Screen Snapshot Settings

Configure Computers

You can change how Screen Snapshots are recorded in the Snapshots panel of the Deployment Utility or Client Settings.  Screen Snapshot settings allow you to enable/disable snapshots, or change the snapshot resolution, frequency, timeout limits, and event triggers. Make selections on this Settings panel and click OK to apply the new setting to this Client. Read Snapshot Recording for ideas on setting a snapshot strategy.

Note: Before changes to Screen Snapshots take effect on the Client, the user at the recorded computer must log off and log on again.  

To enable Screen Snapshots:

Check the option to Capture Screen Snapshots. Clear this option to turn OFF Screen Snapshots. Make other selections as desired.

• Capture Screen Snapshots
  Check to capture snapshots at regular intervals. Clear the checkbox to disable screen snapshots.  If you "turn off" Capture Screen Snapshots on this settings panel, you can still direct the Client to take snapshots in response to Keyword Alerts, and you can still configure a Snapshot Hotkey to force a snapshot at the local Client computer.

• Include Secondary Monitors
  Some users may have more than one monitor attached to the Client computer. Check this option to capture snapshots from all monitors. Monitors will be shown in the correct orientation (left/right/up/down). This setting has no effect on a computer with only one monitor. Clear the checkbox to capture snapshots only on the primary monitor.

• Capture entire screen contents at once
  Select this option IF your snapshots are displaying screens in transition.  By default, the Client does not capture the entire screen at once, because it is usually not necessary and may slow down some computers.

• Take Snapshot Every n Seconds
  Set the frequency for taking Snapshots.

Every 30 seconds (default) provides a compromise between detail and storage requirements.

Every 0 seconds turns OFF timed snapshots (you can still set event triggers).

Fewer snapshots may compromise the view of a Client's activity.
More snapshots provide greater detail, but use disk space and slow the Client. Note that Keyword Alert Settings provide an option to increase snapshot frequency if a keyword is detected.

• Snapshot Format
  Set the color depth/size of graphic for screen captures. Setting the snapshots to gray scale or lower color depth will save space on the Client and in the Data Vault. Select from:
  1 Bit Monochrome: monochrome graphic (black-and-white); smallest file
  4 Bit GrayScale: gray scale graphic (recommended)
  4 Bit Color: graphic is indexed and reduced to 16 colors  
  8 Bit Color: graphic is indexed and stored in 256 colors
  16 Bit Color: hi-color graphic stored in 65536 colors
  24 Bit Color: true-color graphic stored in 16+ million colors
  32 Bit Color: true-color with alpha channel; largest file (not recommended)

Snapshot in 4-Bit Grayscale  

Note: The snapshot resolution is limited by the video card bit depth on the computer where you are viewing snapshots.

If a screen displays at 16-bit color, you can take a perfectly adequate 4-bit grayscale snapshot that uses 25% less space than a 16-bit color snapshot. A 1-bit monochrome snapshot takes only 12% of  the space, but may not be adequate for viewing from the Dashboard. Grayscale is the recommended setting. If you increase the color depth captured, you may have to increase the Client's maximum data storage to handle all Screen Snapshots.  

• Inactivity Timeout n Minutes
  Set the number of minutes of user inactivity before snapshots are suspended.

The default Inactivity Timeout is 3 minutes. When the user does not move the mouse, click the mouse, or type a keystroke for 3 minutes, snapshots are stopped until activity begins again. As soon as activity begins, a snapshot is taken and the frequency setting goes into effect again.

Setting the Inactivity Timeout to 0 (zero) minutes, removes the timeout period. Snapshots will be taken at the frequency set (above) without regard to user activity.

Increasing the Inactivity Timeout means more snapshots of screens that are not changing.  

Reducing the Inactivity Timeout means suspending snapshots more often and saving disk space.  

• Configure Triggers
  Click this button to select which events will cause the Client to take a Screen Snapshot in addition to or instead of the automatic, timed snapshots. See Snapshot Triggers.