NovaStar TB30: setting up the 0.65 Mpx Taurus multimedia player

The NovaStar TB30 belongs to the third generation of the Taurus series. It combines an Android multimedia player and a sending card in a single box: content is stored in the player's internal memory and looped out to the receiving cards, with no computer or video processor in the rack. It is the model we recommend for high-street retail, window totems, lamp-post displays and store chains where every screen must run on its own.

Loading capacity is 650,000 pixels — 0.65 Mpx — with a maximum width and height of 4096 pixels each. In practice a 960 × 640 pixel wall (614,400 pixels) fits on a single TB30; beyond that you need the TB50 (1.3 Mpx) or the TB60 (2.3 Mpx). Check this limit before ordering, because no firmware update works around it.

This tutorial follows the real order of a commissioning job: hardware check, wiring, Wi-Fi connection, screen configuration, content publishing, then cloud control. Every figure quoted comes from the official NovaStar TB30 specifications sheet (revision V1.2.1).

1. What the TB30 is for, and when to choose it

The TB30 is a strictly asynchronous player: it has no HDMI input. It plays what is stored in its 32 GB of internal memory or on a USB drive, following a schedule. If your project needs a live source on screen — camera, control room, meeting-room laptop — the TB30 is the wrong product: you need a TB50, which has an HDMI input and a synchronous mode.

The typical use case is advertising or information content refreshed a few times a week: menu boards, shop windows, urban poles, shelf-edge displays, bus-station information panels. Playback is scheduled in advance and the player keeps running its playlist even if the network drops, because the media are already local.

• Store networks: one shared playlist pushed from VNNOX to dozens of TB30 players.
• Window totem: 7-day playback with scheduled overnight shutdown.
• Advertising pole: brightness handled by sensor, with no site visit.
• Shelf display: short looping content updated on a USB drive by staff.

Always count the wall in pixels, never in metres. A P10 outdoor wall of 6 × 3 m is only 600 × 300 pixels, which the TB30 drives easily. A P1.8 indoor wall of 2 × 1 m is 1111 × 555 pixels — 616,000 pixels, right at the ceiling.

2. Official technical specifications

The table below reproduces the figures published in the TB30 specifications sheet. They are identical across revisions V1.1.0 and V1.2.1 for everything hardware related; only some feature wording changed.

IP20 means the box is protected against neither fine dust nor water. On an outdoor installation the TB30 must sit inside the screen's weatherproof service enclosure, never bare behind the structure.

3. Hardware check before the site visit

A methodical unboxing avoids a second trip. Check the player, the power cord, the Wi-Fi antenna and the mounting accessories. Then write down the serial number printed on the label: it is both the binding identifier for VNNOX and the suffix of the default Wi-Fi network name.

Prepare the rest of the chain: shielded Cat6 cables from the LED outputs to the receiving cards, a USB 3.0 drive formatted in FAT32 or exFAT for offline updates, and the cabinet configuration file supplied by the panel manufacturer.

• Serial number recorded and photographed before mounting the box.
• Cabinet configuration file obtained from the panel manufacturer.
• Shielded Cat6 cables, 100 m maximum per segment.
• USB 3.0 drive in FAT32/exFAT for updates and offline playback.
• Windows PC with ViPlex Express installed and firewall cleared.

4. Wiring the two Gigabit outputs

The TB30 has two Ethernet output ports feeding the receiving cards, plus one Ethernet port dedicated to control. The two outputs can share the load — one half of the wall each — or work in redundancy, the second taking over if the first fails.

The principle is the same as any NovaStar chain: the player output reaches the input of the first receiving card, whose output goes to the next card, and so on in a daisy chain. Respect the load per port: with 0.65 Mpx in total, each port drives roughly 325,000 pixels when the load is balanced.

• Power from a protected 100–240 V line, separate from the high-power LED supplies.
• LED output 1 to the first receiving card of the left half of the wall.
• LED output 2 to the first receiving card of the right half, or as backup for output 1.
• Control port on the management network switch, never on the panel data network.
• Brightness sensor plugged into a sensor connector if automatic control is planned.

Never mix the control port and the LED output ports in the same unsegmented switch: image data traffic saturates the management network and causes visible frame loss on the wall.

5. Connecting over Wi-Fi in access point mode

The TB30 has 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi switchable between access point (AP) and client (STA). On first power-up it publishes its own network, named after the model followed by the last digits of the serial number. The default password is printed on the box label.

AP mode is for on-site configuration from a laptop or phone without touching the customer network. Once configuration is done, switch the player to STA mode to join the venue Wi-Fi, or move to wired Ethernet — the better choice on a permanent site, because it removes dropouts caused by a congested 2.4 GHz band.

Always change the default Wi-Fi password before leaving the site. A TB30 left on its factory password can be reconfigured by any passer-by with a phone.

