Share your screen to a TV

Screen sharing puts something from your laptop or phone on a screen right away, without publishing. When you stop, the screen goes back to its playlist.

#From a laptop

1. Open the screen in Screens and choose Share to this screen. (Or go to signblink.com/share and pick the screen.)
2. Choose Share my screen, then pick a window, a browser tab or your whole screen. For sound, see Sound below.
3. Choose Stop when you're done. Closing the page stops it too.

It works in Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari on Windows and Mac.

#Sound

Sound from a laptop or desktop plays on the TV, not on the computer as well.

• A browser tab (a YouTube video, a slideshow with music): in the box that asks what to share, choose the tab and turn on Also share tab audio. Works on Windows and Mac.
• Your whole screen (any app, like Spotify or PowerPoint): choose Entire screen and turn on Also share system audio. Windows only. A Mac can share sound from a tab only.
• A single window shares the picture only, so pick a tab or your entire screen when you want sound.

The share page says Sound is playing on the TV when it's on, with Mute on TV to turn it off and back on. Sound is sent in stereo at music quality. It plays at the screen's volume, and muting the screen in SignBlink mutes the share too.

Sharing works in Firefox and Safari as well, but only Chrome and Edge can send sound.

#Studio: presenting with extras

While you share, the bar over the preview has the Studio:

• Scenes: Share (what you're sharing), Camera (your webcam, full screen), Board (a whiteboard) and Break (a "Be right back" screen, with a countdown if you like). Switching fades or slides between them.
• Freeze keeps the picture the TV has while you do something else. Hide blurs your screen on the TV.
• Tools (on the left):
  • Draw on the preview, with pens, highlighters and colors.
  • Laser pointer, Spotlight to dim all but one spot, and Zoom into part of the screen.
  • A webcam bubble in any corner.
  • A name and title, and a scrolling ticker.
  • The time and a countdown.
  • Your logo.
• Effects (on the right): looks like Vivid, Warm or Mono, brightness and contrast, Fit or Fill the TV, a floating frame on a colored backdrop, and the transition between scenes.

Everything you add shows on every TV you're sharing to. The Studio only runs while you use something in it. Then the TV gets up to 1080p (1440p on Super HD). With everything off, it gets your screen at full quality again. Each scene keeps its own drawing.

The Studio works best in Chrome or Edge, where it keeps going while you're in another app. In other browsers, keep the share page open in front while you use it.

#Details and options for each TV

While you share, each TV has its own row. Select its name (or the arrow) for:

• What's sent and what the TV plays: the picture size, frames a second and video format, plus frames the TV dropped and any freezes.
• The network: same network, direct or through the relay, the round trip in milliseconds, and how much of the picture got lost on the way.
• Sound going to that TV.
• Quality on this TV, Mute this TV and Reconnect (for a picture that's stuck or lagging). These change that TV only.

A TV that stopped stays in the list with what happened. Select Try again to share to it again, or × to take it off the list. If every TV stops, the share waits for you to try again or select Stop.

#On several screens at once

1. Go to signblink.com/share and tick the screens, up to 10. If you have screen groups, tap a group to pick all of its screens.
2. Choose Share to 2 screens (or however many), then what to share.
3. Each screen is listed with how it's doing. Use × to stop one, Add a screen to bring another in, or Stop all.

Your device sends each screen its own copy, so every screen you add uses more of its upload and processing power. On a good network, Auto is fine for several screens. Save Super HD for one or two.

#From a phone

Phones can't share their whole screen from a browser, so a phone shares:

• Photos, videos or a PDF. Pick one or several, then move between them on your phone. Videos play with sound when you tap Play.
• The camera, live, for a whiteboard, a product or a room. Switch camera flips between the front and back camera.

Keep the page open and your phone awake while you share.

#Picture quality

Choose Quality on the share page, before or during a share. Your choice is remembered on that device.

• Auto: up to 4K when your device reaches the TV directly, and 1080p when the connection goes through the relay.
• Smoother (slow Wi-Fi): 720p and less data. Pick this if the TV lags or freezes.
• HD (1080p): full HD, for most Wi-Fi.
• Super HD (same network): your screen's full resolution at 60 frames a second, using as much data as it takes. Use it when your laptop and the TV are on the same network. Through the relay, it's sent as HD. The TV and laptop both have to keep up: if it stutters, step down to Auto or HD.

Under the menu you'll see what's actually being sent, for example Sending 3840×2160 · 60 fps · 28.4 Mbps · same network · H264. It can't be sharper than what you share: a 1080p laptop screen stays 1080p on Super HD.

#Letting guests share

Visitors, students or a meeting room's guests can share without a SignBlink account.

1. Open the screen in Screens, and on Overview, turn on Let guests share with a code on the TV.
2. The TV shows a small card in a corner with a 6-digit code and a QR code.
3. A guest scans the QR code, or goes to signblink.com/share and types the code.

The code changes after each guest's share and every day, so a photo of an old code doesn't work. To change it now, choose New code. Anyone who can see the TV can share to it, so leave this off for screens in public places.

#Good to know

• Who can share: members whose role can publish. Guests only where you've allowed them.
• Only one share at a time. A member starting a share takes over from whoever was sharing. A guest has to wait.
• Stop anyone's share from the screen's page: Stop next to who's sharing.
• Emergency alerts still show over a share.
• A share wakes a screen outside its hours and lasts up to 8 hours.
• It reconnects by itself. If the Wi-Fi drops for a moment or the TV's player restarts, the TV keeps the last picture up and the share picks back up on its own, usually within seconds (up to a minute if the TV restarted). Your device shows Reconnecting… meanwhile. If it can't get back within about 90 seconds, the share ends and says why.
• Private: the picture goes straight from your device to the TV. Nothing is recorded. A PDF is sent to SignBlink only to turn its pages into pictures, then deleted. Shares are listed in Settings → Activity.

#If it doesn't connect

• Check the TV is online on its screen page.
• If the screen says it's restarting to get screen sharing, wait 30 seconds and try again. That happens once for screens set up before sharing existed.
• SignBlink never sends a TV more than its own screen can show, so a 1080p TV or stick gets 1080p even on Super HD.
• A TV that connects but can't play the picture keeps showing its playlist. It's tried once more in another video format by itself within a few seconds, and the TV remembers that format for next time. If the screen still says it couldn't play the picture, choose Smoother and share again. Older streaming sticks (like the Fire TV Stick 3rd generation) do best on Smoother or Auto.
• Some office and school networks block sharing. Try the laptop or phone on another network, like your phone's hotspot.