> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.useargus.co/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Put the camera wall on a TV

> Show all your cameras on a screen in the store — the recommended way, and the fallback.

The ARGUS camera wall shows every camera at once, with ARGUS's own detections
drawn on top. Most stores want it on a screen staff can glance at — behind the
counter, or in the back office.

There are two ways to get it there. **The first one is the one you want.**

## The recommended way: plug a screen into a computer

Feed the TV from a computer running a browser, rather than routing the wall
through your recorder.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Find a spare input on the TV">
    Almost every TV has more than one HDMI port. Your recorder is plugged into
    one of them. You only need one more.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Connect a computer to that input">
    An HDMI cable from the computer already running the ARGUS agent is the
    cheapest option, if it's close enough to reach. Otherwise any small computer
    works — a mini PC of the kind sold for digital signage is usually under \$150.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Open the wall and sign in">
    On that computer, open your ARGUS dashboard in a browser and go to the
    camera wall. Sign in once; it stays signed in.

    Set the browser to open that page full screen on startup, so the wall comes
    back on its own after a power cut.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Switch the TV to that input">
    Use the TV's source or input button. Switch back to the recorder any time
    with the same button.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Check>
  **Why this is the recommended route.** You get the full wall at the screen's own
  resolution, in ARGUS's layout, with every camera visible at once. It doesn't use
  up a channel on your recorder, doesn't depend on what your recorder brand
  supports, and it keeps working if you change recorders.
</Check>

Once it's running, support can reopen the wall on that screen remotely if it
ever gets closed — you don't need to be in the store.

## The fallback: send the wall to your recorder as a camera

If the TV genuinely has no free input — it's built into the recorder, or the
input is unreachable — ARGUS can present itself to your recorder as though it
were an extra camera. Your recorder then shows the wall in one of its channels,
and you bring it up the same way you bring up any camera.

<Warning>
  **Try the recommended route first.** This one has real limits:

  * The wall appears **inside one tile** of your recorder's grid. You have to
    full-screen that channel to see it at a usable size.
  * It uses up **one camera channel**. Most recorders have a fixed number, so this
    costs you a slot you could give a real camera.
  * The picture is limited to the size ARGUS sends, not your screen's own.
  * Not every recorder supports it, and some need a restart before the new channel
    appears.
</Warning>

### What's needed

Your recorder must be able to add a camera by **ONVIF** — a common standard most
brands support. You'll find it while adding a channel manually, usually under a
**Protocol** setting.

<Note>
  On many recorders the **Protocol** option only appears **after** you switch the
  channel to manual mode. Look for a setting like `Switch Mode` or `Adding Method`
  and set it to **Manual** first, then the protocol choice appears. If you can't
  find ONVIF before doing that, this is usually why.
</Note>

### Setting it up

Contact support to turn this on — it's off by default, and we switch it on for
your store remotely. There's nothing to install and we don't need to visit.

Then, on the recorder itself:

<Steps>
  <Step title="Pick a channel that isn't being used">
    Choose a channel with no camera on it — one showing **No Signal** or
    **Video Loss**. Support can tell you which of your channels are empty.

    Don't reuse a channel that has a working camera on it; you'd lose that
    camera.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Add it manually">
    Set the channel to **Manual**, then choose **ONVIF** as the protocol.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Enter the computer's address">
    Use the network address of the computer running the ARGUS agent. Support can
    read this out to you over the phone, so nobody has to go looking for it.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Bring the channel up full screen">
    The wall arrives as one picture. Full-screen that channel to see it properly.
  </Step>
</Steps>

If the channel stays blank, [contact support](/help/support) — we can check from
our side whether the wall is being sent, without anyone going to the store.

## Which cameras appear

The wall shows the cameras ARGUS is currently watching. A camera that's offline
keeps its place, marked **no signal** in red, so the layout doesn't rearrange
itself while you're looking at it. Cameras stay in the same position every time.

<Note>
  Camera names come from what you named them during setup. If your wall is full of
  names like `NVR Channel 7`, rename them in your dashboard — the wall picks the
  new names up.
</Note>