📖 JTM Cast — User Manual

Environment setup: choosing hardware for multiple displays

Count your screens first: one console + one congregation display + one stage display = three distinct screens. When the laptop display is your console, you need two external displays. Fill/Key configurations requiring separate video signals need corresponding physical outputs. Your subscription's output limit is distinct from your computer's display limit.

HDMI splitters, MST, Thunderbolt, DisplayLink and virtual displays

Windows

Windows 10/11 supports independent extended desktops through compatible DisplayPort MST devices. Your USB-C port must support video (such as DisplayPort Alt Mode) or you must use a compatible DisplayPort output. Check GPU display-count limits and dock bandwidth. Other options include separate native HDMI/DisplayPort/Thunderbolt outputs and supported DisplayLink adapters.

Mac: verify the exact chip, not just “Air” or “Pro”

macOS does not support multiple independent extended displays through standard MST hubs. A hub advertising “two extended monitors on Windows” may only mirror on a Mac. Prefer compatible native Thunderbolt outputs within the Mac's supported display count, or carefully tested DisplayLink hardware.

Typical Apple silicon MacBook native external-display maximums below exclude the built-in display. Limits depend on resolution, refresh rate, model and OS version. Look up individual specifications for Intel and desktop Macs.

Purchase checklist and setup test

1. Identify the exact PC model, chip, OS version and number of required screens (console plus all independent outputs).
2. Ensure the seller explicitly guarantees extended desktops with different content for your specific Windows or macOS setup. “Two HDMI ports” and “4K” are not proof.
3. Determine whether the device uses MST, native Thunderbolt or DisplayLink, and verify video-capable ports, required drivers and permissions.
4. Check simultaneous resolution/refresh rate (such as 60 Hz), cables, power and reliability under full load.
5. In Windows Settings → System → Display or macOS System Settings → Displays, select Extend and confirm that each physical screen can show distinct content.
6. Then assign displays in JTM Cast → Column 1 → Display configuration and physically test verses, lyrics, video and screen sharing on each destination. A virtual screen shown in software alone does not prove projection works.

Manufacturer references: Microsoft MST · Apple MacBook Air limits · Apple MacBook Pro limits · Apple M3 dual monitors · MST/macOS compatibility · DisplayLink setup · Protected media limitations. Recheck current specifications before purchasing.

Getting started — basic operation

The single most important idea in JTM Cast is that the preview (your draft) and the live output (what the congregation sees) are two different things.

Stepping scripture and lyrics after TAKE

After TAKE, next/previous scripture and lyric steps within the same song can update the live output without TAKE for every step. New selections, repeated clicks and history selections prepare the preview only. Use TAKE to project a selection again.

Individual clears of text, images, banners or screen capture, and clear-all affect the live output while preserving the next prepared content, display settings and waiting media cue. Use TAKE to project the next item. Clear-all also stops live media playback, but screen sharing itself continues. Use "Stop screen sharing" to end the sharing session.

Clear everything

Esc or "🧹 Clear all" removes everything from the live output. TAKE confirms the current preview; it does not automatically restore the previous live output. Use "Undo clear" to restore the content from before the clear. Reselecting the same item also prepares it first: check the preview, then press TAKE.

🗔 The taskbar (tucking columns away and bringing them back)

Each of the four columns of the console behaves like a window: you can tuck it away and bring it back. Every one of those entry points lives on a single slim taskbar on the far left. Just like the taskbar of your computer, pressing an icon opens that column and pressing it again tucks it back into the bar.

• The icons are 📅 order of service (column 2) and 📊 system status (column 1). An icon is highlighted while its column is open.
• Column 3 (choosing) and column 4 (preview and TAKE) can never be closed, because they are the ones you look at during a service. To avoid buttons that do nothing, those two have no taskbar icon.
• A 🪟 icon appears only while column 4 is detached into its own window. Press it to bring that window to the front, or the ↩️ next to it to put the column back into the console.
• While column 1 is tucked away, its status lamps (connection, on air, composite mode, outputs) sit under the icon. Hover over one to read its full name.

Taskbar settings (⋯ or right-click)

Press ⋯ on the taskbar (or right-click the taskbar) to choose the following. If you change something and lose your bearings, "⟲ Reset to defaults" in the same place always brings it back.

• Taskbar position — left, vertical (default) or top, horizontal. Placing it on top gives its width back to the middle columns.
• Taskbar thickness — slim, icons only (default) or with labels.
• When a column opens — columns 1 and 2 never open together (default), or open as many as you like. By default, opening column 1 tucks the order of service away so that the TAKE button stays on screen. What was tucked away is shown in one line inside the column you opened, and pressing 📅 on the taskbar brings it straight back.
• Width when opening — remember the last width (default) or always the default width.
• How to place — automatic (default: overlay only when the screen is narrow), always push aside, or always overlay.

🧪 Beta features

Features that are still being verified are hidden by default, so that nobody presses them by accident during a service.

• Experimental controls only appear when the corresponding feature is enabled. This guide currently covers AI assistance (experimental).
• To use them, tick "🧪 Show beta features" under ⚙️ System settings → Usability.
• This setting is per church and is shared with the other computers in your church, so every console shows the same features.
• ⚠ Only the buttons are hidden. If your church already had low-latency streaming on, streaming behaves exactly as before.

🖥️ Positioning, full-screen display and closing projection windows

Where: Column 1 → Projection windows. Manage projection windows from the console. Assign an output destination, then use Place / Place all; use Close / Close all to end projection. Unassigned outputs are not launched. Enabling outputs, configuring their content and choosing physical displays are different settings.

🖥️ Selecting output destinations and monitors

Where: Column 1 → Display configuration and per-output placement. Check detected monitor names and positions, then select the intended monitor for each output. Do not choose the console's own monitor as a projection destination. An intentionally Unassigned output is skipped by Place all; this is not a placement failure. If a monitor is disconnected, wait for it to reconnect rather than silently placing its output elsewhere.

🌐 Projection host for cloud and offline use

When the browser console is connected to the dedicated projection host, the host owns projection window placement and closing. If you enter the JTM Cast URL directly in the browser, check the existing host connection in Column 1. If no host is available, follow the installation/connection guidance or use manual placement where supported. Offline use requires initial cloud authentication, device approval and explicit enabling in System settings. Cloud/Offline operation is different from PC/external composition mode.

📖 Your church's default Bible versions

Under ⚙️ System settings → "📖 Default Bible versions" you can pick up to three versions your church normally uses.

• These are the versions loaded the first time you open the app on a new computer.
• Book names follow the first version as well.
• ⚠ Computers already in use are not changed silently, so versions never swap during your preparation. Press "Apply to this computer now" if you want them switched.
• The setting is per church and is shared with your other computers.

🌐 Choosing the interface language (English / 日本語 / chiShona)

The 🌐 dropdown at the top right chooses the console language (English / 日本語 / chiShona): Bible, hymns, order of service, media, display settings, system settings, sign-up and password reset.

You can choose it before you sign in. The same 🌐 dropdown and a 📖 Manual link sit at the top right of the sign-in screen, the staff invitation screen and the password reset screen — so you can put the app into a language you read before you have an account.

• chiShona is still being translated. Anything not yet translated is shown in English (never in Japanese).
• Your choice is saved to your account, so it follows you to other computers.
• The projected content does not change language. You can project Japanese scripture while operating in English. The reference line under a verse (for example "John 1:1") stays in the language of the version being projected.
• In English, book names in the book grid are English (Genesis / Matthew …). Switching the version to KJV does not change them — the operator's language and the projected version's language are treated separately.
• Hymn lyric language (A / B / C) is still chosen in column 3 and is unrelated to the interface language.
• Error messages follow the interface language too, and so do the emails we send you (address confirmation, password reset, staff invitations).

🆕 Creating a church account

Use "Start for free" on the sign-in screen. There is no approval to wait for.

• You enter four things: church name, your name, email address and a password. You do not need to invent an ID — it is generated from the church name.
• Your email address is your sign-in ID. The password must be at least 8 characters and can be changed later.
• New accounts start on the Free plan. You can move up at any time from ⚙️ System settings → 💳 Subscription.
• Invite the people who serve with you from ⚙️ System settings → Staff (how many depends on your plan).

👥 What administrators and staff can each do

Accounts come in two roles: administrator and staff. Running a service works exactly the same in either role. The differences are only in settings that affect the whole church.

• Both roles can: run and project the order of service, Bible, hymns and slides; use favourites, set lists, history and search; change their own display settings; and import, tag, rename and delete media files (images, audio, video).
• Administrators only: edit the libraries of Bible translations and hymns (add, import, delete); invite staff and manage accounts; configure streaming and start or stop a stream; export and import data; subscription and payment; and running updates in the offline mode.

⚠ Buttons you are not allowed to use are either disabled or not shown at all, so you never press something that fails every time.

💳 Subscription and payment

⚙️ System settings → 💳 Subscription shows your current plan (administrators only). Signing up, changing payment details and cancelling all happen here.

• Payment is handled by Stripe. Card numbers are never stored on JTM Cast servers.
• Four plans: Free / Standard ($18/mo) / Premium ($35/mo) / Ministry ($52/mo). Higher plans allow more simultaneous consoles and outputs (projection, stage, prompter), more staff and more storage.
• Free never expires: 1 console, 1 output, 1 staff member, 100 MB, and a small "JTM Cast" mark on the projection.
• Reaching a limit never stops what is already running. Only new additions are declined. Downgrading never deletes stored media or staff accounts.
• Churches that belong to a parent church can receive family pricing — contact us and we will set it up.
• In installations where payment is not used the tab is hidden entirely (for example the offline mode). Nothing else is affected.

❌ Clear projection (next to TAKE)

Clear by type: In the main and detached column 4 windows, clearing preparation leaves LIVE unchanged, while clearing LIVE preserves the next preparation. Types are Bible, hymn, text, slides, images, video/audio, YouTube and text bands. Absent types are disabled; a LIVE lock does not prevent clearing preparation. Saved media and programs are not deleted.

While Bible or hymn content is loading, clearing its preparation cancels acceptance of pending results and retries. Other prepared content and LIVE are retained. This does not guarantee immediate cancellation of the network request.

Screen sharing also supports type-specific clearing. Clearing preparation leaves LIVE unchanged; clearing LIVE preserves preparation and the sharing connection. LIVE clearing removes the shared picture and shared audio, without automatically switching to the camera. The console displays a clearing notice. If the same share remains prepared and its connection is still running, TAKE displays it again. "Stop screen sharing" or ending sharing in the browser ends the connection and removes it from both scopes. Starting a share still projects it immediately.

Column 4 also has a "❌ Clear projection" button in the TAKE row, so the command stays within reach during a service. Waiting Background is not in the TAKE row; it is a separate top control immediately to the right of Overlay.

• It removes whatever is currently live — verses, lyrics, text, and also images, video, audio, YouTube and screen sharing.
• When text and an image are shown together, the text goes first (usually what you want), and pressing again removes the image. "🧹 Clear all" removes everything at once.
• The button is dimmed and unusable only when nothing is being projected. Hover to see what pressing it would remove.
• Screen sharing is only taken off the projection; the share itself continues. Use TAKE to show a share that remains prepared.
• The "❌ Clear projection" buttons inside the Bible and hymn tabs are active only when that kind of content is live.
• The column 4 button can never be hidden. The ones in column 3 can be turned off under ⚙️ System settings → "🧭 Usability" — your escape route in a panic is deliberately not removable.

⏪ Undo a clear

After clearing restorable content, a blue "⏪ Undo clear (restore previous projection)" bar appears under TAKE. It restores text, images, slides and banners using the saved live settings. Your next prepared content, display settings and waiting media cue remain unchanged.

