasting is a feature that lets you replicate any screen from the Primary monitor onto one or more of the other monitors attached to your computer.
For example, when users are recording video on the Record video screen you can opt to show this screen on one or more of the other monitors.  To do this:

• Ensure you set up your system to use more than one monitor
• In the Screen Editor, choose the event's 'Record video' screen
• On the Screen Toolbox, tick the Properties checkbox to show the Screen Properties
• At the bottom of the Screen properties toolbox, tick the monitors you would like the Record video screen to be multicast onto.  

In the following example, we have a system configured with 3 monitors and we are multi-casting the 'Record video' screen onto both monitors 2 and 3: