Key new features include transparency and colour-keying effects, the addition of local inputs and control over them, plus source touring and scheduling functionality. The new software will be demonstrated for the first time at Infocomm 2013 and will be available for purchase and as a free 21-day trial download in July.

“Muracontrol 2.0 for Windows takes advantage of new functionality exposed with the latest Mura MPX driver version 2.03 and accessible through Mura’s network API,” said Helgi Sigurdsson, product manager at Matrox Graphics. “The ability to capture and display local VLC or Powerpoint files on a video wall, modify transparency settings, add colour-keying, plus hit ‘play’ or ‘pause’ from a remote location will be welcome news for digital signage and corporate video wall integrators looking to add local files to their source list. Control room integrators will appreciate the added ability to take remote control of desktops using VNC.”

New features in Matrox MuraControl 2.0 for Windows include transparency and colour keying. Blending videos and images with the desktop, a background image, or another video is now possible by setting transparency levels for one or more windows. Source and destination colour keying can also be used to enable interesting special effects, such as applying a graphic skin to a logo, or playing a video through it.

This new version also features local application control. It is now possible to capture, display and control local VLC video and RealVNC sessions, along with Microsoft Image Viewer, Powerpoint, and Internet Explorer files. VLC videos can be set to “play” or “pause”, and Powerpoint presentations can be delivered by pressing “next” or “back”. Keyboard and mouse functionality can be sent to local applications in order to gain remote control over VNC sessions or to browse the Internet on the video wall.\

Automated cycling through multiple sources is now supported. This feature is useful in video wall environments such as security control rooms monitoring multiple camera feeds on multiple displays, or digital signage applications featuring back-to-back ads, scaled up to fit all or part of the display wall.

Muracontrol has always allowed clients to create separate layouts showing different sources and window arrangements. With the new layout scheduling feature, those layouts can now be set to switch at specific times of the day so that the video wall can communicate different data at different times.