Technician tools

The stuff you need at 7am on venue Wi-Fi.

One place for a technician to stand up, validate, or repair a player box in the field: the test patterns that prove a wall is right, the runtimes a fresh box needs, and the reference guides for the show floor. Public. No sign-in.

What this is, and is not

This is a support surface, not an installer repository. We do not mirror every AV tool in the industry, and we host no third-party binaries: every utility below links out to the vendor's own official download page. Creative and control applications are out of scope. Vendor LED processor software is never redistributed here, and per-job LED configuration files are private customer artifacts that are handed to the assigned technician through the platform, never published. Nothing on this page is a secret: no licence keys, tokens, or credentials, ever.

13 available · items marked coming have no file yet

Test patterns

Prove the wall before the show stack is up. Static PNG patterns sized to common wall resolutions, plus the patterns Showmatics Studio generates live.

Geometry

  • Grid / geometry / alignment

    Coming

    Pixel-mapping, scaling, overscan, and seam alignment across ganged panels.

    Static PNG sized to common wall resolutions

    Not yet published

Colour

  • SMPTE / EBU colour bars

    Coming

    Colour and levels reference. The industry-standard "is this display sane" check.

    Generated live by Showmatics Studio · static mirror coming

    Not yet published

  • Gradients — grey ramp and per-channel

    Coming

    Banding, bit-depth, gamma, and posterisation check.

    Generated live by Showmatics Studio · static mirror coming

    Not yet published

  • Step wedges

    Coming

    Black and white levels; crush and clipping at the ends of the range.

    Generated live by Showmatics Studio · static mirror coming

    Not yet published

  • Solid colours and ID overlay

    Coming

    Full-field solids for dead-pixel and uniformity checks; an output identifier so you know which screen you are looking at.

    Generated live by Showmatics Studio · static mirror coming

    Not yet published

Functional

  • Touch-probe HTML

    Coming

    A single self-contained page that lights up where you tap or click. Confirms a touch overlay is mapped and responsive.

    Self-contained HTML · works offline

    Not yet published

  • Test PDF

    Coming

    A known-good PDF to prove a PDF endpoint or signage renderer displays correctly.

    Not yet published

Test decks

Page-through PDFs used on the endpoint to confirm a touch overlay is mapped and oriented correctly. A variant is listed as coming until its file is published.

  • Touch-test deck — landscape

    Available

    For 16:9 landscape panels.

    1.0 · 24 KB

    Download

  • Touch-test deck — portrait

    Available

    For 9:16 portrait panels and rotated kiosks.

    1.0 · 24 KB

    Download

  • Touch-test deck — 4K

    Available

    For UHD 3840×2160 panels.

    1.0 · 24 KB

    Download

Software

The runtimes and general-purpose media tools a fresh or wiped player box needs, by platform. Every entry links out to the vendor’s own official download page — we host no third-party binaries.

Windows

  • Google Chrome — Enterprise standalone

    Available

    The player renders in Chrome. Use the standalone MSI, not the online stub, so a box can be imaged offline.

    Stable · major 151 · x64 MSI · winget: Google.Chrome

    Official download

  • 7-Zip

    Available

    Extracts the FFmpeg .7z and every other archive. Install this first on a fresh box.

    26.02 · x64 installer · winget: 7zip.7zip

    Official download

  • FFmpeg — full static release build

    Available

    Probe, transcode, and repair media. The same tool the Studio pipeline uses. Portable folder, no installer.

    9.0 · ffmpeg-release-full.7z · not -shared, not git · winget: Gyan.FFmpeg.Full

    Official download

  • Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable

    Available

    The C/C++ runtime codecs and native helpers link against. Install BOTH x64 and x86 on every player box.

    v14 (2015–2026) · x64 + x86 · winget: Microsoft.VCRedist.2015+.x64 / .x86

    Official download

  • .NET Desktop Runtime (LTS)

    Available

    Runtime for .NET desktop helpers and some vendor tools. Desktop Runtime — not the base runtime, not the SDK.

    10.0 LTS · x64 · winget: Microsoft.DotNet.DesktopRuntime.10

    Official download

  • VLC media player

    Available

    The universal "does this file even play?" sanity check, and a spare local player.

    3.0.23 · x64 installer · winget: VideoLAN.VLC

    Official download

Mac

  • Google Chrome — Enterprise

    Available

    For a Mac driving a Studio controller or acting as a bench player. Enterprise portal has the offline package.

    Stable channel · universal

    Official download

  • FFmpeg

    Available

    Required on any Mac running the Studio controller: ffmpeg and ffprobe must be on PATH for ingest and transcode.

    brew install ffmpeg is the usual route

    Official download

  • VLC media player

    Available

    Same role as on Windows — the playback sanity check.

    Universal binary

    Official download

  • 7-Zip (console)

    Available

    Command-line 7zz for opening .7z archives handed over from a Windows box. Archive Utility does not read .7z.

    macOS console build · brew install sevenzip also works

    Official download

LED

Processor and panel notes for LED walls. Vendor software is linked to the official portal, never mirrored; per-job configuration files are private and reach the assigned technician through the platform.

Nothing published here yet

Reference & how-tos

Short, on-site reference for standing up or repairing an endpoint. Concepts and procedures only — no licence keys, tokens, or credentials are ever published here.

  • Player-box BIOS settings

    Coming

    Auto-power-on after power loss, fast boot, boot order, secure boot notes, and killing sleep on an always-on endpoint.

    Not yet published

  • Display setup — EDID and resolution

    Coming

    Forcing and locking native resolution, stubborn EDID, scalers and extenders that lie, refresh-rate selection for sync.

    Not yet published

  • Network — static IP vs DHCP, and how to reset

    Coming

    When a show wants a fixed address, when DHCP is fine, and the exact steps to get a box back to DHCP.

    Not yet published

  • Boot / recovery USB

    Coming

    Building a recovery stick and re-imaging a box to the golden baseline. The procedure is public; the image itself is technician-only.

    Not yet published

  • Activation and offline notes

    Coming

    How licensing behaves offline and on a show network, what to expect from the QR authorise flow, and what to do after a long offline stretch. Concepts only.

    Not yet published

Recovery

Getting a box back to the golden baseline. The procedure is public; the recovery image itself is technician-only and handed off through the platform.

Nothing published here yet

Templates

Fill-in documents for the show floor — pre-show checklists, sign-off sheets, and handover notes.

Nothing published here yet