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This page provides brief instructions on using the OnlyM media playback software. It runs on Windows 10 and requires .NET 5
You have two installation options:
- Download and run the OnlyMSetup.exe file. OnlyM doesn't install system DLLs, register files or otherwise mess with your system. When installation is complete, run OnlyM from the desktop shortcut or Windows Start menu.
- Download the OnlyMPortable.zip file and extract the archive to a folder on your PC. Then just open the folder and launch the OnlyM.exe application. If you choose this option, you may also need to download and install the Microsoft .NET 5.0 Desktop runtime (x86) from here. Note that it's the desktop x86 version that you need!
If Windows or your Anti-Virus tools complain about OnlyM software, please see this note about Malware.
Select a display in the Settings page. Drag and drop media files into the OnlyM main window. Use the Play, Stop and Pause buttons to control playback. Note that images are automatically hidden when other media is displayed (e.g. you can start a video even when an image is currently being shown; the image will automatically close). OnlyM supportes the following media types:
- Images
- Videos
- Scripture slideshows (from OnlyV)
- Audio files
- Websites
- PDFs
This section describes each of the settings in detail. Note that I try to keep the documentation up-to-date and it may at times refer to functions or settings that are only available in a pre-release version of the software.
Display => Media Monitor - OnlyM lists all of the display devices attached to your PC. Select the one you want to display media on.
Display => Windowed - Check this box if you want to display media in a movable/sizeable window rather than on a specific monitor. This can be useful when you want to include the media in a composite scene for broadcast. Note that although the window has no title bar you can move it by clicking and dragging with the mouse anywhere in the window (providing there is no interactive content being displayed).
Display => Windowed => Resizeable/Fixed size - When in windowed mode, you can select whether the window should be resizeable or of a fixed size.
Display => Always on top (windowed) - When in windowed mode, this option forces the media window to remain on top of other windows.
Display => Permanent backdrop - If checked, OnlyM will display a permanent black backdrop on the media monitor - even when no media is being shown. This option is disabled when you choose "JW Library compatibility mode" since JW Library must be allowed to display media on the same monitor.
Display => Include "Blank Screen" item - If checked, an item entitled "Blank Screen" is shown at the top of the media list. Note that this option is only available when there is no "Permanent backdrop", and it allows you to blank the screen in between media playback where appropriate.
Display => JW Library compatibility mode - If checked, OnlyM will attempt to cooperate with the JW Library app (and JW Library Sign Language app) over use of the media display. See more information here. If you use this mode it's recommended that you have a plain black Windows desktop on the media monitor.
Please also see JwMediaWin which offers a better solution to the interoperation between JW Library and other media applications like OnlyM. If you use JwlMediaWin then you don't need to enable JW Library compatibility mode.
Media Files => Media Folder - Specify the folder in which media files are stored. Use the drop-down list to select from recently-used folders. Note that, for your convenience, the main page has a 'folder' button that displays the contents of the folder in Windows explorer. The default location is "Documents\OnlyM\Media". Please also see here for details of calendar sub-folders.
Media Files => Use embedded thumbnails where available - Some videos contain embedded thumbnails (small representative images). When this option is checked OnlyM uses the embedded images, otherwise it creates its own.
Media Files => Use embedded titles where available - Some media files contain embedded titles. When this option is checked OnlyM displays the embedded title at the top of the media item and the file name in smaller text underneath it. When the option is unchecked OnlyM simply displays the file name as the title. Note that items are always sorted alphanumerically by file name.
Media Files => Enable command panel - If checked, OnlyM displays a command panel button to the left of the media items. The panel contains commands to Hide and Delete the item. Note that the Delete command actually removes the file from disk.
Media Files => Maximum number of items - OnlyM is not designed to manage hundreds of media items. If you specify a media folder that contains a large number of files it may take a little while for the application to display the items and thumbnail images. You can set a suitable limit here. The default value is 50.