• We deliberately do not ask "Are you sure?". Under pressure people press "Yes" reflexively, which is more dangerous. Press first, undo if wrong.
• The bar disappears when you TAKE the next item, so old content cannot come back by accident.
• It appears whenever an undo is possible — clearing only the text over an image, clearing the image itself, or pressing "🧹 Clear all" twice in a panic.
• Currently muted outputs stay muted. Explicitly enable audio and use TAKE if needed to bring sound back.
• Video, audio and YouTube playback, and screen sharing taken off the live output, do not restart automatically. A state containing only those sources is not restorable. Prepare the media or share, use TAKE and start playback if needed. Full input and screen-sharing restoration remains under improvement.
• TAKE projects the current preview; it is separate from Undo clear. When operation is locked, restoration is blocked and the saved snapshot is retained.

↩ Recovery buttons for when something goes wrong (Undo / Video source)

These are the buttons for "put it back, now" during a service. They sit right below TAKE in column 4 and are shown by default.

• ↩ Undo — stops live media playback and restores the previous restorable content. Your next prepared item is preserved. The same limits as Undo clear apply: current mute is retained, and sharing or playback does not restart automatically.
• 🎥 Video source — projects only the live video input (camera or ATEM). The "escape to the camera" button for when you are no longer sure what is on screen. ⚠ It needs the video input to be ON with a device selected.

🔴 Always knowing what is live (LIVE indicator)

You can tell what the congregation is seeing from the console alone — there is no need to look at the projection screen. The same information appears in two places: directly above the TAKE button in column 4, and in the status list in column 1. When it says nothing is being projected, nothing is live.

• Everything that is layered up is listed. With lyrics over a notice image you will see "🖼️ Notice + 🎵 Light of Life", listed back to front.
• Image names, hymn titles (with the verse label) and scripture references are shown, so you can tell which one is live.
• Anything switched off with the layer toggles — and therefore not visible on any output — is not listed, so you are never told something is out when it is not.
• If no projection window is open it turns amber and says a projection window is not open. It has been sent live, but nothing is on the congregation screen yet. Open a projection window from column 1.
• Working in the preview does not change it — only pressing TAKE does. It exists so that preview and live are never confused.
• While streaming, the 📡 lamp in column 1 reads LIVE (otherwise OFFLINE).

🌫️ Smoother changes (Fade)

With the "Fade" checkbox in column 4 ticked (it is by default), projection changes cross-fade instead of cutting, which softens the brief black frame when videos and YouTube clips come and go.

🔒 Opening the console in more than one tab

If you open the console in two or more tabs on the same computer, only one of them can operate. The others show a red banner at the top: "⚠️ Another tab is in control (this tab is view-only)", and their projection, preview and streaming actions do not reach the live output.

• Previously both tabs sent instructions to the projection window, so the projection could change to something you did not select.
• Press "🔑 Take control" in the banner to operate from that tab instead; the other becomes view-only.
• If you close the controlling tab, a remaining tab takes over automatically within a few seconds.
• Projection windows (📽️ / 📡), the detached projection control and the key (matte) window are not affected — open as many as you like.

1. Column 1 — System status and projection management

Where: the left taskbar → 📊 Column 1. Use its icon to reopen the panel. This panel shows connections, cloud/offline state, projection windows, video and audio devices.

Connections and synchronization indicators

Use the status icons for the connected destination, operating mode, settings saving, and cloud synchronization. Saving from this console to its destination is not the same as syncing cloud and an offline computer. Open each icon for pending and completed states; an offline device does not imply a completed cloud sync.

Positioning and closing projection windows

Identify physical monitors, assign an available display to each enabled output, then use Place or Place all. An output set to Unassigned is skipped. A disconnected display enters Waiting for display instead of silently moving to another monitor. Close or Close all ends the projection windows. Whether an output is enabled and where its window is placed are separate controls.

Outputs, composition, Fill and Key

Available output count depends on your plan and System settings. A Profile can choose among the outputs enabled for the computer. PC composition produces a completed picture; external Fill/Key composition sends fill and key signals to a switcher. Key does not count as another contracted output. Selecting media or pressing TAKE does not automatically switch composition mode.

Video and audio devices

Column 1 lets you check video/audio inputs, audio-output devices and input levels. If audio is missing, check per-output audio enablement, the operating system's selected output device and media playback status.

📶 Seeing that audio is arriving

Turning on "🎙️ Audio input" in column 1 adds a thin horizontal meter below the selector. A green bar grows with the incoming level.

• No movement → first check the meter status. If it is active but not moving, check the cable, mixer output and selected device.
• Green: a good level. Yellow: a little hot. Red: close to distortion — turn it down at the mixer.

🔊 Audio output device

"🔊 Audio output (capture card, etc.)" sits under "🎙️ Audio input" in column 1. Two things play through the device you choose:

• Video and audio files played from the media list.
• Monitoring of the captured audio input (only while "🎙️ Audio input" is on).

The default is "Follow the system setting": media plays through the default device and no monitoring is performed — the same behaviour as before this feature existed.

🔊 Play a test tone

"🔊 Play test tone" plays about 1.6 seconds of sound through the selected device: left, then right, then both. No mixer or microphone required. The screen says which side is playing, so you can confirm:

• Whether there is any sound at all (cable and device selection).
• Whether left and right are swapped.
• Whether one side is silent (a broken speaker or cable).

• No sound: re-select the device, check the cable, press "🔄 Refresh" to re-detect.
• To hear the monitored input, turn "🎙️ Audio input" on.
• "Follow the system setting" returns to the previous behaviour.
• If the chosen device disappears (HDMI unplugged), audio switches automatically to the system default and keeps playing, with a notice at the top of the console and under the selector (nothing appears on the projection). Reconnecting switches back automatically, also with a notice.

⏱️ Delaying the monitored audio

The slider under "🔊 Audio output" delays the audio to match the video (0–3000 ms in 10 ms steps; default 0 ms).

Video takes time to travel capture → processing → projection window, while this audio path does not go through processing. In a chain such as ATEM → JTM Cast → streaming computer, the receiving end therefore often hears the audio early. Add the difference here.

• If the picture arrives first this setting cannot help (audio cannot be sent earlier). Reset to 0 and contact support.
• Changing it during a service does not interrupt the audio, but set it in rehearsal all the same.
• Stored on this computer only, since the right value depends on the hardware.
• "Reset to 0" returns to the previous behaviour.

Diagnostics and recovery

Consult status and diagnostic logs for positioning failures, disconnections or stalled synchronization. Exporting a diagnostic does not change live playback. An intentionally Unassigned output should not produce a placement error.

2. Column 1 — Output and composition modes

"🎛️ Output mode" at the top of column 1 decides what JTM Cast sends out. The default is "🖥️ PC compositing", which behaves exactly as before. Churches without a switcher never need to touch it.

🖥️ PC compositing (default)

The JTM Cast computer takes the camera feed (from an ATEM or similar), overlays the lyrics and verses, and sends the result to the projection windows. The camera signal passes through the computer, which composites the picture for the hall screens.

🎛️ External compositing

The stage window (📡 Stage & stream) sends text on a black background only, and your switcher (ATEM or similar) composites it over the camera. This is the approach ProPresenter and similar tools use.

In this mode:

• The computer does not capture the camera or microphone for the stage. "🎙️ Audio input" and "⏱️ Audio delay" disappear, since there is no video path to align to.
• "📹 Video input" remains — it feeds the prompter window. Leave it off if unused.
• "🔊 Audio output" remains. Video and audio files use the selected playback device. With the dedicated host, YouTube audio also uses the selected playback device.
• Video, images, YouTube and screen share still come from JTM Cast, so "verse over video" still works. Screen share is not treated as the camera input: it is drawn into the stage Fill even in external compositing, and in fill+key mode its shared area is also present in the Key. Only the camera moves to the switcher.
• Column 1 is collapsed by default here, giving more room to columns 2 and 3. Press 📊 on the taskbar to open it.
• "🎛️ External compositing" is shown at the top right so you always know the current mode.

Wiring it up (ATEM)

1. Connect an HDMI output of the computer to a spare ATEM input.
2. Under "🖥️ Projection window output" on the console, choose the display connected to the ATEM and press "📡 Stage & stream" to open it. Making it full screen and closing it are both done from the console (see Open, make full screen and close - all from the console).
3. On the ATEM, apply an upstream keyer set to luma key to that input. Black is keyed out and only the text overlays the camera.

🎤 Keeping video + text on the prompter

Only the stage window becomes text-only. The prompter can still show text over video, because it never passes through the ATEM — the speaker looks at it directly.

To do that, send a camera-only feed back to the computer: set an ATEM HDMI output to clean feed and capture it with an HDMI capture device.

1. ATEM HDMI Out 1 → Program (camera + text) → the hall screen.
2. ATEM HDMI Out 2 → clean feed (camera only) → HDMI capture back into the computer.
3. Turn on "📹 Video input (for the prompter window)" in column 1 and select that capture device.
4. Open "🎤 Prompter", move it to the speaker's screen and make it full screen.

🔑 One output or two (fill + key)

With the dedicated host connected, “Open stage + key pair / reopen key” opens two windows that share drawing within the same process. Opening the key first does not create a separate standalone key. If the stage already exists, only its child key is reopened; the stage is not restarted. Closing only the key from the console keeps it closed until you explicitly reopen it. If an older standalone key remains, use its close button as instructed. Update both the console and projection windows to the same version to use this window management.

Selecting external compositing reveals "🔑 Outputs to the ATEM". The default is one output, as described above.

One output (default)

Text on black, keyed by the ATEM's luma key. One HDMI cable is all you need.

Two outputs (fill + key)

The computer sends two video signals, as ProPresenter and similar tools do.

• fill — the actual colours of the band and the text.
• key — a black-and-white signal describing opacity: white = opaque, grey = translucent, black = transparent.

Because opacity travels separately, the band can be translucent while the text stays fully solid. That is the decisive difference.

🎚️ Band opacity

With two outputs, "🎚️ Band opacity" appears (0–100%).

• 0% (default) — no band; text alone over the camera. Looks the same as one output.
• 50% — the camera shows faintly through the band.
• 100% — the band hides what is behind it.

Wiring two outputs

1. Provide two HDMI outputs and connect them to two spare ATEM inputs (first = fill, second = key).
2. Under "🖥️ Projection window output", choose the first screen and press "📡 Stage & stream" to open the fill window.
3. In the same place, choose the second screen for the key (matte) window and press "🔑 Open key (matte) window". Both have a "Make full screen" button in the same place (see Open, make full screen and close - all from the console).
4. On the ATEM, set the keyer's fill source to the first input and key source to the second.

3. Column 2 — Order of service

Build the flow of your service as a program. The Add menu is ordered as Hymn, Scripture, Image, Video, YouTube, Music, Playlist, Text, Slide, Screen share.

• Text can also be chosen from saved text. The stored legacy type for YouTube remains compatible, but the UI now says YouTube, not Link.
• Search programs by name, sort by Name / Newest / Oldest, and use Clear to reset the list controls.
• With nothing selected the list shows the total (for example, “10 items”). With a selection it shows “2 of 13 selected”; bulk up/down/delete controls appear only then.
• Saved-image items open the actual saved image in Preview rather than treating it as a web-search image.
• "▶ Run" steps through the program one item at a time. A single video, music item or YouTube item clears itself from projection when playback naturally ends.
• When adding a link (YouTube and so on), "⭐ Choose a saved link" saves you retyping URLs.
• Reorder by drag and drop; rename (✏️), duplicate (⧉) and delete (🗑).
• "▶ Run mode" gives you large Next / Previous buttons that load one item at a time into the preview. TAKE is still what goes live.

Moving or removing several items at once

The checkbox at the left of each item lets you select several and move or remove them together.

