When managing digital signage, you often need to push content to a single screen. But what happens when you want to create a massive, multi-screen video wall where your content spans across all the displays as one cohesive canvas?
That is exactly what Unified View in Skykit Beam Collections is designed to do.
This guide explains what Unified View is, what hardware you need to use it, and how to set it up within your Collections.
What is Unified View?
Unified View is a specialized layout orientation option within Skykit Beam Collections. Unlike standard Landscape or Portrait layouts—which are designed to play content on a single physical screen—Unified View layouts are designed for video wall configurations.
When you select a Unified View layout, you are telling Skykit Beam to treat multiple connected displays as a single, giant screen. The layout grids available in Unified View correspond directly to how your physical screens are arranged on the wall [1].
For example, if you have four screens mounted in a horizontal row, you would use a 4x1 Unified View - Landscape layout. You can then drop a single piece of content into that layout, and Skykit will seamlessly stretch it across all four screens.
Hardware Requirements: The E500 Media Player
To use Unified View layouts, you must have the appropriate hardware. Unified View is exclusively designed for tenants using the Skykit E500 Media Player [2].
The E500 is a powerful, commercial-grade media player built specifically for multi-display setups. It features four HDMI outputs, allowing a single device to drive up to four separate screens simultaneously [1].
Because the E500 handles the heavy lifting of synchronizing the video output across its four HDMI ports, the Unified View layouts in Beam simply need to match the physical configuration you have set up on the E500 device [1].
Available Unified View Configurations
Depending on how your screens are mounted and connected to your E500 media player, you can choose between two primary orientations:
1. Unified View - Landscape
Used when your physical screens are mounted horizontally. Available grid layouts include:
- 2x1: Two screens side-by-side
- 2x2: Four screens arranged in a square (two on top, two on bottom)
- 3x1: Three screens side-by-side
- 4x1: Four screens side-by-side
2. Unified View - Portrait
Used when your physical screens are mounted vertically. Available grid layouts include:
- 1x2: Two screens stacked vertically
- 1x3: Three screens stacked vertically
- 1x4: Four screens stacked vertically
- 2x2: Four screens arranged in a square (two on top, two on bottom)
How to Use Unified View in Collections
Setting up a Unified View layout is just as easy as setting up a standard layout.
- Navigate to Collections in the Skykit Beam main menu.
- Create a new Collection or open an existing one.
- Click Add Entry (or Create Entry).
- In the Choose a Base Layout window, click the Select Orientation dropdown.
- Select either Unified View - Landscape or Unified View - Portrait depending on your physical screen setup.
- Click on the specific grid layout that matches your video wall (e.g., 4x1).
- Click Create Entry.
Once the layout is added to your Collection, you will see a layout builder that reflects your multi-screen grid. You can now click the + icon in any zone to add your content, playlists, or programs just as you normally would.
Note: You will see a blue "E500 Unified Display" badge in the layout builder to remind you that this layout requires an E500 media player to display correctly.
References
[1] Skykit Support. "E500 User Manual". https://support.skykit.com/docs/e500-installation-guide
[2] Skykit Support. "How to Set Up Collections & Layouts (New Edition)". https://support.skykit.com/docs/how-to-set-up-collections-layouts