Media Files => Purge Thumbnail Cache - OnlyM maintains a cache of thumbnail images. You can purge the cache using this command (generally only needed if there appear to be problems with thumbnail display).
Web => Magnifier shape - Select the shape of the web page magnifier. This can also be modified in the toolbar of the presented web page itself (or by using F2).
Web => Magnifier size - Select the size of the web page magnifier. This can also be modified in the toolbar of the presented web page itself (or by using F3/F4).
Web => Magnifier magnification level - Use the slider to specify magnification level of the web page magnifier.
Web => Page zoom increment - Use the slider to specify the web page zoom increment. The presented web page contains buttons on the top right of the window that allow you to change the page zoom level. You can also use Ctrl+, Ctrl- and Ctrl0 in the web page.
Web => Magnifier frame thickness - Use the slider to specify the thickness or the mangification tool border.
Web => Purge browser cache - Click to purge the browser cache. If you have difficulty displaying a page this might help. The cache is purged when you next restart OnlyM.
Web => Allow mirror window - If checked, OnlyM displays a "Mirror" checkbox in each website and PDF media item. This allows OnlyM to launch a separate window mirroring the contents of the media window - useful when the media window is displayed at some distance from the operator. Note that the mirror is shown on the same monitor as the OnlyM application window, and will only be shown if the media window appears on a different monitor. You should close the mirror window using the ALT+Z key combination (or a user-defined hotkey). Note that this feature requires a reasonably powerful PC so if you notice severe lag or interrupted display it may be best to uncheck the option. The Mirror function can only be used when the media window is in full-screen mode (rather than "windowed" mode).
Web => Mirror enabled by default - Ensures that the "Mirror" checkboxes are checked by default.
Web => Mirror zoom - Use the slider to increase the magnification level in the mirror window (normally not necessary).
Web => Mirror hotkey - OnlyM registers a hotkey that can is used to close the mirror window. The default is ALT+Z. If another application has already registered the Only+Z hotkey, OnlyM displays a warning and you should select an alternative.
Images => Fading Style - Select a fading style to use with images (default is crossfade).
Images => Fading Speed - Select a fading speed to use with images (default is normal).
Images => Cache images - If checked, OnlyM caches recently used images (default is on).
Images => Auto-rotate - If checked, OnlyM automatically rotates images according to any embedded EXIF metadata. The images files (stored in the media folder) will actually be modified and the EXIF data removed.
Videos and Audio => Rendering Engine - Select either "Media Foundation" (the default) or "Ffmpeg". Media Foundation is less resource intensive but Ffmpeg can play more types of video file without having to install special codecs.
Videos and Audio => Show subtitles if available - If checked, OnlyM displays subtitles if they are found in the video. You can toggle this option even while a video is playing.
Videos and Audio => Allow position seeking - If checked, OnlyM allows you to seek to a play position using a slider. You can also use the "Start Time" dialog (there's a small button to the right of the playback time).
Videos and Audio => Allow scrubbing when paused - If checked, OnlyM displays video frames as you seek to a play position (only works when the video is paused).
Videos and Audio => Allow pause - If checked, OnlyM allows you to pause videos.
Videos and Audio => Show 'Freeze' command in Command Panel - If checked, OnlyM display a checkbox entitled "Freeze" in the command panel for video items. When the "Freeze" option is checked the video automatically pauses at the final frame.
Videos and Audio => Confirm when stopping - If checked, OnlyM prompts you to confirm when stopping playback of media. This feature operates after a few seconds of playback (allowing you to quickly stop media that was started in error).
Note - if your requirements always involve playing a video from start to end then you may choose to disable the "position seeking" and "pausing" functions to avoid the risk of accidents!
Margins - Specify any screen margins when rendering videos, images and websites. This can be useful if your media display is a projector and you prefer to restrict media to a small portion of the screen.
Miscellaneous => Current date - When OnlyM is launched, this is always set to the current date. The date is used when establishing which (if any) calendar sub-folder is to be used. You should only need to change the date when testing that your Calendar Folders are configured correctly.
