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Vistapane is now available. Signage, screen sharing, alerts and room signs on your own network.

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Display PCs

Set up the PC behind each TV with Vistapane Player, roll it out to many PCs, or use a browser instead.

Each TV is driven by a small PC on its HDMI input. Vistapane Player for Windows is the recommended way to run it: a single program of about 1.3 MB that runs full-screen and looks after itself.

Install Vistapane Player

  1. Download VistapanePlayer.exe from the admin: Dashboard → Download player, or Settings → Connecting devices.
  2. On the display PC, double-click it. It searches the network, finds the Vistapane server, and asks which monitor to use.
  3. Click Install and start. It installs for the current Windows user (no admin rights needed), starts at every sign-in and runs full-screen.
  4. The TV shows a pairing code. Enter it in the admin under Screens → Add screen. See Pair and manage screens.

What the player does for you

  • Keeps the display and the PC awake.
  • Reopens the page if it crashes or stops responding.
  • Shows Connecting until the server answers.
  • Keeps playing the content it has saved if the server or network goes down, even after a reboot.
  • Blocks Alt+F4, so passers-by can't close it.

Keyboard shortcuts on the display PC

KeysWhat it does
Ctrl+Shift+SSettings: change the server, the monitor, or start at sign-in
Ctrl+Shift+RReload the player
Ctrl+Shift+QQuit (it asks first)
Ctrl+Shift+LLeave a Teams call, on a meeting-room screen

Make it recover from power cuts

Vistapane Player starts when the Windows user signs in. For a display PC that comes back on its own after a power cut:

  1. In the PC's BIOS or UEFI settings, set it to power on when power returns (often called Restore on AC power loss).
  2. Set Windows to sign in automatically: run netplwiz, untick Users must enter a user name and password, and enter the account's password. Use a standard, non-admin account for this.
  3. Turn off sleep for the display in Windows power settings. The player also keeps the screen awake while it runs.

Roll it out to many PCs

Push it with Intune, Group Policy, your RMM tool or a sign-in script. Run it as the user who will be signed in on the display PC:

VistapanePlayer.exe --install --quiet --server vistapane-server:8080
OptionWhat it does
--installInstall for the current user and start at sign-in
--quietNo windows; don't start after installing
--server host:portThe server to use (skips the network search)
--display 2Show on the second monitor
--no-autostartInstall without starting at sign-in
--setupOpen the settings window
--windowedRun in a normal window, for testing on a desk PC
--uninstallRemove it (also in Windows Settings → Apps)

Running VistapanePlayer.exe --server host:port without --install plays without installing anything, which is handy for a quick test.

Settings and logs are in %LOCALAPPDATA%\Vistapane\Player on the display PC.

Use a browser instead

Any device with Chrome or Edge can be a display: open the display player address, for example http://vistapane-server:8080/player/, full-screen, and pair it with the code it shows.

To make a Windows PC start the browser player full-screen at every sign-in, copy the display-pc folder to it and run:

powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File setup-display.ps1 -ServerUrl http://vistapane-server:8080

It opens the player full-screen at sign-in (Chrome in kiosk mode if it's installed, otherwise an Edge full-screen window), reopens it if it closes, turns off screen sleep, and allows offline playback and video with sound.

  • To leave kiosk mode, run %LOCALAPPDATA%\Vistapane\stop-player.cmd.
  • To remove it, run the same command with -Uninstall.