Skip to main content

Multiview

Multiview puts several video sources on one screen at the same time, in a grid. It's the tool for security camera walls, sports bars showing four games at once, trading-floor monitors, and any "watch many feeds on one display" setup. A multiview behaves like a single AV source inside a zone — users pick it the same way they pick a cable box — but instead of one full-screen picture they get the grid, and they can tap any tile to bring that source up full-screen.

Licensing

AV Sources, AV Zones, Channels, and Multiview are part of the AV System module. Creating any of them requires the module in your license; the nav items are locked otherwise. Trials and development builds unlock it, and existing multiviews keep working if a license later changes. See License.

Open Multiview

Reach this page from the admin menu under AV → Multiview.

How a multiview behaves​

A multiview shows multiple video feeds in a grid:

┌─────────┬─────────┐
│ Camera 1│ Camera 2│  2×2 Grid
├─────────┼─────────┤  4 sources
│ Camera 3│ Camera 4│
└─────────┴─────────┘

┌────┬────┬────┐
│ C1 │ C2 │ C3 │       3×2 Grid
├────┼────┼────┤       6 sources
│ C4 │ C5 │ C6 │
└────┴────┴────┘

Each grid position shows a different source. On the touchpanel the multiview renders the grid with a row of tabs along the top — one tab per source — and the active source is highlighted.

Multiview vs. a regular source: a regular source fills the whole display. A multiview shares the display across several sources in a grid, and lets the user expand any one of them to full-screen (unless you turn that off).

What happens when the multiview is selected​

When a user selects the multiview as the source for its AV zone, GEM sets the grid up automatically — the user does not have to pick an initial tile or trigger any routing manually:

  1. The first source in the grid becomes the active (highlighted) source.
  2. The Multiview Command is sent (if configured) to put the display into the grid layout.
  3. That first source's Audio Routing Command is sent (if configured) so its audio plays.

Tapping tiles on the touchpanel​

  • Tap a different tile — that source becomes the highlighted source. The view stays in the grid, and that source's Audio Routing Command fires so audio follows it.
  • Tap the already-highlighted tile — that source expands to full-screen and its Fullscreen Video Command fires. Tap it again to collapse back to the grid (which re-sends the top-level Multiview Command). If Disable fullscreen is on, tapping never expands — the grid stays put.

Use cases​

Security monitoring — a 4×4 grid showing 16 cameras at a guard station; fullscreen usually disabled.

Sports viewing — a 2×2 grid showing four games in a bar or media room; tap a game to go full-screen.

Trading floor — a 3×2 grid with market data, news, charts, and a trading terminal.

Source preview — preview several sources before routing one to a main display (a director's monitor).

Creating a multiview​

  1. Click Create New. A dialog titled Create Multiview Device opens with three fields:
    • Name — internal identifier, auto-formatted to lowercase_with_underscores (e.g. security_wall_multiview). Required.
    • Label — the display name users see (e.g. "Security Camera Wall"). Optional; defaults to the Name if left blank.
    • AV Zone — the AV zone this multiview appears in. Required. This is the zone where the multiview will be selectable as a source.
  2. Click Create Device.

GEM creates a virtual device to represent the multiview and adds it to the chosen AV zone as a source whose on-screen view is the multiview grid. The new multiview is selected automatically so you can configure it right away.

Selecting an existing multiview​

The Device dropdown lists every multiview already configured. Pick one to load its grid and settings. The AV Zone field below the dropdown is read-only — it shows which zone the selected multiview belongs to (detected from the device).

Configuring the grid​

With a multiview selected, the Layout Settings appear next to the device picker.

Layout​

  • Width — number of columns, 1–8.
  • Height — number of rows, 1–8.

A live preview shows the numbered positions, and the hint reads WxH = N positions. Positions are numbered left-to-right, top-to-bottom starting at 1 — so a 2×2 grid is positions 1–4, a 4×4 is 1–16. The maximum is 8×8 (64 positions), though most displays are practical at 4×4 or smaller.

Disable fullscreen​

Next to the layout inputs is the Disable fullscreen toggle:

  • On — users cannot expand a single tile; the grid always shows every source. Use this for monitoring walls (security, trading) where you never want one feed taking over.
  • Off (default) — users can tap the highlighted tile to expand it full-screen, and tap again to return to the grid.

Assigning sources to positions​

The Multiview Sources section shows the grid visually, one cell per position:

  • Empty cell — shows a + and "Add Source". Click it to create a source at that position and open its detail panel.
  • Occupied cell — shows the source's label (and the source's device icon as a faint background). Click it to open its detail panel.
  • Drag a source onto an empty cell to move it there.
  • Drag a source onto an occupied cell to swap the two.

Per-position settings​

Clicking a cell opens a detail panel on the right with these fields:

  • Source Device — pick which source plays in this position. The list is the sources available in the multiview's parent AV zone (sources assigned to that zone plus global sources), filtered to the zone's AV type, and excluding the multiview itself.
  • Move to Position — move this source to a different grid position. If the target already holds a source, the two swap (the option shows "swap with …").
  • Audio Routing Command (optional) — the command that routes this source's audio. It fires when this source becomes the highlighted tile in the grid (and the first source's fires on auto-init).
  • Fullscreen Video Command (optional) — the command that routes this source full-screen to the main display. It fires when the user expands this tile.
  • Remove — take the source out of this position.

