At InfoComm, Dataton launched the latest version of Dataton WATCHOUT multi-image display and presentation software (version 5.5) that brings a number of new features such as hardware assisted synchronization, frame blending, dynamic IP addressing of individual computers, cluster naming and insertion of URL based images. Dataton also tells rAVe that it is now shipping its WATCHPAX solid-state media server with embedded WATCHOUT.

The major 5.5 features include:

• Updated WATCHOUT playback functionality in WATCHPAX solid-state media server
• WATCHPAX now provides hardware-accelerated playback of HD video in H.264 and MPEG-2 encoding formats. WATCHOUT also supports playback of QuickTime Animation as well as H.264 video in MOV files.
• Hardware Assisted Synchronization – When run on display servers that utilize certain AMD FirePro Workstation Video Cards and a companion ATI FirePro S400 Synchronization Module, WATCHOUT now supports hardware-based synchronization of the video outputs allowing users to play back frame-accurate synchronized content across multiple computers. Using the “gen-lock” feature of the S400 Synchronization Module, users can lock an entire WATCHOUT rig to an external sync source.
• Frame Blending – For smoother video playback, Frame Blending combines the differences in frame rate by smoothly blending frames together in a few simple steps, eliminating the need to skip or double frames.
• Dynamic IP Addressing of Individual Computers and Clusters – Enabling users of WATCHOUT to be even more organized, it is now possible to dynamically or self-assign all computer names and IP addresses in complex video systems. In addition, it is possible to assign a name to an entire cluster group of display computers to be used in a show.
• URL-based Images – Images from URLs can now be uploaded into WATCHOUT at the click of a button. This new feature is in addition to loading images from a file or disk, or from the WATCHOUT Dynamic Image Server.

You can see all the details here.