Manual Wiring

The automatic data path patterns (zig zag, u-turn, isolated) work well for rectangular grids with standard cabling. But real-world installations don't always follow a neat grid — panels may be arranged in irregular shapes, physical obstacles may force unusual cable routes, or you may need precise control over how strings and power circuits are grouped.

Manual wiring lets you override the automatic pattern and define panel-to-panel connections yourself, directly in the LED Mapping view.

When to Use Manual Wiring

Manual wiring is useful when:

• Non-rectangular layouts — L-shapes, curves, or grids with gaps where automatic patterns produce undesirable routing
• Physical constraints — Cable trays, structural elements, or access points that dictate where cables can run
• Custom string boundaries — You need strings to break at specific panels rather than where the pixel limit falls
• Power circuit balancing — Panels with varying power draw need to be grouped into circuits manually to stay within amperage limits
• Retrofit installations — Existing cabling doesn't match any automatic pattern, and you need to document the as-built wiring

Data vs Power Wiring

Data wiring and power wiring are completely independent — you can use automatic patterns for one and manual connections for the other, or manually wire both.

	Data Wiring	Power Wiring
Purpose	Signal path from processor to panels (determines strings)	Power distribution (determines circuits)
Constraint	Pixel limit per string	Amperage limit per circuit
Toolbar icon	Cable icon (cyan)	Zap icon (orange)
Automatic pattern	Screen's data path settings	Screen's power path settings

Entering Wire Edit Mode

In the LED Mapping view toolbar, click one of the wire editing buttons:

• Cable icon — Enter data wire edit mode
• Zap icon — Enter power wire edit mode

The toolbar highlights the active mode (cyan for data, orange for power) and shows a help bar with instructions. Press the X button or Escape to exit wire edit mode.

When wire edit mode is active, each panel displays a center node used to create and inspect connections. Node shapes indicate each panel's role in the chain:

Shape	Meaning
Triangle (play icon)	String/circuit start — first panel with no incoming connection
Square	String/circuit end — last panel in the chain
Circle	Middle panel — has both incoming and outgoing connections

Creating Connections

Manual wiring uses a hover-to-connect interaction — click once to start, then sweep through panels to build a chain:

1. Click a panel's center node to begin assignment. The node turns amber and a pulsing ring indicates it's the active source.
2. Hover over other panels to connect them. As your cursor enters a valid panel's node, it automatically connects to the chain and becomes the new source. Continue hovering through panels to extend the string or circuit.
3. Right-click or press Escape to finish the assignment and return to idle.

Each connection means "after processing the source panel, continue to the target panel." You can build an entire string in one fluid motion without re-clicking.

Continuing an existing chain

If you click a panel that is already the end of a string (has an incoming connection but no outgoing), assignment mode continues from that point — you don't need to rebuild the chain from scratch.

Undo During Assignment

Press Ctrl+Z (or Cmd+Z on Mac) while assigning to undo the last connection. This removes the most recent panel from the chain and moves the source back one step. You can undo repeatedly to walk back through multiple connections.

Wiring undo/redo is tracked separately from other actions, so Ctrl+Z always undoes the most recent wiring change first. Once all wiring undos are exhausted, it falls back to other undo history (e.g., panel position changes).

Deleting Connections

While in wire edit mode, click on an existing wire arrow (the line between two connected panels) to delete that connection. This breaks the chain at that point.

Connection Rules

The system validates every connection attempt and prevents invalid wiring:

Data Wiring Rules

• No loops — You cannot connect a panel to any panel that is already upstream in its chain. This would create a circular path with no endpoint.
• Pixel limit — The total pixel count of the resulting chain (target panel plus everything downstream of it) must not exceed the screen's pixel limit per string. If the connection would overload a string, you'll see an error showing how many pixels are needed vs how many remain.
• One input per panel — Each panel can only have one incoming connection (one predecessor). If a panel already has an incoming wire, it won't appear as a valid target.

Power Wiring Rules

• No loops — Same as data wiring.
• Amperage limit — The total wattage of the resulting circuit must not exceed the circuit's amperage capacity (working voltage x max amps per circuit). Panel wattage is determined by the panel type's max wattage setting, any per-panel override, or the screen's default wattage.
• One input per panel — Same as data wiring.

Visual Feedback

During assignment, panel nodes update in real time to show what's valid:

Node Appearance	Meaning
Amber with pulsing ring	Active source — the panel you're building from
Cyan/yellow highlight	Already in the current chain
Enlarged node (grows on hover)	Valid target — hover to connect
Dimmed / grayed out	Invalid target — would violate a rule

Small numbered badges appear on connected panels showing their position in the chain (1, 2, 3…). Hovering over an invalid panel shows a tooltip explaining why it can't be connected (e.g., "Already has an incoming connection" or "Would create a wiring loop").

Clear vs Reset

The wire edit toolbar provides two bulk actions:

• Clear — Disconnects all panels on the current screen. Every panel becomes explicitly disconnected, with no automatic connections. Use this when you want to start from scratch and wire everything manually.
• Reset — Removes all manual overrides and reverts to the screen's automatic pattern. Use this when you want to go back to the automatic data path or power path.

The difference is important: after Clear, no panels are connected at all until you manually wire them. After Reset, the automatic pattern takes over again as if you'd never used manual wiring.

How Manual and Automatic Wiring Interact

Each panel connection has three possible states:

State	Behavior
Automatic (default)	The panel follows the screen's configured path pattern
Manually connected	The panel is wired to a specific other panel, ignoring the automatic pattern
Explicitly disconnected	The panel has no outgoing connection, even if the automatic pattern would connect it

You can mix these states within a single screen. For example, you might let the automatic wiring pattern handle most of the grid but manually override a few connections where the physical layout requires a different route.

Tips

• Start with automatic patterns and only override where needed. This minimizes the number of manual connections you need to maintain.
• Use the Panel Map test pattern to verify your wiring on the actual surface. It shows string numbers, data path arrows, and panel coordinates overlaid on the video content.
• Data and power paths are independent — changing one doesn't affect the other. Configure whichever needs attention without worrying about side effects.
• String breaks happen automatically at the pixel limit, even in manual wiring mode. If you chain more panels than a string can hold, the system starts a new string at the overflow point.