Show a video sound source's picture on a supported external display. Covers iPhone/iPad and Android connection paths, why a black screen and black bars are normal, and what to check when no picture appears.

Video on an External Display

When a song's sound source is a video file (MP4, MOV, and more), its picture can be shown on a supported external display. You can show video or a logo to the audience while reading the score and playing on your own screen. Once the video and connection are ready, the song's playback controls also advance the picture.

If you are not showing pictures to an audience, no external-display setup is needed. To check visual cues yourself, use Video Preview without connecting a venue screen.

Available on iPhone, iPad, and Android. On Android, it works only through a connection the system recognizes as an external display.

Getting a Music Video onto the Venue Screen

  1. Add the video as a sound source. In the Library's Audio tab, use the add button in the corner and pick the video file (it is the same button as for audio)
  2. Choose it as the song's sound source in Item Settings. The selected source is also used when the same song appears in another setlist
  3. Connect the external display. See "Connection Paths by Device" below for supported ways to connect
  4. Turn "Send video to the external display" on and open the song with video. With the default settings, the current still frame appears after loading, even before playback. If the setting is off, the screen mirrors your device instead
  5. Play the song. Video and audio start from the displayed position. Check the audience screen and listen for sound from the speakers you will use for the show. Use Video Device Latency only if picture and sound differ by a constant amount

If your sound goes to a PA or speakers, on iPhone/iPad connect the audio interface before step 3 (see "iPhone/iPad Connection Order and Audio Route" below).

Monitor the Audience Picture in Your Hands

While video is being sent to an external display, Video Preview on the score lets you check the video and playback position. Images and black screens selected in Display before and after playback follow the same settings. It lets the performer check the intended picture when the venue screen is behind them.

Video Preview works the same way during rehearsal without an external display. Turn Video Preview on from the Display menu at the top of the score. Turning the preview off does not stop external video or audio. See Video Preview for its controls.

On and Off

The switch lives in the Audio & Video Output section of Global Settings: "Send video to the external display." It is on by default, so ordinarily there is nothing to change.

Below the switch you can see the current state (sending, not connected, checking, switching). Turn it off when the display should simply mirror your tablet; turn it on for shows where the audience should see the music video.

When Black Screens or Black Bars Are Expected

While external output is on, the screen is black when there is neither video nor a display image, or when a boundary is set to Black screen. Initial preparation may also show black. While the next picture is being prepared, the previous picture may briefly remain as a still.

Unless you have changed its boundary displays, a song with video shows its current still frame after loading. If the screen is unexpectedly black, check Display before and after playback as well as "If No Picture Appears on Android" below.

The picture is also never cropped — the whole frame is shown, so a vertical video gets black bars on the sides. That is normal too, and there is no setting for it.

Connection Paths by Device

iPhone and iPad

As an Amazon Associate, Katsushi Kawato earns from qualifying purchases.

Android

Google Cast / Chromecast cannot be used as the destination for this feature. Cast receivers fetch and play video independently, which is different from PagePilot's external-display output. Not every Android device and wireless receiver combination will work.

Mirroring the device's own screen is separate from this external-video output. Whether mirroring is available and how it is started depends on the Android device, OS, and receiver; not every Android device can use a generic "Cast" procedure. Do not apply the Pixel-specific steps below to Android devices in general.

If you use a Google Pixel

No Pixel model supports wireless displays. You cannot use this feature wirelessly on a Pixel.

The "Cast" entry in Pixel settings is Google Cast. Connecting to a Chromecast or Google TV does mirror your screen to the TV, but external video output does not start over that connection and the status never becomes "sending video". This is not a defect.

Wired support depends on the model. Pixel 8 / 8a / 8 Pro, Pixel 9 series, and Pixel 10 series support video output over USB-C. Pixel 7 and earlier, and Pixel Tablet, cannot output video over a cable either, so this feature is unavailable on them.

If you only need the TV to show the same screen as the device, turn "Send video to external display" off and use Pixel's "Cast" for screen mirroring. Scores are mirrored as well.

iPhone/iPad Connection Order and Audio Route

Once AirPlay mirroring starts, the app's sound also plays from the screen's side by default. For a small room where the TV's speakers are all you need, that is fine as-is.

To play the sound from a PA or your own speakers instead:

  1. Connect the audio gear — an audio interface, for example — first, and only then start mirroring. In the reverse order, the connection to the gear drops
  2. Pick the sound's output in Mixer Settings

If No Picture Appears on Android

Check these in order:

  1. Make sure "Send video to the external display" is on and its subtitle says "On (sending video to the external display)." If it says no display is connected or the app is still checking, continue with the connection checks below.
  2. Confirm the external-display connection is complete in Android system settings.
  3. Confirm you are using a supported external-display path, such as Miracast, and that wired video output is supported by the device when using a cable.
  4. Open a song that has video. With default settings, its current still frame appears after loading. If you selected a black screen or image at the start, move the playback position into the middle of the video's used range to check the video.
  5. If Video Preview is shown on the score, confirm that both the external display and the preview show the same stopped position. If only one remains black, record that state and the exact operation order rather than repeatedly reconnecting.
  6. Once the still frame is visible, start playback. On Android, the audio route and the Miracast video destination are selected separately, so sound coming from the tablet or the selected audio device is not itself a fault.

If the subtitle says "On (wireless display detection is unavailable)," wireless display detection is unavailable. It does not disable wired output. When you are using a cable, continue by checking the connection and playing a video song.

If External Video Stutters or Lags Badly

When video on the external display stutters, drops frames, or lags visibly behind the sound, the usual cause is that the video is too demanding for the device and destination you are using. The same file behaves differently depending on the device, the connection, the receiver, and the TV. The app cannot directly observe the frames actually shown on the external display, so it cannot guarantee smooth playback for every combination.