• Their relative order is preserved — the selection moves as a block and stops at the top or bottom.
• Ticking a checkbox does not load the item.
• Removing several asks for confirmation once. If some fail you are told how many, and the failures stay selected.
• The new order is saved to the server immediately.
• Checkboxes are hidden in compact width, exactly like ▲▼ and ✕, so a mis-tap in a hurry cannot scramble the service.

Cancelling a new program

After pressing "+" to name a new program, "✕" or Esc closes the field and discards what you typed. Nothing is created.

🔍 Adding a hymn to the order of service

"＋ Add" → "🎵 Hymn" opens a search field. Type a number, title or reading and the list narrows as you type — no scrolling through a long dropdown.

• Digits match numbers first, so typing "305" puts song 305 at the top.
• Any part of the title works.
• Keyboard only: type → ↑↓ → Enter to confirm → Esc to close. Clicking works too.
• The chosen song stays below as "✓ Selected: 305 (title)". Search again to change it.

🖥️ Slides (place text and images anywhere)

Choose "＋ Add" → "🖥️ Slide" to add a slide item to the order of service. You can place text and images anywhere, at any size, on a 1920×1080 canvas. Press ✎ on the item to open the editor.

• Placing: "Add text" and "Add image" create a box. Drag a box to move it, and use the handles on the corners and edges to resize. The arrow keys nudge it one step at a time.
• Text: choose size, colour, weight and alignment (left / centre / right). Line breaks you type are kept, and lines wrap to the width of the box.
• Images: pick from the images you have already uploaded. Each box can either contain or cover its frame.
• Background: choose a colour and an opacity. At 0% the background is not painted at all, so the slide sits on top of your camera or screen share. The editor shows a chequerboard so you can see what is transparent.
• Several pages: "Add slide" adds a page (up to 30 per item). See the next section for how to send them.

Prepare layered content

Check Prepare next content as an additional layer in column 3 before choosing scripture, lyrics or a slide to retain the prepared content and add the new selection. The check clears after one addition. Set each output's visibility and layer order, then TAKE to LIVE. Layered preparation never changes LIVE, even when immediate reflection is enabled.

Scripture and lyrics have separate page controls. Individual clear preserves other content; Undo restores the previous live output. Ordinary selection replaces content. Enabling a layer does not resurrect an earlier body.

🗂️ Sending slides (column 3)

If there are no destination programs, choose Open Programs and use + in column 2 to create one. The open destination list updates automatically. Reload list fetches it again. Copies cannot be added while loading or after a failed read; your content is retained while you retry.

To work without selecting a program, open column 3's Slides tab and click New slide. Enter a name, edit and save. Use Select slide to reopen a saved original, then Edit, Preview or Add to program. Choose the destination program and click Add copy. The copy is independent: later edits to the original do not change program copies, and editing a copy does not change its original. Creating, saving, selecting or adding does not change LIVE. Preview changes preparation only; press TAKE to show it live.

When you select a slide item in the order of service, column 3 switches to the "🗂️ Slides" tab. That is where you send them out, and it works exactly like scripture and hymns.

• The list: every page of that item, in order. The page you are on is highlighted, and pressing a row switches to it.
• ◀ ▶: move one slide at a time. The position is always visible, for example "2/12".
• Going to a number: type a slide number and press Enter (or "Go") to jump straight to it. A number outside the range is not silently ignored — you are told why.
• Keyboard: → or Space for the next slide, ← or Shift + Space for the previous one. The same keys that step hymn lines and scripture verses.
• ⚡ Instant: normally a slide only goes to the preview, and reaches the live output when you press TAKE. Tick ⚡ and it goes live the moment you select it (the same ⚡ as on the hymn and scripture tabs).
• ❌ Clear output: removes just the slide from the live output. Video and the waiting background stay.

Importing PowerPoint slides with their look

Inside "＋ Add" → "🖥️ Slide" there is "Import from PowerPoint (.pptx)", which accepts your PowerPoint file as it is. It brings across not just the words but the photos, text positions, sizes, colours and background colour.

• Nothing is added to your order of service when you choose the file. It is read first, and you are shown how many slides there were and anything that could not be imported. You then press the import button.
• A different aspect ratio will not distort your slides. A 4:3 presentation is placed inside the 16:9 screen with margins at the sides. Nothing is stretched or cropped.
• Photos inside the presentation are added to your saved images. You are told how many, so you can delete any you do not want from the media list.
• Presentations of 31 slides or more are split into several items, and you are always shown what happened — for example "There were 45 slides, so they were split into 2 items". Nothing is silently cut off at 30.
• Charts are imported — bar and column (including stacked), pie, doughnut, pie-of-pie, line, area, scatter, bubble, radar, stock and surface. The scale, category names, legend and percentages all come across. ⚠ 3-D charts come across flat. ⚠ A surface chart comes across as one line per series and a pie-of-pie chart as a single pie; the numbers themselves are unchanged. ⚠ If the chart's values are not stored in the presentation itself (some files keep them only in a separate spreadsheet), the chart cannot be read; a marker saying what was there is placed at that spot.
• Tables and SmartArt are imported too. Table text is placed in the grid of cells, and SmartArt text in the positions of its shapes. ⚠ Ruled lines and shape decorations are not included, because a slide can only hold text and pictures.
• A slide can hold up to 60 objects. If a presentation exceeds this, you are told which slide and how many objects did not fit.
• After importing you can adjust the positions and text with ✎, exactly like any other slide.
• The design of the presentation — background bands, accents and logos — is imported too. Decorations placed on the slide master or layout used not to come across at all, which made an imported presentation look like a blank page. ⚠ Slides where you ticked "Hide Background Graphics" in PowerPoint keep them hidden, as you intended.
• Shape colours and outlines are imported too. Rectangles, rounded rectangles, ellipses, triangles, diamonds, arrows, stars and hexagons are supported, with solid fills, gradients (approximated by the first colour), theme colours and outlines. ⚠ Any other named shape is approximated by a rectangle — its colour and position are still correct. Freeform shapes (hand-drawn curves and flourishes) are not imported, because turning them into rectangles made presentations look wrong. ⚠ A picture used as a shape fill comes across as well.
• ⚠ What is not imported: animations, slide transitions, WordArt effects (outlines, shadows and warps — the text itself does come across), shadow and blur effects, and objects embedded from other applications. Nothing disappears silently. Before you import, you are shown which slide and what — for example "bar chart on slide 10" — and a marker saying "A bar chart was here" is placed at that spot on the slide. You can delete the marker afterwards with ✎.
• ⚠ The older .ppt format cannot be read. Open it in PowerPoint and save it again as .pptx, then try again.
• If no slides at all can be read, the reason is shown on screen — including how many slides the file says it has and how many were actually found. The import button is never offered when there is nothing to import.
• If a presentation does not import well, please send us the file as it is.

🚪 Closing the order-of-service column completely

When "🗜️ Narrow" is not enough, column 2 (the order of service) can be closed entirely. Press "◀ Close" at the top of column 2 and the whole column disappears; the space goes to the columns on the right (hymn and scripture controls, and the projection preview).

• You can always bring it back. The 📅 icon on the taskbar on the far left simply goes dim — press it to reopen the column at any time. There is no way to get stuck with it closed.
• The setting is stored on your device only, so it stays closed after a reload (the PC in the auditorium and the one at home usually need different layouts).
• Useful when a service runs without an order of service (scripture and hymns only), or on a narrow screen.

🗜️ Compact width

During a service you mostly touch column 3. "🗜️ Narrow" at the top of column 2 shrinks the order of service and gives the space to column 3. "↔️ Restore" puts it back.

• While narrow you can still switch programs and select items (including "▶ Run mode").
• Preparation controls are hidden while narrow (adding, reordering, deleting, creating/renaming/duplicating programs and adding from stock). Restore the width to build a service.
• Drag reordering is also disabled while narrow, so the order cannot be disturbed by accident.
• Column 4 (preview and TAKE) never changes width.
• Compact applies to the "📅 Program" tab only; the other tabs keep their normal width so their settings stay readable.

4. Column 2 — Favourites

Keep frequently used verses, hymns, images, YouTube links and text in lists for instant recall, without building a program every week.

Saved YouTube entries are the same data as the saved entries in the media tab's 📺 YouTube section. There is a single storage location, so it does not matter where you add them.

5. Column 2 — Display settings (steps ①–⑤)

Where: Column 2 → Display settings. Choose the output tab before editing its settings. The sequence is ① Profile → ② Screen composition → ③ Situation → ④ Display style → ⑤ PiP (eligible plans). Most changes prepare the next output; press TAKE to send them live.

① Profile: choose a complete service configuration

A Profile combines screen composition, situations, display styles, per-output sets and operating settings. Use New Profile to create and name one, select existing profiles, or delete an eligible profile. You can select active outputs, assign saved sets, and choose PC or external composition settings. An asterisk denotes unsaved changes; Save changes stores them and Revert restores the saved revision. Switching with unsaved edits prompts for confirmation. Physical display identities and other computer-specific device settings are not part of a Profile.

Using multiple Profiles and projecting concurrently

A church can save and select several Profiles, such as Japanese Service, English Service, Prayer Meeting and Special Event. Each Profile combines screen composition, Situation, Display Style and logical output settings. Saved Profiles are shared among accounts in the same church, while each PC selects which Profile to use. Media, programs and macros can be reused across Profiles.

• Services at different times: choose Japanese Service in the morning and English Service in the afternoon. Review the prepared preview after selecting a Profile, then use TAKE to send it live.
• Different types of meeting: save a regular service with stage/stream and prompter outputs, a prayer meeting with a simple background and larger text, and a special event with slides or external composition.
• Concurrent services in different rooms: PC A in the auditorium selects Japanese Service while PC B in another room selects English Service. For this arrangement, we recommend signing in with a separate staff or administrator account on each PC.

Before running two consoles at once: current plans require Premium (up to 3 simultaneous consoles) or Ministry (up to 10); Free and Standard allow one each. Check your limits for consoles, staff and outputs under Subscription. Assign physical monitors and audio devices separately on each PC. Even with separate accounts, test that TAKE and video/music playback and stopping on each PC do not interfere before the service. See Saving settings and applying them to other PCs for the distinction between account settings and shared assets.

② Screen composition: video source, backgrounds and text regions

Choose the full-screen video source, background or horizontal/vertical split, its proportion, source fit, and a waiting, solid-colour, gradient, image or video background. Define the regions for Scripture, lyrics and text: legacy, bottom 33% lower third or custom. Choose paging, shrink, scroll or clip when the content exceeds the region. The screen diagram is a read-only composition preview; edit PiP inset placement under step ⑤ instead.

In the left pane, set the initial situation, display style and PiP sets for this screen and output. Save, recall, revise and delete screen-composition sets under Save and manage sets. An initial selection is a preference, not a lock: explicit Profile and operator choices take priority. Remove background references before deleting an asset that is in use.

③ Situation: visibility and stacking

Set the default visibility, layer order and audio behavior when a kind of content (Scripture, hymn, media or text) is selected for an output. Recall or save a Situation set for each output. The former duplicate supplementary-material layer panel is not part of this editor. For temporary live adjustments use the Column 4 layer controls.

④ Display style: appearance within a region

Adjust per-kind and per-output font, size, colour, text background, padding, outline, shadow, alignment, reference line, number of hymn lines and overflow behavior. Choose, save, revise or delete sets in the left pane. Expand less common controls only as needed. Some settings are shared with Column 4's tuning panel, but saving standard styles and instant live adjustments are separate operations.

⑤ PiP: arrange content and the video source

Available on PiP-enabled Premium/Ministry plans. Select an output, then check the content kinds to receive PiP configuration: images, videos, YouTube and slides. Unchecked kinds are not hidden; they return to full-content display. Select all and Clear selection change the selected kinds together. Editing several checked kinds applies the same change to each of them.