6. Configuring the screen and receiving cards

The wall is configured with ViPlex Express on Windows, or with NovaLCT when low-level receiving card parameters must change. The logical order never varies: load the cabinet configuration file, set the wiring matrix, check the result, then freeze the setup in the receiving cards' memory.

Once the configuration is written to the cards, the wall recovers its image even after a power cut or a player swap. This save step is the one teams most often skip, and it explains most of the calls about a wall that came back scrambled after a storm.

• Load the cabinet configuration file supplied by the panel manufacturer.
• Declare the number of cabinets per output port and the wiring direction.
• Enter the final wall resolution in pixels, width then height.
• Check uniformity with a white test pattern, then red, green and blue.
• Save the configuration to the receiving cards before closing the enclosure.

7. Publishing a playlist with ViPlex Express

ViPlex Express is the Windows publishing software for the Taurus series. It discovers the players on the network, lets you build solutions — a playlist structured in zones and pages — then send them to one or several TB30 units. On mobile, ViPlex Handy does the same job over direct Wi-Fi.

The TB30 decodes H.264 and H.265 up to 4K at 60 Hz, with up to two 4K streams, six 1080p, ten 720p or twenty 360p streams at once. That headroom lets you split the screen into zones: a main video, a news ticker, a clock and a weather panel in the same page, with no stutter.

• Put the PC on the same network as the player, then run discovery in ViPlex Express.
• Create a solution, define the zones and import the media.
• Schedule playback windows, including overnight shutdown.
• Publish to the TB30 and wait for full transfer confirmation.
• Check playback on the wall, then save the solution as a reusable template.

Encode your videos at the real wall resolution rather than defaulting to 4K. A 960 × 640 video on a 960 × 640 wall uses ten times less bandwidth and memory than a 4K file scaled on the fly.

8. Remote control with VNNOX

As soon as a fleet passes three or four screens, on-site publishing becomes a hidden cost. VNNOX, NovaStar's cloud platform, binds each TB30 to an account through its serial number, then pushes content, schedules playback and reports player status from a browser.

The player needs outbound Internet access, wired or through the optional 4G/5G module, which is not supplied as standard. Hardware monitoring — temperature, brightness, power — relies on the sensors plugged into the dedicated connectors.

• Create the VNNOX account and register the terminal with its serial number.
• Confirm outbound Internet access before leaving the site.
• Group terminals by brand or by region.
• Schedule recurring publications rather than manual pushes.
• Enable offline alerts to catch a failure before the customer does.

9. Troubleshooting the most common faults

Most TB30 incidents come down to four causes: exceeded loading capacity, a configuration never saved to the receiving cards, a congested Wi-Fi network, or a video file in a format the player cannot decode. The table below gives the first reflex before any return to the workshop.

10. TB30, TB50 or TB60: deciding quickly

All three players share the same hardware platform: quad-core ARM A55 at 1.8 GHz, 1 GB RAM, 32 GB storage, Android 11, 4K 60 Hz decoding, a 274.3 × 139.0 × 40.0 mm chassis and an 18 W maximum mains supply. The decision therefore comes down to loading capacity and the presence of an HDMI input.

Keep the TB30 for standalone screens under 650,000 pixels with no live source. As soon as a client mentions plugging in a laptop now and then, go for the TB50.

Commissioning procedure

1. Check the hardware and record the serial number

   Verify the box contents, photograph the serial number label and prepare shielded Cat6 cables plus the cabinet configuration file.

2. Power up and wire the LED outputs

   Connect the 100–240 V supply, run LED output 1 then LED output 2 to the first receiving cards, and put the control port on the management network.

3. Join the player Wi-Fi

   Connect to the network published by the TB30, named after the model and the last digits of the serial number, using the password printed on the label.

4. Configure the screen

   Load the cabinet configuration file, declare the wiring matrix and wall resolution, then save the setup to the receiving cards.

5. Publish the playlist

   Build the solution in ViPlex Express, import media encoded at wall resolution, schedule the playback windows and send to the player.

6. Bind the player to VNNOX

   Register the terminal in VNNOX with its serial number, confirm outbound Internet access and enable offline alerts.

7. Secure the installation

   Change the default Wi-Fi password, close the sheltered service enclosure and record the configuration in the site file.

Frequently asked questions

Official documentation

• TB30 Multimedia Player Specifications V1.2.1 (official PDF) — Datasheet
• Taurus Series TB30 Specifications V1.1.0 (official PDF) — Datasheet
• Official Taurus series comparison (NovaStar) — Manufacturer page
• ViPlex Express / ViPlex Handy — NovaStar downloads — Software

Related tutorials

• NovaStar TB50 tutorial: synchronous mode and HDMI input
• NovaStar TB60 tutorial: 4 Gigabit ports and 2.3 Mpx
• ViPlex Express tutorial: publishing to a Taurus player
• VNNOX Standard tutorial: cloud publishing

Need a second opinion on your control chain?

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