System requirements
Supported systems
| Platform | Versions |
|---|---|
| macOS | macOS 26 (Tahoe) or later |
| Windows | Windows 10 64-bit or later, with a graphics card and driver that support Direct3D 12 |
You need a network connection to activate a license. After activation, ArenaDirector keeps working without a network. See Licensing and offline operation.
Hardware
Computer. A Mac or a PC that meets the operating system requirement above. ArenaDirector is meant for a computer that stays at the operator desk.
Audio device. A sound card or an audio interface connected to your amplifiers. An interface with several outputs lets you send sound to more than one bus at the same time, one stereo pair per bus.
Graphics. A GPU with hardware video acceleration. Most computers from the last few years have one. Without it, video can show as a black screen, which happens on some old PCs, on virtual machines and in remote-desktop sessions.
On Windows, the GPU and its driver must support Direct3D 12. In dxdiag, the
Display tab must show DDI Version 12 or higher.
Displays. One connected display for each output that you send. See Display outputs.
Hardware controller (optional, available on Audio and higher plans). A supported MIDI or HID controller. Without one, you run the show from the on-screen grid or a standard keyboard, and you can add a controller later.
Display outputs
The ArenaDirector window uses your main display. Each output that you send needs its own connected display. That includes a perimeter board, because the computer sees its sending card as one more screen. A canvas and a perimeter board together need two external displays.
Make sure the computer can drive as many external displays as you need. Many laptops drive only one external display at a time, even with two or three video ports. The graphics hardware sets this limit, and no cable, adapter or docking station can raise it.
Before you choose a computer, look up how many simultaneous external displays the manufacturer's specifications allow.
Do not use docking stations that drive extra displays in software instead of on the GPU. Video on them stutters or stays black.
The output displays do not have to match each other or the canvas resolution. The app fits each canvas to its assigned display.
Playback load
The playback load grows with the number of canvases playing at the same time and the resolution of the media on them. The size of your media library has no effect.
A perimeter board with sections is the heaviest load, because every section decodes its own video at once. When you choose a computer for this, the GPU matters most. Use H.264 or HEVC media. See Media formats.