Choose fit/full content, side-by-side or stacked split, or a large view plus inset PiP. Set the dominant source, split direction, inset size (15–45%), spacing, X/Y position, contain/cover fit and PiP-specific background. Use the diagram here to adjust the composition. The left pane manages named PiP sets for the selected output: save, recall, revise and delete. The result remains prepared until TAKE.

Distinguish the saved objects and their precedence

Screen-composition sets, output-specific Situation/Display Style/PiP sets and complete Profiles are different saved objects. A Profile combines independently reusable parts. A screen's initial selections are defaults, not mandatory associations. Keep a clear distinction between unsaved edits, saved revisions and the configuration already sent live with TAKE. Saving a set does not by itself change the live projection.

6. Column 2 — Further display and style details

Text size, the backing band behind the text, colours, outlines and layout are all adjustable. Settings belong to your account, so signing in on another computer gives you the same look (saved automatically, applied to other devices in real time).

How this panel is laid out (rebuilt 2026-09-04). "🎨 Display macros" at the top does not scroll away — you press it during a service, so it stays within reach. Everything below it is a single scroll area holding these sections. Press a heading to fold that section away (▼ means open, ▶ means folded). Everything starts open, and each computer remembers what you folded, so you do not have to fold it again every time.

• 📐 Text size and position — size (with a pt guide) and position, per output
• 📖 Scripture / 🎵 Hymn lyrics / 📝 Text — how the text looks, per kind of content
• 🖼️ Media display layout — how images/video and the camera input are arranged
• 📺 Video in monitor windows — how video behaves in monitor windows

Inside 📖 Scripture and the others, each panel (📽️ Prompter / 📡 Stage & Stream) is split into "🅰 Text look", "🎨 Background", "📏 Spacing & box" and "🧩 When it does not fit", and those fold away too. Folding one folds the same group in all the panels, so one press is enough.

Current per-output backgrounds and Profiles

Column 2 Display settings now follows ① Profile → ② Screen composition → ③ Situation → ④ Display style → ⑤ PiP. Each output has independent settings and named sets; saving and taking them live are separate operations. Screen composition owns the base and text regions; PiP owns the inset/split layout for images, videos, YouTube and slides. See Display settings (steps ①–⑤).

🎨 Display macros

Open the Macros tab in column 2, or use the header's Create macro button. A new definition starts from current settings; Edit opens the saved macro in isolation. Saving does not apply settings or execute actions. Pressing the saved macro applies its settings and executes any explicitly included actions such as TAKE.

📐 Text size and position can be set here too. Just below the macros you will find "📐 Text size and position", where each output (📽️ Prompter / 📡 Stage) has its own text size (labelled with an approximate point size such as 36pt), text alignment, vertical position and horizontal position. These are the same settings as in the column 4 tuning panel — changing either changes both.

• Save: arrange the look, press "💾 Save" to the right of the "🎨 Display macros" heading, and name it (up to 20).
• Apply: press the macro's button to prepare its styles, text sizes and positions. TAKE is required to send them live, regardless of the "instant" checkboxes. Explicit live actions attached to the macro run separately.
• Link to the order of service: the 🎨 selector beside a verse, hymn or text item attaches a macro to it. Selecting the item prepares its display settings; review the preview and use TAKE.
• Macros are stored on the server, so every computer signed in with the same account has them. Deleting one does not break items that referenced it.

The position is remembered too. The vertical (top / middle / bottom), horizontal (left / center / right) and text alignment you set in the fourth column are saved with the macro. Link a macro to an item in your order of service and selecting that item sets the text size and the position together — no need to adjust them by hand for every item.

Everything that affects the projection is saved together. Besides the style, text sizes and position, a macro also saves the line-break rules, your watermark, the overlay text position and size, the media layout, the image margin and display mode, the selected Bible translations and how book names and references are shown, the prompter lyric languages and section breaks, and how the clock overlay looks (whether it is shown, which items, the end time, the format, position, size, colour and which outputs show it). The current time and remaining time themselves are not saved: the clock always shows the time at that moment. Pressing the macro restores all of these to how they were when you saved it (they go live when you TAKE).

The macro on a service order item takes priority. When an item has a display macro, it wins over the default macro for that content type (System settings). If the item has no macro, the default macro is used again. After cutting to the video source, going back to lyrics or scripture (including the next line or verse) restores the display layers.

Blacking out an output

Press "⬛ Black out this output" in that output's tuning panel in column 4 to show nothing but black on that output only. For example, keep the scripture on the stage screen during the sermon while the prompter goes black.

• It goes live when you press TAKE (right away if that output's Live update is on).
• While an output is blacked out, its button turns red and the preview and live monitor in column 4 go black too, so you can tell without looking at the screen itself.
• It stays black when you choose the next verse or lyric. To restore it, press the button again and TAKE.
• A display macro saved with "🎛️ Also remember which display layers are shown" ticked remembers the blackout too. Macros saved before this update do not touch it.
• The waiting background and your own watermarks are hidden as well. Only the Free plan label stays, as required by the plan.

🎨 They also sit somewhere you can reach instantly (the macro row). The buttons for your saved macros appear at the very top of column 2, where you choose what to show. They are there for something that is not in the order of service — so you can set the look on the spot without opening settings.

• They appear in the order you saved them, as many as fit the width. If any do not fit, a "…" button appears and lets you pick from all of them. Nothing is ever shown that you cannot press.
• Pressing one does exactly what pressing the button inside the style settings does. Whether the text size and position reach the live output follows each output's "instant" checkbox.
• Before you have made any, the row shows just "🎨 + Create a display macro". Pressing it takes you to the save box above, already open.
• If you would rather keep column 2 taller, you can hide the row under ⚙️ System settings → "🧭 Usability" (shown by default).

🎬 Macros can also carry actions (TAKE, clear, video source, column width, display placement, shortcut)

Besides settings (style, text size, position, layers, situations) a display macro can remember what to do when pressed. Choose them at the bottom of the save box under "🎬 Also run these when pressed". The actions run in order after the settings have been applied.

• 🔴 TAKE / Clear all / Cut to video source: these change what the congregation sees. A warning appears when you tick one, and the macro's button carries a 🔴 mark. They take effect the moment the button is pressed, so treat a marked button as a "send to live" button.
• Narrow column 2 / Collapse column 2: tidy the operator screen. The congregation's screen is unchanged.
• Open output windows full-screen on the selected displays: with the dedicated host connected, use Detect and choose displays to choose destinations. The host manages windows in both Cloud mode and Offline mode.
• ⌨️ Shortcut: assign one of F1–F4, F6–F10 or Ctrl+Alt+1–9. The key name is shown beside the button. It is ignored while you are typing in a text box. Assigning the same key to another macro removes it from the earlier one, so it is never ambiguous which macro runs.

📁 Saving text you use every week

The "📝 Text" tab in column 3 is split into "✏️ Compose" and "📁 Saved". Type an announcement once and press "💾 Save"; afterwards just pick it from "📁 Saved".

• Choosing puts it on the preview. As with images, the congregation sees it only after TAKE. The text also goes into the editor so you can adjust it first.
• Search by name when the list grows; category filtering appears when you have more than one list.
• ⚠ There is one storage location. These are the same items as "⭐ Favourites → 📝 Text" in column 2.

📝 Choosing a look from the text tab

The display presets above are available directly in the "📝 Text" tab as a "🎨 Look" row, so you do not have to go back to the style panel.

• Identical to pressing them in the style panel, so the look of verses and hymns changes too (a preset carries all three).
• Text you are composing is not lost. Choose the look, then press "📝 Project".
• If you have no presets yet, instructions appear instead of buttons.

📝 Showing text together with scripture (bottom band)

Announcements and offering notices can now appear as a band across the bottom of the screen, without clearing the scripture or lyrics already showing. In the "📝 Text" tab, tick "Show with scripture (bottom band)" below the input box, then press "📝 Send to preview".

• ⚠ Leave it unticked and nothing changes. Text still fills the screen exactly as before. Updating does not alter how your projection looks.
• The congregation sees it only after TAKE, like every other kind of content.
• The band stays when you change the verse — that is the point of it. To take it down, press "❌ Clear projection": while a band is showing it is the first thing cleared (press again for the text, then the image). "🧹 Clear all" removes it too.
• It works over hymn lyrics as well, with the same steps.
• The band uses the 📝 Text section of the text style settings. Long messages are shown up to three lines; anything beyond that is not drawn, so the band never takes over the screen.
• A "📝 Text band" layer appears in the layer list in column 4, so you can switch just the band on and off.

📝 Text has its own look, separate from scripture

The style panel has three sections: 📖 Scripture, 🎵 Hymn lyrics and 📝 Text. Free text can therefore have its own colours, background and spacing.

• The "🎨 Style" panel in column 4 follows suit: with text on the preview the heading reads "📝 Text" and your adjustments affect text only.
• Situation settings gained a "when text is selected" entry, matching scripture and hymns.
• Settings saved before this existed have no text entry yet and inherit the scripture settings, so nothing changes unexpectedly after an update.

📏 When it does not fit (scroll / shrink / leave as-is)

When lyrics or a passage do not fit on screen, you can choose one of three behaviours under "When it does not fit" in the text style settings. It is set separately for scripture, hymns and text, and separately for the prompter and for Stage & Stream.

• Scroll — slowly scrolls so that everything is shown.
• Shrink to fit — makes the text smaller until one line fits without wrapping (there is a limit, so it never becomes unreadable).
• Leave as-is (clipped) — neither scrolls nor shrinks; whatever does not fit is cut off. Good when movement on screen is distracting, or for a prompter that should show a fixed number of lines.

Defaults: hymns use "Shrink to fit"; scripture and text use "Scroll" (unchanged from before).

Sliders also have "−" and "+"

Every slider has "−" and "+" buttons that move it exactly one step per press — 5% for the text-size sliders.

This matters most in column 4, which is narrow: dragging there jumps by more than one step and makes an exact value hard to hit. The slider is still there for large changes.

📖 The colour of the reference line

The reference line under a projected verse (for example "John 1:1 KJV") takes its colour from "Reference colour" in the style panel. Pressing "Follow body colour" clears the override and matches the body text.

This also applies to fill/key output, where the reference line used to be grey on the key and therefore semi-transparent after compositing.

7. Column 2 — Macros

Where: Column 2 → ⚡ Macros, or Create macro on the top bar. A Macro is an instruction that applies settings and optionally performs actions when pressed; it is not a Profile.

Create, edit, save and delete

Create a macro from current prepared settings, or Edit an existing definition. Name it, choose which settings it controls, and optionally assign actions and a shortcut. Saving does not execute it. Attach a macro to an order-of-service item to prepare those settings when the item is selected.

Macros that change the live output

A macro explicitly containing TAKE, clear or a video-source switch changes live projection when executed. A settings-only macro prepares the display and generally requires TAKE. Keep shortcuts unambiguous and distinguish live-action buttons from preparation-only macros.

8. Column 3 — Bible

Opening a passage

Choose book, chapter and verse, or type into the field at the top — abbreviations and loose spellings are accepted. Full-text search uses the same field: type a keyword and keyword matches appear alongside the reference suggestions.

Reading a whole chapter (📜 All verses)

"📜 All verses" at the right of the book/chapter/verse row lists every verse in the chapter. Click any verse to load it into the preview (TAKE is still required).

Each verse is labelled at the left with 1 2 … a b …. Pressing that key jumps straight to that verse — the same as the hymn line list. See 12. Keyboard shortcuts.

Showing a second version, small, while you search

Under the version slots, "Reference version for the console" adds a small second rendering of each verse while you are searching. You can project KJV and still scan for the passage in a language you read more easily.

It appears in the screens you use to find things:

• The "📜 All verses" list — under each verse.
• Full-text search results — under each suggestion.
• "🕒 History" — under each past passage.