If Video Preview is visible, turn Video Preview off first, from the Display menu at the top of the score. This closes only the small window on your device; external video and audio continue. It can help, because the device no longer draws the small window.

If that does not help, reduce the demands of the video itself. A high frame rate such as 60 fps can be more than a wireless connection carries, and re-exporting at a lower frame rate can help. There is no one numerical recommendation that applies to every device or destination, so check it with the device, destination, and playback range you will use in performance.

If both wireless and wired are available, try the wired connection to narrow down the cause. If it improves, the difference involves the wireless setup, including its connection and receiver.

On Android, “The device detected continuing delay while processing video” means video processing on the Android device has continued to fall behind. It does not mean the app directly observed the final picture on the TV or Miracast receiver. The app does not stop playback or turn Video Preview off automatically when this appears.

If Audio Sent over Miracast Breaks Up on Android

When you send a song's audio to the external display over Miracast, the sound may break up if the song has a video. On some devices, playing the video and sending the screen over Miracast share the same video processing hardware inside the device. It rarely happens with audio-only songs, and it does not happen when the audio comes from the device or a connected audio interface.

First, export the video again at 720p (1280×720) or lower. The video then takes less processing and competes less with Miracast.

If sound is not breaking up, leave Decode video in software off, its default. Try it if exporting at 720p or lower still leaves interruptions.

  1. In Global Settings, turn Decode video in software on under Audio & Video Output.
  2. Close and reopen the song. The change applies from the next song you open.
  3. Play the same section and check whether audio sent over Miracast stays audible, as well as whether the picture remains smooth.

This moves video decoding to the CPU to avoid competing with Miracast transmission for the same video processing hardware.

If the Picture Changes Late After You Move the Playback Position

When you move the playback position, the picture keeps showing the previous frame until the exact frame at the new position is ready. During playback, the sound continues from the new position right away, and the picture starts moving in step with it as soon as it is ready.

How long this takes depends mostly on how the video was made. A video stores a reference frame (a keyframe) every few seconds, plus the differences from it. To show the exact frame at the position you chose, PagePilot processes the frames in order from the previous keyframe. The longer the interval between keyframes, the more frames it has to process and the longer the wait. Processing speed varies by device; on Android devices it can take a few seconds.

To shorten the wait, set the keyframe interval to 1 to 2 seconds when you export the video. Editing and conversion apps call this setting "keyframe interval", "maximum keyframe interval", or "GOP". PagePilot does not convert the videos you add.

If Picture and Sound Drift Apart

On a wireless screen, the picture can arrive slightly later than the sound. Align them with Video Device Latency.

What you align there is a small, constant offset that applies equally to every song. If the picture lags visibly behind, that is not the kind of drift the correction fixes — see "If External Video Stutters or Lags Badly" above.

Optional: Change the Display Before and After Playback

You do not need this setting simply to use video. Use Display before and after playback when you want to hide the opening frame before performing, or leave a logo on screen afterwards. It changes the display to black or a registered image; it does not edit the video file, change audio playback, or change the score.

Where to Open It and What Changes

The setlist provides defaults. Each of the song's start and end settings can use Use setlist setting, or explicitly choose a different display for that boundary. An explicit song choice takes priority over the setlist default.

Choose or Clear an Image

  1. Open Choose image and select a registered image, or use Register from file to register a still JPEG or PNG.
  2. Choose At the start and At the end, then save. Selecting an image for a setlist changes both boundaries to Setlist image. To use it at only one boundary, change the other choice before saving. Selecting an image for a song does not change either boundary choice.

To remove the image assignment, press Clear beside Choose image, then save. Clear is disabled when no image is selected. Clearing does not delete the registered image or change the boundary choices. If a boundary still asks for that image, it will show black instead.

Cancelling settings leaves the previous image assignment and boundary choices unchanged. However, an image newly registered from a file remains in the image list. From Choose image, open Manage images to rename images, check where they are used, repair originals, or move them to Trash.

Start and End Choices

Choice Result
Use setlist setting Song only. Uses that boundary's setlist default. Outside a setlist, it acts as No override.
No override Shows the video at its current position. Without video, uses the song image, then the setlist image, or black if neither is selected.
Black screen Shows black instead of a video or image at that boundary.
Setlist image Shows the common image, or black if the setlist has no image.
Song image Song only. Shows that song's image, or black if none is selected.

No override does not mean “never use an image.” If you want no image on a song without video, check its image assignment and the setlist defaults too.

When the Display Changes

The start choice applies at or before the start of the video's used range; the end choice applies at or beyond its end. The used range depends on the sound's start timing, video duration, and configured song duration. Stopping partway through does not switch to the end display. Starting in the middle or moving backwards also uses the display for the actual position.

For example, to hide the opening frame and show a common logo after the song, select the logo in the setlist settings, choose Black screen at the start and Setlist image at the end, then save. Leave both song boundaries on Use setlist setting.

Images also work on songs without video. With both song boundaries set to No override, the song image is shown if selected, otherwise the setlist image. Video Preview in Setlist Detail's top menu lets you check the common image. Open a song and use Video Preview to check its transitions. Merely opening settings and choosing an image does not change the audience display before you save.

If an Image Cannot Be Registered or Displayed

Use a still JPEG or PNG no larger than 50 MB. Animated images are not supported. Follow the reported reason: check format or size, or make sure the image opens in the app where it is stored.

If a selected image cannot be read, its display becomes black and the explanation appears on your device. Use Repair original in Manage images, or select another image and save.