Monitor windows allow you to view video that passes through your workspace outside of its regular context. There are four types of monitor windows in QLab, each designed to help with a different situation.

All monitor windows have a float checkbox, which sets the window to float on top of other windows, and a clone button which creates a copy of the monitor window. Multiple copies of a monitor window can be helpful if you have several screens connected to your Mac, each for a different teammate to look at.

Video Output Monitor Windows

A video output monitor window shows a live copy of the output that’s going to a particular video output stage. All video which is visible on a stage is likewise visible in the monitor window that belongs to that stage.

Output monitor windows are helpful as confidence monitors, when the person operating QLab cannot see an audience-facing display but still needs to view the output.

You can open an output monitor window using the Monitor buttons found in Workspace Settings → Video → Video Output or the I/O tab of a Video, Camera, or Text cue.

Video Input Monitor Windows

A video input monitor window shows the live signal from a video input patch. This can help you ensure that your video input device is working properly, or make sure a camera’s framing is correct before starting a Camera cue that uses that input.

You can open an input monitor window using the Monitor buttons found in Workspace Settings → Video → Video Input or the I/O tab of a Camera cue.

Audition Monitor Windows

If a workspace is set to redirect video output to audition windows in Workspace Settings → Audition, any Video, Camera, and Text cues which are auditioned will display in an audition monitor window instead of on their assigned video output stage.

If the audition window for a stage is not visible when you audition a cue that needs it, QLab will open the window for you. You can also manually open audition monitor windows using the Open Audition Windows button in Workspace Settings → Audition.

Unlike earlier versions of QLab, audition monitor windows don’t turn always audition on and off by virtue of being open or closed.

Map Monitor Windows

A map monitor displays the live status of an audio map and all objects within it. When a cue containing cue objects is playing, its objects are visible in the map monitor for the map that the cue is using. When the cue stops, its objects disappear from the map monitor. Map objects are always visible in the map monitor since they are always present and “active” even if no audio is passing through them.

You can open an audio map monitor window using the Monitor buttons found in Workspace Settings → Audio → Audio Maps or the Objects tab of a cue that is using the audio map.