• Any version can be chosen, in any language.
• Choose "None" to turn it off.
• Nothing is added when the reference version is in the same language as the projected version, to avoid printing the same text twice.
• The setting is stored per computer and is not shared with the rest of the church.

Searching in a language you are not projecting

Full-text search used to look only inside the versions you had selected, so searching in Japanese while projecting KJV returned nothing.

The reference version above is now searched as well, so you can project one language and search in another.

• A line above the suggestions tells you which additional version is being searched, and that the projection is unchanged.
• Each suggestion shows which version it was found in; matches from a version you are not projecting are marked "(search only)".
• The same passage found in several versions is collapsed into one suggestion.

Searching with one book put first

"Search within one book" is now "Prioritise the selected book". The book and chapter you have selected come first, and the search then keeps going through the whole Bible. You never have to search again.

Nothing to switch on. Once you have picked a book, that book is put first automatically, and you never have to type its name. The 🔍 mark on the search row shows that a book is being prioritised (hover it to see which one). Results are grouped, with a heading at each break:

1. 1. The selected chapter of the selected book (e.g. "1. John 3 — 3 results")
2. 2. The rest of that book (e.g. "2. Rest of John — 35 results")
3. 3. The rest of the Bible, from Matthew onwards, excluding that book (e.g. "3. Rest of the Bible, from Matthew (John excluded) — 502 results")

• The headings, plus the line above the results ("📖 Searching for … , John first"), always show where you are.
• While it is ticked, selecting a different book or chapter moves the priority with it.
• While it is ticked, everything you type is treated as the keyword (typing a book name will not be read as a book name).
• If you have not selected a book yet, the screen tells you so. Pick one from the list below.
• The list never comes back empty just because the word is not in that book. It continues into group 3. Only when the whole Bible has no match is that said on screen.

Typing the book name still works too. Type "book name, space, keyword".

• Example: "John love" → verses in John come first, then the rest of the Bible. (No chapter was typed, so there are two groups here, 2 and 3.)
• Full names and abbreviations both work.
• If the first word is not a book name, the whole Bible is searched as before.

Leaving the search field (Esc)

With the cursor in the verse search field, Esc behaves like this:

• Suggestions open → the first Esc closes the suggestions only; your text and cursor stay.
• No suggestions, or a second Esc → clears the text and leaves the field, so → ← Space work again immediately.

Limiting the prompter to fewer versions

Just above the version slots there is a "📽️ Prompter:" row (shown when two or more versions are selected). The versions you press here are the only ones sent to the prompter. The stage and stream still show all selected versions.

Use it when the stage should show three versions but the reader wants one large version in front of them. Press to select, press again to deselect.

Your version choice is remembered

The versions in the "Versions (up to 3)" slots are remembered on this computer and are still there next time you open JTM Cast.

A remembered version cannot be shown if it belonged to another church or has been deleted. In that case an amber notice above the slots tells you which version was dropped and what replaced it — it never falls back silently.

History

"🕒 History" inside the Bible tab returns you to recently opened passages.

🖼️ "Image cannot be loaded" in the image history

The 🖼️ Images section of "🕒 History" lists images you have projected. JTM Cast does not store those images — it stores only the URL, so your church's storage does not grow without limit.

If a web image later moves or is deleted at the source, history can no longer display it. This is not a fault in JTM Cast.

Instead of a black tile you get:

• ⚠ Image cannot be loaded — stated plainly.
• Source: (domain) — helps you find the same picture again.
• 🌐 Open by URL — puts the URL back into the media tab's "🌐 Web search / URL" field, in case it was a temporary network problem.
• 💾 Add to saved — imports it into your church's "📁 Saved images". This can work when only the browser was blocked (hotlink protection). If the original URL is truly gone it cannot be imported, and we say so honestly.
• Broken tiles cannot be projected, so pressing one never puts a black screen on the wall.

A faint image is the small thumbnail kept for history. It is there to remind you which picture it was and cannot be projected — it would look coarse full screen.

Clear projection

"❌ Clear projection" in the Bible tab removes the verse from the live output but keeps your preview selection, so pressing TAKE again restores it.

9. Column 3 — Hymns

Finding and choosing a song

The search field matches on title, number, reading and category. The song dropdown sits immediately to its right.

If your songs are grouped into categories, typing the category name filters to it. You do not need to remember the names — clicking the field lists the categories you have.

Once you type, an "✕" appears at the right; press it (or Esc) to clear the search and get all songs back. This stops a leftover search term from hiding the song you are looking for.

Pressing Esc again with the field empty moves the cursor out of the field, so → ← Space work again (same as the Bible tab — see 2. Bible tab).

Finding a song by its lyrics

If you cannot remember the title, type the words you do remember.

Songs found by their lyrics are grouped under "📝 Found in lyrics" in the dropdown, and the matching line is shown after the title, so you can see why the song appeared.

• Full-width and half-width characters both match.
• Lyrics A, B (translation or romanisation) and C are all searched, so a song you know in English can be found that way. The matching line is shown in the field it matched.
• Lyric search starts at two characters. One character would match almost everything.

Lyrics A / B / C

Each song can hold three lyric fields: A (main), B (translation, romanisation, …) and C (reading aid). Because the contents of B differ from song to song, the fields are named neutrally rather than by language. Use the buttons at the top to show more than one at once.

🌐 Automatic translation of the whole song (run manually)

Where: Column 3 → Hymns → “🌐 Translate whole song”, next to “🌐 ABC”; also available in the individual hymn editor in System settings. It translates all Lyrics A rows into a selected language and saves the result to Lyrics B or C. Selecting a song or advancing the lyrics never triggers translation automatically.

1. Open a song that has Lyrics A and select “🌐 Translate whole song”. The settings popup opens below the button.
2. Choose the target language and select Lyrics B or Lyrics C as the destination. You will be asked to confirm if existing destination lyrics would be overwritten.
3. Optionally enable “Fit every row on one line at the specified font size” and enter a size in pixels. The check uses a standard 1920×1080 display area; fitting is not guaranteed. Review any lines reported as too wide.
4. Check the displayed remaining monthly allowance and estimated processing time, then press “Translate”. Review the result, select the lyrics field you want to display, and use Preview → TAKE to project it.

🏷️ Project the title only

Once a song is selected, a "🏷️ Project title" button appears at the right of the search row. It puts the song title on the preview (and live, via TAKE) with no lyrics — useful as an announcement slide.

Sort order (by title / by number) and "reading"

⚙️ System settings → "🧭 Usability" → "🎵 Hymn list order" chooses how the song list is sorted. It lives in settings rather than on the tab because it is not something you change mid-service. Changes apply immediately.

• 🔤 By title (default): alphabetical / kana order. Only the title is shown.
• 🔢 By number: the order set with the ▲▼ buttons in the hymn import list. Shown as "number. title".

Songs whose titles begin with Japanese characters need a "reading" to sort correctly; English titles can leave it blank. Readings can be set in the per-song edit form or in a CSV column.

You never have to think about song numbers: new songs are numbered automatically, and re-importing a CSV preserves order, category and reading.

The line list

Selecting a song fills the lower half with a line list. No lyric line is selected when the song first opens, and line 1 is not placed on Preview automatically. Clicking a line is what first puts lyrics on Preview.

• Each line wraps to at most two rows, so long lyrics are not cut off after a few words and you can find lines by the words themselves.
• "1 col / 2 col ⇕ / 2 col ⇔" at the right of the toolbar changes the layout. On a narrow screen, or with long lines, choose "1 col" to double the width per line.
• Section and line arrows (◀▶) are collapsed into one slim bar so that the height goes to the list instead. "⚡ Instant" and "❌ Clear projection" sit in the same bar; the latter can be hidden under ⚙️ System settings → "🧭 Usability".
• Each line is only as tall as it needs to be, so short songs no longer get absurdly thick rows. At 1920×1080, 36 lines fit in two columns.
• Press the key shown at the left of a line (1 2 … a b …) to jump straight to it (12. Keyboard shortcuts).
• Space / → move to the next line and ← / Shift+Space to the previous one. To move by section (verse 1, verse 2, refrain …) use Shift + → / ←.

Lyric line counts per output (default and "this song only")

How many lyric lines go out at once is set per output — for example six lines on the prompter, one on the main screen and four on a nursery monitor. Outputs you added yourself can be set the same way.

• The default used by every song lives in the second column under "🎨 Display settings → 🎨 Text style → 🎵 Hymn lyrics". Open "📃 Lines" inside each output's panel.
• To change it for the song you are on, tick "Change for this song only" at the top of the same "🎵 Hymn lyrics" section. Ticking it changes nothing on screen straight away; only what you change afterwards is kept for that song. Unticking it returns the song to the shared default.
• Which one is in use is spelled out next to the tick box ("The shared default (every song) is in use" / "‘Title’ uses its own line counts").
• The 📽️ 📡 numbers in the Hymn tab toolbar change the counts in place as well. While "this song only" is on, those boxes are outlined in colour so you can see that you are changing one song.
• When "📡 Stage & stream" is in use, the prompter count can only be a multiple of the stage count, so that every line on the stage is always on the prompter too.

Fitting more lines on screen

Reducing the interface scale with "− 100% +" at the top gives the extra height to the line list, so more lines are visible at once. At 80% on a 1920×1080 screen the list is roughly 1.6× taller.

Stepping the live song

Next/previous lyric steps in the song you have taken live also move the live output. Selecting another song or clicking the same item again changes only the preview. After preparing a different song or display settings, confirm them with TAKE.

10. Column 3 — Media

YouTube in Column 3 is for playing saved YouTube videos. It is separate from live streaming to YouTube.

After taking a YouTube video live, use the LIVE controls at the top of the YouTube tab to adjust its volume, pause, resume or stop. Preparing another URL does not change the target of these controls. The controls remain available when returning from another tab.

Upload images, video and audio and manage them as a media library. Storage use is shown at the top of the list.

Under "Saved images" you can select several files from your computer at once; they upload one after another with a "n/n uploading…" indicator.

Projecting an image (choose → position → project)

Choose “Get more images from the web” to retrieve additional images. The number varies each time. “Images retrieved” shows the total available under the current filter, including additional results and images not yet expanded in the list. A new search resets the count.

Every image selection scrolls to its preview. Save messages clear when you change images or close the preview. In web search, the free-image filter and notices remain visible while scrolling; use the adjacent ↑ and ↓ buttons to jump to the top or bottom of the scroll area.

Images follow the same three steps whether they come from "🌐 Web search / URL" or "📁 Saved images". Nothing appears the instant you click.

1. Choose — clicking a tile loads it into "🖼️ Selected image preview" above the list. Still nowhere near the congregation.
2. Size and position — use the "🔍 Projection size" slider and drag inside the preview to move it. "🎯 Re-centre" starts over. "Show on" can restrict it to the stream or the prompter.
3. Project — "📤 Project" sends it to the column 4 preview. It goes live only on TAKE.

To inspect a saved image closely, press 🔍 at the top right of its tile.

Unavailable images stay in place instead of moving the grid

Web search results include images whose source refuses downloads and images whose link is broken. Previously, results were shown first and then removed as the background check finished, which could make already visible images jump repeatedly to different positions.

Now an image confirmed as unavailable keeps its card in the same position and is marked unavailable. Other images do not move. The panel also reports how many results were marked unavailable.

Image formats you can import

jpg, jpeg, jpe, png, gif, webp, bmp, avif, jfif, apng and ico.

When search or loading is slow

Depending on your connection and the remote site, results or images can take a while. After 2.5 seconds the elapsed time and a "🔄 Retry" button appear. If a remote site does not respond we stop waiting and say why — you never get an endless spinner.

Details of the slowness (where, how long) are sent automatically. You are never asked to count attempts or check settings. Only timings, counts and the source site name are sent — never your search terms or the images.

