Screens and Groups

Screens and Groups

A screen represents one paired Tilecast Player. A group is a reusable set of screens for schedules, emergency takeovers, update deployments, and policy.

Screen status

Status	Meaning
Online	An authenticated Player WebSocket is active
Recently online	No active socket. The last contact was within two minutes.
Stale	Last contact was more than two and no more than fifteen minutes ago
Offline	No contact for more than fifteen minutes, or never contacted
Disabled	Playback was administratively disabled
Pairing revoked	The screen has no active device credential

Status is computed by the server. The player does not submit an online value.

Screen details

A screen record can include:

• name
• location
• description
• manufacturer and model
• Android and Player versions
• resolution
• locale and timezone
• last contact
• manifest and configuration synchronization state
• reliability capability and commissioning state
• direct playlist assignment
• group memberships
• effective player policy

Owners and Administrators can manage screens. Editors and Viewers can monitor them.

Direct assignment

The direct playlist assignment is the screen's fallback. It remains in place when schedules are added.

Playback order is:

1. emergency
2. schedule
3. direct assignment
4. no content

Disable playback

The disable_playback command stops ordinary playback but keeps pairing, networking, health reporting, and command delivery active.

An emergency takeover can still appear on a disabled screen. When the emergency expires, the screen returns to disabled until enable_playback succeeds.

Revoke pairing

Revoking invalidates the current device credential and disconnects the active player.

Use revoke when:

• the device was lost or replaced
• a credential may be compromised
• the screen should no longer connect

Do not revoke merely to fix an upgraded player that lost access to its local credential. Use pairing repair when Studio recognizes the installation ID.

Screen groups

A screen may belong to multiple groups.

Create groups around an operational purpose, not a temporary playlist. Examples:

• Main building
• Cafeterias
• Front offices
• Elementary schools
• Portrait displays
• Fire TV devices

A group can carry player policy and can be targeted by schedules, emergencies, and updates.

Group policy priority

When several groups set the same player policy key, the highest-priority matching group wins. A direct screen override still wins over every group.

Use the effective-policy view on the screen before assuming which value applies.

Changing group membership

Group membership changes which screens are affected by group-based configuration and future operations. Review:

• enabled schedules
• active emergencies
• pending update deployments
• group player policies

before moving a production screen between groups.