Slides that render into one corner of a signage screen are a size mismatch: the deck's pixel size and the resolution the player reports disagree, or a second monitor changed that reported resolution. Measure both numbers and divide deck pixels by reported pixels; build the deck at exactly the reported resolution so the ratio reads 1.00 in both axes, and re-check whenever an output on the player PC changes.
Slides that show in one corner of the screen, with black filling the rest, point at one comparison: the pixel size your deck was built at against the resolution your signage player reports for its output. The check is one division per axis. Deck pixels divided by reported pixels should read 1.00 both ways; below 1.00 the deck covers only that share of the screen, and above 1.00 the deck is larger than the area, so edges are cut off. The second suspect is a second monitor, projector or dock on the player PC, which can move the reported resolution after the deck was built. Measure both numbers, make them equal, and re-check after every hardware change.
What the mismatch is
The area a deck is laid out into is the size of the resolution the client reports. A deck built at other pixel dimensions does not fill that area edge to edge, and the share of each axis it covers is deck pixels divided by reported pixels. A ratio of 0.67 covers two thirds of the axis; a ratio of 1.00 covers all of it.
When the ratio is the same on both axes, the deck and the area share their aspect ratio, so nothing stretches and the deck just sits small in a corner. When the ratios differ, the aspect ratios differ and the deck looks stretched or letterboxed. A 16:9 deck on a stretched-bar screen does this, because a bar screen's aspect ratio is wider than 16:9; bar-screen content has to be designed at the bar's own ratio.
Symptoms and what each points to
- The deck covers the same share of width and height, with black around it: the deck is smaller than the reported area. A 1280 x 720 px deck in a 1920 x 1080 px area covers 66.7% of each axis.
- Content is cut off at the right and bottom edges, or squeezed into part of the area: the deck is larger than the reported area, a ratio above 1.00.
- Stretched or letterboxed: the deck's aspect ratio and the area's differ.
- It ran fine for months and broke with nothing obviously changed: a video output on the player PC changed. A monitor, projector, dock or cable that was added, moved or removed moves the reported resolution with it.
- It previews full screen at your desk and shows small on the sign: the numbers you compared were read somewhere other than at the sign. Read both numbers at the sign.
Read the deck's pixel size
The slide canvas carries the pixels; enlarging the pictures on it leaves the canvas unchanged. The default widescreen deck is 13.33 x 7.5 in. Exported at 96 PPI that canvas is 1280 x 720 px (13.3333 in x 96 px/in = 1280 px; 7.5 in x 96 px/in = 720 px). The same 13.33 x 7.5 in canvas exported for a Full HD screen is 1920 x 1080 px, which works out to 144 PPI (1920 px / 13.3333 in = 144 px/in). Two decks can look identical in the editor and differ by 1,152,000 pixels (1920 x 1080 = 2,073,600 px against 1280 x 720 = 921,600 px).
The check that settles it: save or export one slide as an image and read the file's dimensions in pixels. That number is the deck size the player receives. Portrait decks run the other way, 7.5 x 13.33 in, which is 1080 x 1920 px at HD export settings.
When you commission the sign, read the panel's native resolution off its page in our display range and use that as the number to build for.
Read the resolution the player reports
The number that matters is the resolution the client reports, and a client can report less than the panel's rating even with a single output; the article on a 4K signage player that only renders at 1080p covers that case. On a Windows client, read the output resolution in the display settings; signage clients repeat the number in their display or layout profile settings. Write it down before you change anything.
Then look at what is plugged into the PC. A desktop monitor on one output and the sign on another gives the client two active outputs, and the report can come from either. Read the report with the exact monitor and cable combination you will run, and adjust the outputs until the report reads the sign's native resolution. If the sign ran fine and then changed, alter one output at a time and read the report after each change; a what-changed troubleshooting method keeps that search honest.
Portrait adds one more trap: a portrait player can report a smaller framebuffer than the panel, and the article on a portrait player reporting 720p framebuffer resolution walks through the numbers. The rule is unchanged: build to the report, then fix the report if it is wrong.
The panel's native resolution is the target when the report is healthy; the screen size and viewing distance guide covers how to choose the panel and the distance in the first place.
Example: the default deck on a 1080p player
A cafe hangs a 1920 x 1080 screen driven by a Windows signage client. The menu deck was built at the default 13.33 x 7.5 in and exported at 96 PPI, so the file is 1280 x 720 px. The client reports 1920 x 1080.