Where are video and audio?

They are in "🎬 Media" → "🎞️ Video & audio", in the same column as Bible, hymns, images and text, so everything you need during a service is in one column.

• It works with column 2 closed, so churches that prepare the service in advance can use a wider working area.
• The playback bar (stop, restart) stays pinned while you scroll, so you can always stop what is playing.

Names and tags

🏷️ Tag suggestions (when adding a tag) are ordered by how often you use them, so your usual tags come first. The filter dropdown stays alphabetical — it is where you look for a tag you already know, so a stable order is easier to scan.

The name in the list is the file name as you uploaded it. Numbers are appended to the file stored on disk to avoid collisions, but they are never shown.

As the library grows, add tags. Press "🏷 Tags" on any row (inside the enlarged view for images), type a name and press "+ Add". Tag names are free-form.

• Any number of tags per item (up to 10). Unlike folders, an item can be in several places at once.
• "🏷️ All tags" beside the search field filters to one tag. "(No tag)" shows what you have not classified yet.
• Tags work in both "🎞️ Media list" and "Saved images".
• Tags are per church and are deleted with the item.

Video rows show a small thumbnail of the first frame — often faster than reading names.

📁 Saved-image folders (different from tags)

A folder is a location (one per image); tags are attributes (many per image). The left sidebar contains All, Unfiled and your folders.

• Create folders with ＋, rename them, or delete them. Deleting a folder never deletes its images; they return to Unfiled.
• Drag an image onto a folder to move it. If the dragged image is part of a multi-selection, the selected images move together. Drop on Unfiled to remove the folder assignment.
• Folder selection combines with name search, tags and sorting. Empty folders are kept.
• The simple ＋ Add button sits immediately to the left of name search. The list shows the total while nothing is selected, or “2 of 13 selected”; bulk delete/tag controls appear only while selected.

Renaming

Files from a phone or camera arrive as "IMG_4821.png". Press "✏️" to rename it to something like "Offering announcement". Works for video, audio and saved images.

• Both the new name and the original file name are searchable.
• "Revert" while editing restores the original file name.
• ⚠ Only the displayed name changes. Items already used in a program, favourites or as a background keep working.

Finding video and audio (order and usage)

The video and audio list can be sorted and filtered just like saved images. Next to the search box and tags there is an order selector (by name / newest first / oldest first). "Newest first" brings recent uploads to the top, so you no longer have to hunt for "that video from last week" in a list sorted by name.

• Each item shows how many programs use it (for example 🔗 2 programs). Hover to see their names. Items used nowhere are marked "Unused".
• Filter by "🔗 Not used anywhere" to tidy up video and audio you no longer need.
• The order is remembered on this device only; other computers are unaffected.
• ⚠ If usage cannot be determined, no badge and no filter are shown, so an item still in use is never labelled "Unused".

Which services use this image?

Each saved image shows how many programs use it (for example 🔗 2 programs). Hover to see their names. Unused images are marked "Unused".

• Filter by "🔗 Not used anywhere" to tidy up, together with bulk delete.
• ⚠ The count is programs, not occurrences.
• ⚠ If usage cannot be determined, no badge and no filter are shown, so an image in use is never labelled "Unused".

Finding an image once you have a lot of them (date added, sorting)

As your library grows, names and tags alone are not enough. "📁 Saved images" gives you more to go on.

• Each image shows the date it was added (📅). Useful when you remember when you added it: "the Easter photo from last month".
• You can sort (by name / newest first / oldest first). "Newest first" brings what you added recently to the top.
• You can filter by use (all / in use / not used anywhere). See Which services use this image? for details.
• Tags and names filter too. See Names and tags.
• ⚠ Images whose date is unknown show no date at all (never "unknown"). This applies to images added with older versions.

Bulk delete and bulk tagging

Checkboxes at the top left of each saved image allow deleting or tagging several at once.

• "☑ Select all" covers only what is currently visible — items hidden by a search or tag filter are not selected.
• Bulk tagging adds tags; it never removes existing ones.
• Deleting cannot be undone, so it asks once. Failures are reported with a reason and stay selected so you can retry.

Sort order for saved images

Beside the tag filter is a sort selector. "Newest first" brings recent uploads to the top.

• By name (default).
• Newest / oldest first — by the time the item was added.

Projecting video and audio (preview → TAKE → ▶ play)

Video and audio go live in three steps, like verses and hymns. Nothing starts playing the instant you click.

1. Choose — the file name (or "👁 Preview") loads it paused in the preview; video shows its first frame. The live output is unchanged.
2. TAKE — it goes live, still paused.
3. ▶ Play — in the "LIVE" bar at the top of the media list. Pause, stop and volume are in the same bar.

"✕ Cancel" discards a preview at any time without touching the live output.

Audio works the same way. It is silent in the preview (previews are always muted) and starts when you press "▶ Play" after TAKE.

Starting playback at TAKE (setting)

The default is: choose → paused preview → TAKE (still paused) → "▶ Play". This lets you check the content before the congregation sees it.

If you prefer playback to start with TAKE, turn on ⚙️ System settings → "🧭 Usability" → "🎬 Start playing video and audio at TAKE".

• Choosing an item still never goes live. Only the moment of TAKE changes.
• ⚠ With this on, sound reaches the hall the instant you press TAKE. Check your levels first.
• The setting is per church, so every console behaves the same. Consoles behaving differently causes accidents.

Playlists

In "🎞️ Media list" you can build a "🎵 Playlist". Add one file with "+ List" on its row, or tick several and press "+ Add n selected to list" above the list.

Files are appended and duplicates are skipped (the number skipped is shown). You can add while playing. Reorder with ▲▼; moving the current track keeps playback on it.

Playback time: under the live video or audio you see the current position and the total length, as in "0:42 / 3:15". The total length is shown before you press "▶ Play" and while paused as well, so you can check how long a piece runs before it reaches the congregation. The figures are refreshed once a second from what the live output is actually playing.

Seeking: press the progress bar under the live video or audio to jump there; drag for fine control. While dragging the live output does not move — it jumps once, when you release, so the congregation does not hear it stutter.

The controls stay available when you come back: if you switch the third column to "Bible" or "Hymns" while something is playing, going back to "🎬 Media" → "🎞️ Video & Audio" still shows the live bar for whatever is playing — position, progress bar and pause. The same is true while paused, so you can press "▶ Play" to carry on from where you stopped.

"⏭ Next" skips to the next item without waiting for the current one to end. It is disabled when there is nowhere to go: before you have started with "▶ Play from the start", and on the last item in "stop" mode. In "repeat" mode the last item wraps to the first.

🗂️ Save playlists under a name (as many as you need): build an order, type a name in the field above the playlist and press "💾 Save with a name". Saved playlists appear as name buttons, and one press of a name switches to that order. Keep separate lists for "Music before the service", "Offering music", "Children's service", and so on (up to 15 lists, 30 items each).

The playlist you loaded is marked. Add or reorder items while it is loaded and a "💾 Update" button appears, which overwrites that saved playlist with the current order.

Renaming, reordering and deleting appear only when you press "✏️ Organise", so delete cannot be hit by accident during a service. Deleting a playlist does not delete the media files.

Saved playlists are shared across your church. An order prepared on Saturday from a different account is there on Sunday for whoever sits at the desk. Other churches cannot see them. Previously there was only one playlist, it was never saved, and moving to another tab and back lost it; saved playlists now survive tab changes and reloading.

Saved YouTube links

Under "🎬 Media" → "📺 YouTube", the label and Save controls now sit directly below the URL field. If you leave the label blank, JTM Cast uses the video title when it can retrieve it.

Saved links are shown as a list rather than a dropdown. You can search by name and filter by tag. A count such as "Saved links (1/4)" shows the number currently visible on the left and the total number saved on the right. Search and tag filtering work together.

11. Column 3 — Selecting and preparing content

Where: Column 3. The six tabs are Bible → Hymns → Media → Text → Screen sharing → History, in that order. Slides are under Media. Alt+number (Option+number on macOS) follows this order.

Scripture and hymn lyrics

Search by book, chapter and verse or by song, then select a verse or lyric line. New content normally enters Preview; TAKE sends it live. Next/previous within already live content can advance live. If the text is split into pages inside its region, next/previous advances those pages before moving to the next verse or line.

Images, video, YouTube, music and slides

Select and organize saved content using search, tags, sorting, rename, multi-selection and delete where offered. In video/music/YouTube playlists, inspect repeat vs. play-once, audio-only mode, total duration, and clear-on-finish. Choosing a saved item is separate from starting its live playback.

Text, screen sharing and history

Write a new text or recall a saved text; optionally prepare it as a band over Scripture or lyrics. Select a screen or application to share, or recall previous items from History. Selecting a different item requires TAKE before it appears live.

Per-content output destinations and append-next

Use the individual-output icon at the top of Column 3 to limit the destinations for the selected content type. OFF follows the saved Situation; ON gives priority to the checked destinations. The Append next content icon sits immediately to the left of that output icon and explains itself on hover. Check the per-output previews before TAKE.

Temporary PiP override from Column 3

Choose between inheriting the output-specific PiP settings from Column 2 and temporarily applying a common PiP layout to all outputs. This does not rewrite saved screen compositions or sets, and only becomes live after TAKE.

12. Column 4 — Preview, TAKE and clearing

Where: Column 4, with one preview for each enabled destination. The column can also open in a separate window, with its show/hide control synchronized to the left taskbar.

Monitor modes and previews

Switching monitor layouts changes the operator display, not the projected content. Monitoring cards are not independent live playback/audio masters. Select an output to adjust or view it more closely.

▦ Widgets — monitoring tiles in Column 4

Where: Column 4 → “Widgets”, immediately to the right of “Fade”, both in the integrated and detached window. Check one or more items to add separate monitoring tiles alongside the Preview/LIVE cards. Selecting items keeps the menu open; click outside or press Esc to close it.

• Projection status: See whether each output is projecting, launching, recovering or waiting for a display. Unverifiable states are marked as unconfirmed.
• Audio meter: View levels from JTM Cast audio input or OBS inputs. Use the tile's ⚙ button if you want to connect OBS.
• Network: Press “Speed test” to measure the operator computer's download and upload speeds on demand. The normal-use guide is at least 20 Mbps down and 10 Mbps up: each qualifying direction glows blue; values below the guide glow red. A brief message summarizes the connection (“Very fast”, “Fast”, “Good”, or “Upload is slow”). “Offline” is shown only when the browser reports an offline connection, not merely when the test endpoint is unreachable. The test measures the route to Cloudflare, not every streaming destination. It can transfer up to about 261 MiB; avoid testing during a live stream.
• OBS streaming: Explicitly connect to OBS WebSocket v5 to read live/standby status and frame statistics. Default address: ws://127.0.0.1:4455. The widget never starts or stops a stream.
• PC load: Reads CPU and RAM from a compatible dedicated Host. There is no PC-load settings gear. The “Check compatible version” action appears only when the connected Host's actual version is confirmed older than the minimum, and only then can you check for a published, strictly newer release for the same channel and CPU. No installer is suggested for disconnected or unverified Hosts, main/dev mismatches, or a missing telemetry endpoint. Apple M-series (including M5) = Apple Silicon (arm64); Intel Macs = Intel (x64). GPU usage is not measured.
• Clock and timer: Show the operator computer's clock and a countdown or stopwatch. Configure mode/duration via ⚙ and start, pause or reset inside the tile.

Drag the “⠿” handle to rearrange both widgets and Preview/LIVE tiles. Visibility and ordering are stored locally in the current browser. Only configurable cards (audio meter, OBS streaming, clock/timer) show ⚙. PC load has no settings gear. The tile does not expand.

