At Aerva, we believe that digital signage devices should never show an unintentional dark screen.  If one of your screens has gone dark, it is most likely a problem with the player configuration or the content that's been assigned.  To correct the dark screen and start showing content again, we recommend the following troubleshooting steps.


The first thing you will want to check is the player's screenshot in AerWave.  This is because the screenshots in AerWave show the actual video output of the media player and will help determine what specific steps need to be taken next:

  • Login to AerWave and click the "Network" tab, then locate the media player that is showing a dark screen.
  • Click on the name of the player to view the screenshot (you can also click "Screenshots" in the top left).
  • If the screenshot is showing content, but the display is dark, then the problem is likely with the player connections or display setup.  Please follow the "Player Setup Troubleshooting" steps below.
  • If the screenshot is totally dark, just like the display, then the problem is most likely with the content that is assigned.  Please follow the "Content Troubleshooting" steps below.

Note: The screenshots are only relevant if the media player is online in AerWave.  If it's not online and the latest screenshot is old, ignore the screenshot for now and follow the "Player Setup Troubleshooting" steps below.


Player Setup Troubleshooting:

  • As an initial check, go to the display and confirm that the Aerva media player is turned on.  Occasionally, there are situations where a media player gets accidentally turned off or unplugged.  If it's not powered on, go ahead and turn it on, and confirm that it boots up properly and displays content.
  • Check that all the cables (video, power, internet) are plugged in securely.  If any cable was unplugged, please reconnect it, and then turn the media player off and on again.
  • Confirm that the display is turned on, set to the correct input (HDMI1, HDMI2, HDMI3, VGA, etc.) and connected to the media player using an appropriate video cable.


Content Troubleshooting:

  • Check if your media player has a calendar or a program assigned to it.  This is shown directly under the screenshot, or to the right of the player name in the AerWave Network Manager.
  • If a calendar is assigned, then there may be empty space in the calendar that is causing the dark screen:
    • Open the currently assigned calendar by clicking the link to it in the Network Manager.  This will open the Calendar Editor.
    • Scroll to the current time and date and check if content has been assigned (you will see events in the calendar).  If there's nothing assigned, drag in program(s) to create calendar entries that fill the desired time slots, and this will correct the issue.
  • If a program is assigned, then there may be unsupported content that is causing the dark screen:
    • Open the currently assigned program by clicking the link to it in the Network Manager.  This will open the Program Editor.
    • Confirm that all of the content files in your program are supported.  Currently supported file types can be found here.  If you have any content files that are not supported, they may display as a black screen or empty region on the media player.  You can correct this by replacing the content files with files that are of a supported media type.  Keep in mind that if you have a library of videos that are unsupported you can always transcode them to a compatible format such as MP4.


If you've been through these steps and the screen is still dark, please email support@aerva.com and our staff will assist you.  In your email, please include all details of the problem as well as the results of your troubleshooting.  This will help our support team resolve the issue as quickly as possible.