Text (Including Fonts and Colours)

Player Type: Scroll

Supported
Format	Comment
.TXT	Raw text files
NTB Text	Text typed in through the browser
Unsupported
Format	Comment
.DOC, .PDF, etc	Wordprocessed files

Unlisted formats have not been tested.

Character Sets

Text files in the following character sets can be shown:

DOS Latin (1 and US)
Macintosh OS (Western and Eastern Europe)
Microsoft Windows (Western and Eastern Europe)
Unicode
UTF-8

Requirements

There are three sources for text:

Text that has been typed into the NTB web interface
Text files on the NTB disk
Text fetched from the Internet (News Feeds)

Notes

Text can be added to a playlist and shown in a Zone on the display screen.
The text can be either scrolling or stationary.
Scrolling text can move horizontally or vertically.
Text that is stationary can show indefinitely or for a finite duration.
If the text has a finite duration then it will be replaced by the next item in the playlist, if any.
If text is moving then it will have a speed at which it moves across the screen.
Text cannot have both a speed and a duration.
Text can have a transparent background but the text must be static unless it is being shown over a video zone. Transparency does not work on an NTB3300 or NTB3305 hardware.

Scroll Text

Scroll Text (typed in) should be used if any of the following are true:

Text is intended as a title or label on the screen.
Only the NTB administrator should be allowed to edit the text.

Ad-Hoc Text

Use Ad-Hoc text if any of the following are true:

The same text must appear in a number of different Layouts (for example: Happy Birthday George in the morning and afternoon layout).
The text is to be changed regularly by a user who should not have full access to the NTB (for example: a receptionist who has control of the welcome message but nothing else).
Local modification, or customisation, is required on individual NTBs in a Channel (for example: in the U-Save Channel the words Duty Manager: Joe Bloggs must appear in store A and Duty Manager: Jane Jones must appear in store B).

Text Files (.TXT)

Use text files instead of scroll or Ad-Hoc text if any of the following are true:

The text will be updated by a machine
There is a relationship between the text and the content in another zone and you want them to appear on screen simultaneously (e.g. Photo captions or product prices).
You prefer this method of entering text over normal and/or Ad-Hoc text.

Colours

Additional colours can be added to the NTB using the "Colour" manager on the NTB Home page. You will need to know the Red, Green and Blue values (not Pan Tones) for the colour. Each colour can have a brightness value between 0 and 255. Black is 0,0,0 and white is 255,255,255. Bright red is 255,0,0.

How to Add a Colour

Get the Red, Green, Blue (RGB) values for the new colour. (See below for more information)
Log into the NTB and browse to 'Colours | Add'.
Enter a logical name (e.g. 'Corporate Blue'), the RGB values and click 'Add'. RGB values can be entered as three separate decimal numbers or as the single 6-letter 'hex' equivalent that Web designers are familiar with.

How to Get RGB Values for a Colour

RGB values are not the same as pantones although an Internet search will show that it is possible to convert pantone to RGB.

Open an image containing the colour with Microsoft Paint. Paint comes as one of the Windows Accessories.
Use the Pick Color tool (below the eraser) to select a pixel from the image that is the colour you want the RGB values for.
Select Colors | Edit Colors | Define Custom Colors
The RGB values for this colour are given in the Red, Green and Blue boxes.

Fonts

Additional fonts can be added to the NTB. They must be True Type fonts - file name ends with .TTF. OTF fonts can also be used if ",OTF" is changed to ".TTF". The font files are added via the "Fonts" manager on the NTB Home page.

How to Add a Font

Have the True Type Font file (.TTF) available on your PC.
Log into the NTB and browse to 'Fonts | Add'.
Browse for and upload the TTF file.
You will be asked to restart the NTB.

How to Preview a Font

Log into the NTB and browse to 'Fonts'.
Click the 'Audition' (green in yellow rectangle) button for a font.
A preview of the font will appear on the Display Device.

Right-to-Left Languages

Text cannot scroll left to right yet. It can, however, be done with HTML using the <marquee> tag although this does not offer the same ease-of-use when it comes to updating the text.