TAKE, individual clear, Clear all and Undo

TAKE commits the prepared state to the live projection. Individual clear removes a selected live layer, while Clear all removes the live content together. Undo clear restores the previous cleared live state. Clearing generally retains the prepared preview; send it again with TAKE. Use recovery and video-source buttons only after checking the currently live state.

LIVE indicator, instant update and fade

The LIVE indicator shows what viewers currently see. Supported controls with Instant update ON may change live immediately; with it OFF, edits remain prepared. Fade affects the appearance of transitions. Check slide and media instant-update behavior separately.

13. Column 4 — Output controls and visual tuning

Where: Open the display settings rail next to Column 4 previews or the individual preview's tuning control. These controls work both embedded and in the detached monitor window.

Situation (layers)

Toggle visibility and ordering of text, images, video and slides, and control output audio. Column 2 sets the Situation defaults for selecting a content item; Column 4 adjusts the current output.

Text style, size and positioning

Adjust size, horizontal and vertical positions, alignment, colour and background for the chosen output. Scripture, hymns and free text have separate styles. Saving a standard style is different from enabling an instant live adjustment. This area also includes audio enablement, blackout for one output, and settings-panel folding.

Overlays and waiting background

Operate clocks (current time, end time or countdown), watermark, image overlays, VJ and waiting background. Overlays sit over ordinary content; waiting background is a separate feature. Check which elements should remain on switching or clearing.

14. Column 4 — Overlays and waiting background

The top of column 4 keeps Size / Fade / nine status indicators / Overlay / Waiting background together. The indicators show Image Overlays 1–6, Clock, VJ and Watermark at a glance. The detached column-4 window shares the same state.

🕒 Overlay → Clock

Choose current time, end time and/or countdown; horizontal/vertical layout; 12/24-hour format; six positions; size; common or custom colours; background and output targets. Control + Shift + 7 toggles it.

🖼️ Overlay → Image overlay

There are six independent slots, which can be shown together. Each selects from images already registered under Image registration/editing and has its own position, size, opacity and output targets. It does not open the OS file picker directly.

Control + Shift + 1–6 toggles the six slots.

💧 Overlay → Watermark

Watermark setup is in column 4 Overlay. Choose registered images and set their position, size and opacity. Output targets are fixed to all enabled outputs. The mandatory JTM Cast branding on the Free plan is a separate system watermark and cannot be removed here. Control + Shift + 9 toggles Watermark.

🎆 Overlay → VJ

In Overlay, choose up to seven VJ quick actions and an effect for each (Marquee / Pulse / Zoom). Enabled actions appear as small execution buttons above the Preview/Live panes rather than inside the menu. Control + Shift + 8 toggles VJ globally.

🖼️ Waiting background (separate from Overlay)

Waiting background is a separate control immediately to the right of Overlay. Choose a background from thumbnail cards and show it as the waiting screen. Alt + S means show the configured waiting background; it is not a toggle.

Alt + V means show the configured video source. Alt + Z is Undo, and Control + Shift + 9 toggles Watermark.

15. System settings

Named additional outputs

You can add up to three named outputs alongside Prompter and Stage. After a successful save, follow the prompt to reload the console. If saving fails, an error is shown; neither the list nor the saved value is updated as if the save succeeded.

Existing catalogs with four or more additional outputs are not automatically truncated when read. While over the limit, only removing existing outputs can be saved. Reduce the catalog to three additional outputs or fewer before renaming, replacing or adding outputs. Settings for outputs you keep are preserved.

🧭 Usability (showing and hiding controls)

"🧭 Usability" turns individual buttons and fields on and off to suit how your church runs a service. These are stored on your device only.

• ❌ "Clear projection" in column 3 (on by default) — turning it off hides the button in the hymn, scripture and text tabs and frees the space. The column 4 button is never hidden, so your escape route in a hurry always exists. All three tabs switch together.
• 🎤 Prompter preview / 📡 Stage preview in column 4 (both on) — turning one off makes the other larger.
  ⚠ Only the preview inside the console is hidden; the projection windows are untouched. Turning both off shows instructions for getting them back.
• 🎵 Hymn list order — see 3. Hymn tab.

🎛️ Choosing the outputs you use (Prompter / Stage & Stream)

If your church never uses a prompter, or leaves the auditorium screen to a switcher, settings for the output you do not use only get in the way. Under ⚙️ System settings → "Outputs you use" (its own section, just above "🧭 Usability") you can remove the output you do not use from the console entirely.

• What disappears — the button that opens the projection window in column 1, the image destination selector and "Limiting the prompter to fewer versions" in column 3, and the preview and adjustment panel (text size, alignment, text style, display layers) in column 4.
• ⚠ At least one output always remains. With both removed there would be nowhere to project, so trying to remove the second one is declined with an explanation.
• This setting is shared across the PCs signed in with the same account. If you want just one PC to differ, turn on "Use a different setting on this PC only".
• Screen-share audio (e.g. Zoom) follows this setting too. With "📡 Stage & Stream" in use the stage projection window plays it; with it turned off the prompter projection window does (only ever one of them, otherwise you would hear an echo). The device it comes out of is the one chosen in "🔊 Audio output" either way.
• Hymn line counts follow this setting too. With "📡 Stage & Stream" turned off, the prompter line count can be any value from 1 to 20, because there is nothing to match it to. When you turn Stage & Stream back on, the count snaps to the nearest valid value and the console tells you what it changed it to (it must be a multiple of the stage line count so that every line on the stage also appears on the prompter).

💾 Where settings are saved, and how they reach your other PCs (and "Adopt settings")

Startup settings sync distinguishes your edits from settings received from another device. Edits made during loading, and newer settings received during that load, are protected from being rolled back by an older response arriving later.

Situations, text styles, display layers, streaming settings and the like are saved on the server and shared automatically between the PCs signed in with the same account. Change something on one PC and the other one updates straight away — there is no need to sign in again.

• ⚠ Sharing happens within one account only. In the same church, an administrator account and a staff account keep separate settings. When "it looks different on someone else's PC", this is usually why.
• The later change is preferred when the edit order can be verified. Different content at the same time, or changes without a verified account, are held. Arrival time alone never makes an old edit new.

To copy another account's settings wholesale, use "🎛 Adopt settings" under ⚙️ System settings → "⚙️ General". Pick another account in your church and their settings are copied into yours. After the copy the two are independent, so later changes on either side do not affect the other.

🧑‍🏫 The guided tour (for your first time)

The first time you sign in, a short tour walks you through the main controls. Use "Next" to move on, or "Skip" to leave it.

• You can see it again at any time from "❓" at the top of the console (the "Getting started" tab) — handy when someone new takes over the console.
• The tour also has a "📖 Manual" button that opens this manual in another tab.
• To stop it opening by itself, turn off "🧑‍🏫 Guided tour" under ⚙️ System settings → "🧭 Usability" (it stays available from "❓").

✉️ Contact us (when something goes wrong)

The form also explains the expected response time before you send. We welcome your questions. We review each message and aim to reply within a few days. Some enquiries may take a little longer to look into, but we will work through them in turn.

"❓" at the top of the console has a "Contact us" tab. Write to us straight from there — something not working, something confusing, or something you would like us to add.

• There is nothing for you to look up. Your operating system and browser and their versions, the app version, the screen you had open, your church and the account you are signed in as are all collected automatically. We will not ask you what you are running (the form shows you exactly what is sent).
• The reply address is filled in from the account you are signed in as. Change it there if you would rather we replied somewhere else.
• You will get an acknowledgement email right away. A real person then reads your message, and we aim to reply within a few days. A busy week can take a little longer, but nothing you send us is left unread.
• If it cannot be sent, what you wrote is not lost. It is kept as a draft on this computer, so you can send it again once you are back online.
• In the offline mode, when there is no internet connection the screen says clearly that the message has not been sent yet. It is saved on this computer and sent automatically once you are back online - there is nothing to retype.

🎨 Display macros (the button row above column 2)

A row of buttons that applies a display macro without opening the settings. It sits at the very top of column 2, for when something not in the order of service comes up and the text size, position and style need fixing on the spot.

• Pressing a button applies that macro's text size, position and style immediately.
• Macros that do not fit the width move into "…", which lists all of them — nothing becomes unreachable.
• Before you have made any, the row shows "🎨 + Create a display macro". Pressing it takes you straight to where they are saved, so there is nothing to hunt for in the settings.
• Hide the row with "🎨 Display macros" under ⚙️ System settings → "🧭 Usability" — worth doing on a narrow screen.
• The macro you have applied is named to the left of the button row, including when you picked it from "…", so there is nothing to remember. The badge next to the name is its state. "Ready" — applied, but not live yet (TAKE sends it). "Live" — those settings are what the congregation is seeing. "Changed" — you edited something by hand afterwards, so what you have now is no longer that macro. "Live/edited" — the congregation still has the macro, but the settings here have moved on.
• The badge is not simply the name of the last button you pressed. It is worked out by comparing what was actually sent to the live output against your current settings, every time. It never claims a macro is in effect when it is not.

🔄 New version notice

When the app has been updated, "🔄 A new version is available" appears at the top of the screen. Click it to see what to do.

• Nothing switches on its own. You decide whether and when to reload.
• ⚠ Please do not reload during a service or a live stream. The screen goes blank for a moment and projection is interrupted for a few seconds. Please do it at a convenient moment.
• Once shown, the notice stays until you reload, so it is not missed in the middle of a service.

🔁 Roll back or move forward a version (offline mode)

If you run JTM Cast installed on your own computer, you can roll back to an earlier version, or move forward again, from inside the app: ⚙️ System settings → "🖥️ Offline mode" → "🔁 Switch version".

• Available versions are listed newest first, and the one you are running is marked with ✅.
• Older versions offer "⬇ Roll back to this version", newer ones "⬆ Move forward to this version", so you know which way you are going before you press.
• The server stops for a moment and comes back within one to a few minutes. Progress is shown on screen while it does.
• ⭕ Your Bibles, hymns, programs, settings and images all stay exactly as they are.
• ⚠ Please reopen the projection window after switching.
• ⚠ You cannot switch while streaming. Stop the stream first.

📦 Storage bar

The media list shows how much storage you are using against your limit, so you notice before an upload is refused. The limit comes from your plan (Subscription).

🖥️ Full-text panel for scripture and hymns

The scripture and hymn tabs can show the full text of the verse or section you have selected (it is off by default). Turn on "🖥️ Full-text panel" under ⚙️ System settings → "🧭 Usability".

• When the text is too long for the screen, scrolling this panel by hand also moves what is shown on the projection — useful for working through a long passage.
• How the projection itself looks is set under display settings; this panel is for the operator to read the whole text.

Importing a Bible translation (CSV)

Under ⚙️ System settings → 📖 Bibles & translations → 📥 Bulk Bible import, you can bring in the translation your church reads from as a CSV file. The version code is taken from the file name (without its extension), and several files can be chosen at once.

Start with "📄 Download sample CSV". It gives you a file whose header row is written in the language the screen is currently showing. Replace its rows with your own translation and import it.

There are six columns: Version, Book ID, Book, Chapter, Verse, Text. One row per verse. Book ID (GEN for Genesis, PSA for Psalms, JHN for John, REV for Revelation) may be left out, but with it the book names may be written in any language and still land in the right book.

The header row may be written in any language the app supports — English, Japanese or Shona headers are all read as the same columns, so a file that already worked keeps working. Capitalisation, spaces and underscores do not matter either (Book ID, book_id and BOOKID all work).

Managing Bible translations (visibility, rename and delete)

Under ⚙️ System settings → 📖 Bibles & translations → Version management, you can control which translations appear in the Bible tab and manage translations added by your church.