- Width: 1280 / 1920 = 0.667, so the deck covers 66.7% of the width: 1280 of 1920 px, leaving 640 px of black.
- Height: 720 / 1080 = 0.667, so the deck covers 66.7% of the height: 720 of 1080 px, leaving 360 px.
- Area: 0.667 x 0.667 = 0.445, so the deck covers about 45% of the screen.
- Both ratios agree because deck and area share the 16:9 ratio, so nothing stretches; the deck sits in one corner at two-thirds size.
Fix: set the slide size to 1920 x 1080 px, the same 13.33 x 7.5 in canvas exported at 144 PPI. The ratios become 1920 / 1920 = 1.00 and 1080 / 1080 = 1.00, and the deck fills the screen edge to edge.
Example: a second monitor drags the report down
The same cafe adds a desktop monitor to the player PC so staff can edit the playlist. The monitor reports 1366 x 768 and the client now lays out at that size, while the deck is still 1920 x 1080 px.
- Width: 1920 / 1366 = 1.41, so the deck is 41% wider than the area.
- Height: 1080 / 768 = 1.41, the same 41% oversize, because both are 16:9 class.
- Only 1366 of 1920 px fit, which is 1366 / 1920 = 0.711, so 71% of the deck is on screen and the remaining 29%, along the right and bottom, is never shown.
Fix: make the report match the sign. Set the sign's output to its native 1920 x 1080 so the report reads 1920 x 1080, re-read the report, and re-check both ratios. Leave the outputs in the combination you tested. With the report at 1920 x 1080 and the deck at 1920 x 1080 px, both ratios read 1.00 and the deck fills the sign.
Fix it in this order
- Save or export one slide as an image and read its pixel size.
- Read the resolution the player reports, at the sign, with the monitor and cable combination you will actually run.
- Divide width by width and height by height. Two ratios of 1.00 mean the sizes match and the cause is elsewhere: check the aspect ratio next, especially on a bar screen.
- If a ratio is below 1.00, rebuild the deck at the reported resolution and re-export at that pixel size.
- If the report is below the sign's native resolution, fix the report first: set the sign's output to native or disconnect the output that drags it down, re-read, then rebuild the deck to the corrected report.
- After any hardware change, a monitor added, a projector swapped, a dock or cable moved, re-read the report and re-run the two divisions. Leave in place the combination you tested.
Recommendation: Build every deck at exactly the resolution your player reports, verified by two divisions that both read 1.00, and use 1920 x 1080 px as the default canvas for a 1080p sign. On any player PC with a second video output, read the report with the exact monitor and cable combination you will run, and re-read it after every change to that combination before you touch the deck.
If the deck becomes a video or image file
Exporting freezes the size: an MP4 or PNG exported at 1920 x 1080 px carries 1920 x 1080 px, and one exported at 1280 x 720 px carries 1280 x 720 px. Set the export resolution to the reported resolution first, then export; the walkthrough on exporting slides to video for an offline signage player covers the settings. If you run our offline player, it takes its images and video from a microSD card or USB stick, so the exported file is exactly what the screen receives.
Questions
What pixel size should a portrait deck be?
For a portrait screen whose player reports 1080 x 1920, size the deck at 7.5 x 13.33 in, which exports at 1080 x 1920 pixels at HD export settings. The rule is the same as landscape: deck pixels divided by reported pixels must read 1.00 in both axes. Read the report first, because a portrait player can report a smaller framebuffer than the panel's rating.
Can I fix the corner problem by resizing the pictures inside the deck?
No. The mismatch is between the slide canvas and the reported resolution, and picture sizes on the slide leave the canvas unchanged. Enlarging images on a 1280 x 720 canvas still gives you a 1280 x 720 deck. Change the slide size itself, or export at the resolution the player reports, so the pixels the player receives match the area it lays out.
Does the IMD Signage Player open PowerPoint files?
No. The free player shows JPG, PNG and WebP images and MP4, M4V or WebM video from a microSD card or USB stick; PowerPoint, PDF, HEIC and GIF do not play. Export the deck to images or an MP4 at the resolution the player reports first. The exported file carries whatever pixel size you exported at, so the export size becomes the deck size.
Planning information, not legal or engineering advice. Rules differ by place: check codes and permits with your local authority and your licensed trades.