UPDATE: Thanks to information provided by one of our helpful customers, we can confirm that there definitely is an issue with a Windows Security update released in early August. The following information applies only if you are using MediaShout 4.x and Windows 7.
Several customers have reported a new issue in MediaShout 4.x regarding a sudden loss or problem displaying images and videos on the Main Display. This sometimes affects the Stage Display output as well. We have been able to reproduce this issue only on Windows 7, and it appears to be the result of a Windows update that was published recently, but we're unsure which one.
The problem can include some or all of the following issues:
- Graphics (images) display on only part of the Main Display, if at all.
- Videos play normally, but after stopping playback a portion of the screen may still show the video.
- The Main or Stage display may not work at all.
If you are experiencing this issue, please check the alignment of your displays within Windows Display Properties relative to each other. We've found that if the Main Display is not completely aligned to the right side of the Control Display you will encounter this issue. Additionally, both the Main and Stage Displays need to be to the right side of the Control Display. This graphic should summarize the problem and proper alignments:
The exact order and alignment that is needed for your situation may vary, so try a different alignment or display order if necessary, but be sure to keep them in a row horizontally. (See below for a more detailed explanation of the issue).
At this time we do not know exactly what has caused this issue, or if a change to Windows will reverse it in the future. MediaShout 4 is long out of development and is no longer supported, so while changing this alignment may alleviate this problem for the time being, we would strongly recommend migrating to MediaShout 6 for full support in the future. Neither MediaShout 5 or 6 have exhibited this issue, so there should will be no problems with either of those versions related to the logical alignment or arrangement of your displays.
Updated Tips for Resolution and Background Info:
There are several ways to fix this issue, with various pros and cons:
- Change the arrangement or alignment of your displays as shown above
- Uninstall the Windows update(s) that cause this issue
- Set MediaShout 4 to not disable the Windows Aero feature when it's running
The first—and the most immediate—way to fix this issue is to follow the instructions above to reposition your displays so that any secondary displays (your Main and Stage displays) are to the right side and even with (or below) the top edge of your Primary Windows display (your computer monitor). This change will have an immediate effect—even without closing and reopening MediaShout! However, since you may prefer your displays arranged in a particular way that doesn't follow these rules, you may want to try one of the following methods instead.
Another way to remove this problem is to uninstall the Windows updates that are the root cause of the issue: KB 4034664 and/or KB 4034679. While this will reverse the display issues, you may also be missing out on important updates that could potentially compromise the security of your computer. We are not fully aware of the security implications of this action, so at this time we don't recommend removing the updates unless you know and accept the risks involved.
Since many of those reporting this issue with other software have noted being able to fix their problems by enabling a feature of Windows 7 called 'Desktop Composition' (which is a key feature of Windows 7's Aero themes), you should be able to prevent these graphical problems by changing MediaShout 4's settings. To optimize performance, the default setting within MediaShout 4 is to 'Disable Aero', but by unchecking that and relaunching MediaShout 4, any applied Aero desktop theme should enable Desktop Composition and solve this issue.
Geek Notes: (You only need to continue past this point if you just have to know why):
The top left corner of whichever display is your 'Main' or 'Primary' monitor (the one where the Start menu is located) is considered to be the origin (or 0, 0) for all of your displays. Any display that has pixels located to the left or above this point will have at least one negative coordinate value and thus trigger this issue. The following articles explain this in more (and better) detail, and they elaborate on the fixes:
Two Of This Month’s Win7 Patches Causing Second-Screen Problems
Graphics Bug in Windows 7 after installing August 2017 Security Updates