Miscellaneous => Main window always on top - If checked, the OnlyM window remains on top of others. Note that OnlyM automatically remains on top when media is being displayed.
Miscellaneous => Logging Level - This refers to the level of detail that is recorded in the OnlyM log files. The levels appear in order of descending verbosity. The default value is "Information". It's important that you DO NOT set the level to Debug or Verbose unless investigating a problem. The log files are stored in "Documents\OnlyM\Logs".
Miscellaneous => Language - Select a user-interface language and restart OnlyM.
Manage files using Windows Explorer (click the Folder button at the bottom of the main window). You can also drag and drop media files (or URLs that point to media files) into the main window in which case copies of the files are made in the media folder. The media items are sorted alphabetically by file name; there is no provision for reordering other than by renaming the files, e.g. by prefixing with "01...", "02...", etc. Also see here for details of calendar sub-folders.
Display media using the Play / Stop button. Note that it is possible to show image files and play audio files simultaneously.
If the Command Panel is enabled (see Settings page => Media Files => Enable command panel), you can open an item's command panel and use the Hide and Delete buttons.
See also Slideshows.
To present websites, use web page shortcuts (right-click in the Windows Explorer folder, select New => Shortcut...). Alternatively drag and drop (or copy / paste) a web page address (or a list of addresses) into the OnlyM main window. The built-in web browser is based on Chromium and is designed for good presentation rather than performance (see "Website Caveats" below). It features a magnifier tool (F1 to toggle) which can be square or circular (F2), and resized (F3 and F4). Experiment with the toolbar buttons. When zooming a page (buttons far right of the toolbar or Ctrl+, Ctrl- and Ctrl0), OnlyM will save the zoom settings for each website.
When displaying websites and PDFs, a mirrored window is also available (depending on your OnlyM settings). This allows you to view the contents of the media display on your main monitor and is useful if the media display is located at some distance - it can make it easier to navigate a website.
Note that you don't need Chrome or other Chromium-based browser installed on your machine; OnlyM includes the necessary libraries to run it's own built-in browser.
There are no plugins installed so by default it won't play Flash video (but works with HTML 5 media). There is no provision to download files using the browser (if you click a download link nothing will happen). Any regular web page links will be followed and the link appears in the presentation window - there is no way to open additional tabs or browsers.
You can specify the "/id=" command-line option to include a unique identifier when storing settings. For example, if you append "/id=Warwick" (without the quotation marks) to the target of an OnlyM desktop shortcut and then launch the program, your settings will be specific to the "Warwick" shortcut.
The "--nogpu" switch can be specified if you want to disable all hardware graphics acceleration for the OnlyM application. This should only be used if the main window does not render properly (very occasionally a graphics device driver is incompatible with Microsoft WPF applications).
The "--nosettings" switch can be specified if you want to hide the "Settings" button.
The "--nofolder" switch can be specified if you want to hide the "Media folder" button.
The "--novidfix" switch is used to turn off the OnlyM code that works around a bug in WPF MediaFoundation rendering of videos on a secondary monitor. This is an advanced setting and you should only use it if you have implemented your own fix (e.g. by changing the codec used by MediaFoundation).
The "/source=" option can be used to specify the media folder (overriding the value in the application Settings page).
If video playback lags behind the audio you may benefit from using a tool to delay the audio. The "Equalizer APO" utility can be used to add a configurable delay and help synchronise audio and video. See the following link:
This helps when synchronisation problems are caused by the hardware pipeline.
OnlyM maintains a log (a simple text file) of activity which can be useful if you run into problems. The log is stored in the "Documents\OnlyM\Logs" folder.
If you need help, have a question or suggestion, or want to report a bug please do so in the Issues page (use the New issue button and follow the instructions). Note that all of the issues are in the public domain and the correspondence is permanent and searchable.
Important
- Search before you open an issue. Feel free to add comments to existing issues even if they are closed.
- Restrict your new issue to a single subject.
- Submit as much information as you can. Clicking the New issue button provides a good template.