Meraki Display Introduction
Overview
Video wall solutions are a staple of any comprehensive video surveillance system. For onsite and remote security, dedicated video walls offer an effective way to surveil and protect one or multiple sites. For open lobbies, public-facing video walls are part of preventive strategies for crime deterrents by signaling passersby that they are monitored.
Meraki Display is an Apple TV app capable of live streaming up to 16 cameras on a single display for video wall monitoring. Leveraging the power of the Meraki platform and Apple TV hardware, Meraki Display delivers a high-quality 24/7 viewing experience that is customizable from the dashboard. It is also capable of transmitting both cloud and local streams to maximize stream uptime.
Meraki Display only supports MV cameras and requires a software license for the full experience.
Getting Started
- Ensure Apple TV Setup is Complete: Before proceeding, make sure your Apple TV device is fully set up, connected to your network, and updated to the latest tvOS version, see official guidance from Apple.
- Install the Meraki Display App:
- On your Apple TV, navigate to the App Store.
- Search for "Meraki Display".
- Download and install the official Meraki Display app.
- Authenticate into the Meraki Display App: Once the app is installed and launched, you will need to authenticate into it with your Meraki Dashboard account. You have two options:
- QR Code Login (Recommended):
- Open the Meraki Display app on your Apple TV. A QR code will be displayed on the screen.
- Using your smartphone or tablet, scan the QR code with a QR code scanner app or your device's camera.
- Or, enter the URL displayed on the Apple TV into a browser.
- Follow the prompts on your mobile device to complete the authentication securely.
- Manual Login:
- Alternatively, you can choose to enter your Meraki Dashboard username and password directly into the app on your Apple TV.
- Note:
- This method can be more cumbersome with the Apple TV remote.
- Authenticating with username and password will only keep your session active for 30 days.
- QR Code Login (Recommended):
- Create a Video Wall in the Meraki Dashboard or Vision Portal:
- Before you can stream, ensure that you have at least one video wall configured in the Vision Portal or Dashboard.
- If you need assistance creating a video wall, refer to the "Creating and Managing Video Walls" documentation.
- Before you can stream, ensure that you have at least one video wall configured in the Vision Portal or Dashboard.
- Select and Start Streaming Your Video Wall:
- After successful authentication and with a video wall configured, the Meraki Display app on your Apple TV will present you with available video walls.
- Select the desired video wall from the list to begin streaming its camera feeds.
Features
Meraki Display offers a simple experience to initiate and monitor video walls via Apple TV. By leveraging the MV architecture for direct and cloud proxy streaming, Meraki Display achieves stable 24/7 streaming for passive monitoring and crime deterrence.
Authentication
To access and utilize the Meraki Display app, users must authenticate using their Meraki Dashboard credentials. This process securely links the Apple TV app to your Meraki organization and allows it to access your configured video walls.
The Meraki Display app offers two primary authentication methods:
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QR Code Login (Recommended for ease) This method provides a quick and secure way to authenticate without typing your credentials directly into the Apple TV.
- Step 1: Launch the Meraki Display app on your Apple TV. A unique QR code will be displayed on the screen.
- Step 2: Using your smartphone or tablet, open a QR code scanner app or your device's camera.
- Step 3: Scan the QR code presented on your Apple TV screen, or enter the URL displayed on the Apple TV into a browser.
- Step 4: Your mobile device will prompt you to complete the authentication process securely through a web browser. Follow the on-screen instructions to grant the Meraki Display app access.
- Once authenticated, the Apple TV app will automatically update and display your available video walls.
For enhanced convenience, sessions authenticated via QR Code do not require reauthentication every 30 days."
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Manual Login This method allows you to enter your credentials directly into the app using the Apple TV remote.
Note: Typing credentials with the Apple TV remote can be cumbersome. The QR Code Login method is generally preferred for a smoother experience.
- Step 1: Launch the Meraki Display app on your Apple TV.
- Step 2: Select the option to "Log In Manually" or similar (if presented).
- Step 3: Enter your registered Meraki Dashboard email address and password using the Apple TV's on-screen keyboard and remote.
- Step 4: Select "Sign In" to complete the authentication.
Username and password authentication requires reauthentication every 30 days.
- Two-factor authentication: 2FA is configurable from Meraki Dashboard. Once 2FA is enabled, affected users will be prompted to enter a security code received from their SMS.
- SAML/SSO: Is supported on Meraki Display, but only when you authenticate using the QR Code login.
Access is denied if no valid Meraki Display license is found or if the maximum license limit is exceeded. Learn more about the Meraki Display license here.
Permissions
Access to video walls is inherited from user permissions on the Meraki dashboard. Both organization and network admins on the dashboard can access the application. To granularly restrict camera access, a camera-only admin may be created with limited access to only a set of cameras. With the camera-only admin setup,
- Users can view existing video walls within allowable networks.
- Restricted cameras will show up as black screens upon video wall launch.
Configure video wall
A video wall must be created before using Meraki Display.
- Video walls are configured from the Meraki dashboard or Vision Portal
- Multi-network video walls can only be configured from the Vision Portal
- Video wall tile placement is shared between the dashboard, Vision Portal, and Meraki Display
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Video wall on the Vision Portal |
Video wall on Meraki Display |
Navigation
- Use the Apple TV remote (or a Bluetooth keyboard) to navigate through the organization and network picker screens.
- Select a video wall to start viewing
- Select a camera to expand the camera screen
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Select between video walls |
Launched video wall |
Audio playback
If audio recording is enabled for the camera, selecting a single camera stream will allow audio playback. Use the monitor remote to control the volume.
Mobile Device Management (MDM)
Meraki Display supports MDM deployment. If you use Meraki's Systems Manager, review the documentation on tvOS enrollment. Deploying through MDM offers several benefits:
- Single app mode: limit interactions on the Apple TV to only Meraki Display and prevent accidental closure
- Zero-touch deployment: 1 click deployment of new Apple TVs with Meraki Display pre-installed on the device
- Manual App configuration still necessary
Meraki Display app does not have Managed App configs that can be used with Systems Manager
Want to learn more? Watch the video below on zero-touch deployment of Apple TV with Systems Manager. You can also access the quick start guide here.
Video wall rotation
This feature is currently not available but is coming soon.
Hardware
We recommend purchasing the latest generation of Apple TV hardware for Meraki Display for both improved performance and additional functionality. The suggested hardware models are:
- Apple TV 4K (3nd Generation) Wi-Fi + Ethernet
- Apple TV 4K (2nd Generation)
Hardware Purchase and Support
Meraki does not offer to sell Apple TVs; we will not take purchase, hardware repair, or hardware replacement requests. You can purchase Apple TV directly or work with a 3rd party vendor to procure hardware. We highly recommend leveraging Apple Business Manager and Meraki Systems Manager to simplify purchasing, deployment, and management of your Apple TV hardware. Hardware repair is also available through the official Apple services.
Refer to MV Smart Camera FAQ (section - Meraki Display Introduction FAQ) for more information.