Each command field is the standard command builder: choose a Device, choose a Command from that device's command list, and fill in the command's arguments (matrix input/output numbers, an input label, etc.). You can test a command before saving.

Multiview Command​

Above the grid is the Multiview Command — labeled in the editor with the hint "Command to return to the multiview display." This is the command that puts the display back into the grid/multiview layout. It is sent:

  • when the multiview source is first selected in the zone (to build the grid), and
  • whenever the view collapses from a full-screen single source back to the grid.

In practice this is the command that selects your video processor's multiview/quad output on the display (for example, switching the TV to the HDMI input carrying the grid). It is not a per-source full-screen route — that job belongs to each source's Fullscreen Video Command.

Leave it blank for monitoring setups where the grid is the only thing the display ever shows.

Saving​

  • Save Configuration — writes the layout, the Multiview Command, the per-source assignments and commands, and the Disable-fullscreen setting. Positions left without a source device are dropped on save.
  • Delete Config — clears the multiview configuration after a confirmation prompt (the device and its AV source remain; only the grid configuration is removed).

How the routing commands fit together​

Three command slots drive the actual signal routing. Knowing which one fires when is the key to wiring a multiview correctly:

CommandWhere you set itFires when
Multiview CommandAbove the grid (one per multiview)The multiview is first selected, and whenever the view returns from full-screen to the grid. Routes the display to the grid/multiview output.
Fullscreen Video CommandPer source, in the detail panelThe user expands that source to full-screen. Routes that single source to the main display.
Audio Routing CommandPer source, in the detail panelThat source becomes the highlighted tile in the grid (or is the first source on auto-init). Routes that source's audio.

There is no automatic input/output substitution in these commands — fill in the concrete device, command, and argument values each one needs. If a command's arguments support GEM's dynamic value pickers (the same [@…] placeholders offered on the Commands page), you can use them here too, but a multiview command does not invent any {source.*}-style tokens of its own.

Control passthrough: while a multiview is active, transport and volume commands aimed at the multiview are rerouted to whichever source is currently highlighted, so play/pause/volume on the touchpanel act on the source you're watching.

Worked example — sports quad view​

  1. Create the multiview
    • Name: sports_quad, Label: "Sports Quad View", AV Zone: the living-room video zone.
  2. Layout: Width 2, Height 2 (four positions). Leave Disable fullscreen off so a tap goes full-screen.
  3. Multiview Command: the command that selects your quad processor's combined output on the TV — for example Device = the TV, Command = select_input, args {input: "hdmi1"} (the HDMI carrying the grid).
  4. Assign sources to positions 1–4 (cable box, second cable box, Apple TV, etc.). On each, set a Fullscreen Video Command that routes that single source full-screen (for example a matrix route to the TV output, or the processor's single-window command), and an Audio Routing Command that sends that source's audio to the receiver.
  5. Save Configuration.

Result: the living room shows four games in a grid; tapping a game brings it up full-screen with its audio, and tapping again returns to all four.

Worked example — 16-camera security wall​

  1. Create the multiview: Name security_wall, Label "Security Camera Wall", AV Zone = the security-office video zone.
  2. Layout: Width 4, Height 4 (16 positions). Turn Disable fullscreen on — the wall always shows all cameras.
  3. Assign all 16 cameras to positions 1–16. Audio is usually not needed, so leave the per-source audio commands blank.
  4. Multiview Command: leave blank if the display is dedicated to the grid; otherwise set it to select the camera-wall output on the display.
  5. Save Configuration.

Driving multiview from macros and triggers​

You can switch the highlighted (or full-screen) source programmatically — for an alarm response, a schedule, or a wall-panel button — by issuing the multiview_source command against the multiview's AV zone with:

  • source_id — the device id of the source to highlight, and
  • fullscreen — true to expand it full-screen, false to keep the grid.

GEM updates the grid, fires the matching command (the source's Fullscreen Video Command when fullscreen is true, otherwise the Multiview Command plus that source's Audio Routing Command on a source change), and any touchpanel showing the multiview follows along. The targeted source must be one of the sources configured in the grid.

Troubleshooting​

Multiview not displaying​

  • The multiview exists as a source in the AV zone and the zone has it selected.
  • At least one grid position has a source assigned (empty positions are dropped on save).
  • The multiview's virtual device is enabled.

Only one source showing​

  • The layout is larger than 1×1 and multiple positions have sources.
  • The view isn't stuck full-screen — tap the highlighted tile to collapse, or turn on Disable fullscreen.

Sources in the wrong positions​

  • Positions number left-to-right, top-to-bottom from 1. Use Move to Position instead of dragging if a drag misfires.
  • Re-save after rearranging — changes aren't applied until you Save Configuration.

Full-screen not working​

  • Disable fullscreen is off.
  • The source has a Fullscreen Video Command configured — without it, expanding the tile has nothing to route. (You'll see a "missing video command" warning in the logs.)

Audio not routing​

  • The source has an Audio Routing Command, and the routing device is online.
  • Test the audio command on its own (the command builder can test it) to confirm it works outside multiview.

Grid builds but the display doesn't switch​

  • Check the Multiview Command — if the processor's grid output isn't being selected on the display, this is the command responsible. Test it independently.
  • AV Zones — the parent zones a multiview lives in
  • AV Sources — the sources you assign to grid positions
  • Devices — matrix switchers, video processors, and displays
  • Commands — defining the routing commands you pick in the command builder