• Turn Show in Bible tab on or off for each translation. A hidden translation remains in Version management, so you can always turn it back on later.
• A translation added by your church from CSV or another import can have its code and display name changed and updated. If it is no longer needed, Delete all removes that translation together with its verse data.
• Bundled/shared JTM Cast translations are protected from accidental editing or deletion. The current bundled public-domain set includes Japanese Colloquial, KJV, ASV and SUB1949.
• For a newly registered church, the translations shown initially are chosen from the UI language used at sign-up. You can change the selection here at any time.

Importing hymns

Import in bulk from CSV, or add and edit songs one at a time. Rows with the same title are merged into one song. The per-song form covers number (internal; assigned automatically for new songs), title, reading, category and lyrics A / B / C.

CSV may include a reading column. The full ZIP export includes it too, so you can export, edit and re-import.

Column names may be written in English. A header row of Title, Yomi, Section type, Section name, Line number, Lyrics A, Lyrics B, Lyrics C, Background color is understood, and capitalisation and extra spaces do not matter. Only Title and Lyrics A are required — leave out any column you do not need. The "📄 Download sample CSV" button gives you this layout already filled in with an example, so the easiest route is to start from that file.

Importing from ProPresenter

⚙️ System settings → 🎵 Hymns → "📥 Import from ProPresenter" accepts ProPresenter files (.pro / .pro6 / .pro5 / .pro4), several at a time.

• Nothing is registered when you choose the files. You review the contents and then press "Import", so hymns in use are never overwritten unexpectedly.
• ProPresenter group names (Verse 1, Chorus, …) become section names.
• ProPresenter has no numbers, so numbering continues after your highest existing number. Existing songs are never overwritten.
• Unreadable files are reported individually with a reason, and the rest still import.
• Copyright details are saved too — song number (CCLI), author, artist, publisher and copyright year. Songs that carry them are marked with 🔖 in the hymn list, and you can read the details by opening the song under "Add / edit individually". They survive edits to the title and lyrics, and travel with CSV export and import, with data you take out of the app, and with cloud sync. They are never shown on the projection.
• Verified against sample files exported by ProPresenter 4 to 7. If a file still does not import, please send it to us as is.

Importing hymn lyrics from PowerPoint

⚙️ System settings → 🎵 Hymns → "📥 Import from PowerPoint or ProPresenter" accepts PowerPoint files (.pptx). You may mix them with ProPresenter files in the same selection.

⚠ Only the lyrics (text) are brought across here. If you want the look of the slides — photos, layout, background — as well, see Importing PowerPoint slides with their look. This page is about registering the lyrics as hymns.

• Nothing is registered when you choose the files. You review the contents and then press "Import".
• One slide becomes one verse. Line breaks inside a slide are kept where they are.
• If a slide has presenter notes, they are used as the name of that verse (Verse 1, Chorus, …).
• The song title comes from the file's title property, or from the file name when that is empty.
• Numbering continues after your highest existing number, so existing songs are never overwritten. If a song of the same name already exists, you are told before importing.
• ⚠ Only text is read. Images, layout, animations and backgrounds are not imported.
• ⚠ The older .ppt format cannot be read. Open it in PowerPoint and save it again as .pptx.
• ⚠ Up to 20 MB per file. Presentations with many images can exceed this even though only the text is imported. Remove some images, or split out just the slides you need into a separate file.
• ⚠ This has not yet been verified against real PowerPoint files. If one does not import, please send it to us.

Backup and migration

Export and import all data, or migrate from the cloud in one click.

Account

Email confirmation, password change and sign-out.

When a verse or hymn fails to load

If the text does not appear, the connection may have dropped briefly. The app retries twice automatically, so it usually appears anyway.

If it still fails, a red bar saying "Could not load" with a "🔄 Retry" button appears directly below the selector. You do not need to change tabs or re-select anything mid-service.

"Your session may have expired" cannot be fixed by retrying — reload the page (F5) and sign in again.

Diagnostic data

When an unexpected error occurs, its details (message and location) are recorded so we can investigate. This happens in both the cloud and local versions. Anything that looks like personal data, such as an email address, is masked first.

The "location" we record is only as much as tells us which operation failed. Everything after ? in the address is stripped before recording, so what you type — search words, text you enter, the names of your material or programs — is not recorded. Neither is the content on your screen (scripture text, lyrics, program items).

Environment information is recorded too, so that we never have to ask you "which browser version are you on?" in the middle of a service:

• Operating system and browser with versions, CPU type, graphics adapter name
• Screen resolution and window size, CPU core count, whether the network is reachable
• Cloud or offline mode, and the application version
• The number of connected cameras, microphones and speakers, and the current video/audio state (resolution, frame rate)

Nothing personally identifying is recorded. No names, email addresses, church names or IP addresses. Device names are not recorded either — only how many there are. No new camera or microphone permission is requested.

In the offline mode these records are also sent to us automatically (on by default) so that problems are found without you having to send logs. To disable it, set the environment variable MC_NO_TELEMETRY=1 when starting the server. The cloud mode does not send them, because the data is already there.

16. Cloud/offline use and synchronization

"☁️ Sign in with your cloud account" on the offline mode's sign-in screen uses the same account as the cloud mode. Each sign-in synchronises Bible versions, hymns, programs, favourites and media in both directions; the more recent edit wins. You can also switch to one-way "cloud is authoritative" sync.

Each person using this computer must first sign in online with their own cloud account. Another person's linked account does not replace your own first sign-in.

📦 How much you can store (offline mode vs. cloud)

The offline mode has no storage limit. As long as the computer has free disk space, you can keep as many videos and audio files as you like. Churches that use a lot of video do not need to count files or watch a total.

🎬 Syncing when you have large videos (what always arrives, and what may not)

Compatible versions confirm media by name, size and modification time, reducing repeat uploads and downloads during two-way sync. Downloads recheck the actual local files; missing or changed files trigger a full download. Older versions and cloud-wins mode keep the previous download method. Large inventories, Bible and hymn exports, and general-upload images are not optimized.

Two-way sync tracks successful settings uploads separately from successful media uploads. Media blocked by storage capacity remains pending; finishing the download does not mark it as uploaded. Unsent edits made during sync remain pending too.

If media cannot be imported for lack of space, its transfer-completion record is not advanced. Missing media is not treated as synced, while successfully synced settings and other data remain synced. Free up space, then sync again.

The offline mode has no limit, but the cloud has your plan's allowance. A large video on your computer may therefore not fit in the cloud. Sync handles this by sending two separate parcels.

1. The light things first — programs, favourites, setlists, Bible versions, hymns, and your display and streaming settings.
2. Then the media files themselves — videos, audio and images.

Media that did not arrive never disappears silently. The program list and the media list show "⚠ Not on this computer", and the item will not load into the preview. That is deliberate: it stops you pressing TAKE on an empty item and blanking the congregation screen. The same item still works normally on a computer that does have the file.

🔀 Sync mode

⚙️ System settings → "📦 Data" → "🔄 Cloud sync" offers two modes.

• Two-way (newer wins) — the default. Edits on this computer and in the cloud are compared; the later edit is kept when their order can be verified. Adding a different macro is distinguished from editing an existing one. Different content at the same time, or unconfirmed storage, stays pending instead of being silently erased.
• Cloud is authoritative — the cloud is copied down to this computer and this computer's edits are never sent up. Suited to "prepare in the cloud, the hall computer just receives it".

Confirmation before anything is overwritten

With "cloud is authoritative", cloud content can replace edits made on this computer. When that would happen, you are shown a list before anything is imported.

• [Import] — overwrite with the cloud content. The previous state is backed up automatically, so "↩ Undo" can restore it once.
• [Not this time] — this computer's edits are kept. You will be asked again next time.

☁️⬆️ "Send your work to the cloud mode?" before you close

If you use the app installed on your computer, work was only sent to the cloud when you signed in with your cloud account and when you pressed "🔄 Sync now". Signing in happens before you start working, so if you prepared programs and images after that and simply closed the app, none of it reached the cloud mode.

Now, when you close the app, anything that has not reached the cloud mode yet is listed and you are asked about it.

• [☁️ Send to the cloud mode, then close] … sends it there and then. You can see it progressing.
• [Send later (close now)] … closes straight away. You are never kept waiting right after a service. Everything stays on the computer and is sent together the next time you sign in with your cloud account.
• [Always send automatically, without asking] … from then on there is no question; sending simply starts when you close.

Changing how this check behaves

Go to ⚙️ System settings → "📦 Data (bundle)" and look in "🔄 Cloud sync (linked)" for "Asking before you close". There are three choices.

• Ask only when something has not reached the cloud yet … this is the default.
• Send automatically, without asking … no question; sending starts when you close. It finishes in the background on this computer, so you are never kept waiting.
• Do not ask … nothing is shown when you close. Sending happens at your next cloud sign-in, or when you press "🔄 Sync now".

How lyric fields A / B / C are merged

Editing the same song on several computers often leaves lyric C filled in on one of them only.

Sync keeps the later edit, but an empty field never erases content. A lyric field present on only one side is merged into both. If you add lyric C in the cloud and then correct lyric A on another computer, both the correction and lyric C survive.

When a merge happens, the sync summary says so, naming the field and the number of songs.

🎯 Manual import (when things go wrong) / ↩ Undo

Normal sync is automatic and two-way. For the case where the hall computer and the cloud disagree and you want to decide which one wins, use "🎯 Manual import" under ⚙️ System settings → "📦 Data".

• ☁️ Import everything from the cloud — the big button. Usually all you need.
• 📁 Import everything from a ZIP — from an export made on another computer.
• ▸ Choose what to import — only when troubleshooting. Pick from Bible, hymns, programs, favourites, set lists and media; unchecked types are left alone. The numbers in brackets are what you currently have (that is, what would be overwritten).

↩ Undo — a backup is taken immediately before an import, so you can return to the previous state if the result was not what you expected.

17. Two-factor authentication

Two-factor authentication is optional in the cloud mode. Configure it there using the steps below. Everyday sign-in to the local version does not use separate two-factor authentication. When linking to the cloud, your cloud account's two-factor authentication still applies if enabled.

If the console asks you to authorize your cloud connection or verify your plan again, connect to the internet and sign in to link your cloud account again. This notice does not itself mean your subscription has changed.

In addition to your password, this asks for a 6-digit code shown in an authenticator app on your phone. Even if someone learns your password, they cannot sign in without that phone.

Turning it on

1. Open "⚙ System settings" and press "Turn on" in the "Two-factor authentication" section.
2. Enter your current password.
3. Scan the QR code shown on screen with an authenticator app (Google Authenticator, 1Password, Authy and so on). If it will not scan, use the key shown underneath it: in the app choose "Enter a setup key" or "Enter manually" and type the key exactly as shown.
4. Enter the 6 digits shown in the app and press "Confirm and turn on". It is not turned on until those 6 digits match. This is deliberate, so that you are never locked out because the key was not added correctly.
5. Ten recovery codes are shown. Once you close this screen they can never be shown again. Save them there and then with "📋 Copy all" (all ten to your clipboard) or "💾 Save to a file" (downloads a .txt named after your church and the date). The list is also laid out so that it prints without breaking up.
6. We tell you plainly whether the file really was saved. If your browser lets you choose where to save (Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge and so on), we check that the file was written before saying "Saved". If it cannot be checked (Firefox, Safari and so on) we say "The download has started — please check your download folder", so please confirm the file is really there before moving on. If you cannot find it, take your copy with "📋 Copy all" instead.
7. Once you have your copy, press "I have my copy — close". We ask you once more before closing, because the recovery codes can never be shown again after that.

Signing in afterwards

Enter your ID and password as before; a field for the 6 digits then appears. Type the number shown in your authenticator app. The number changes every 30 seconds. A code that has been used once cannot be used again — wait for the next one.

If you lose your phone

When the sign-in screen asks for the 6 digits, press "🆘 Can't use your authenticator app? Enter a recovery code". The field changes to the XXXXX-XXXXX shape.

• Enter just one code. Any one of the ten you saved will do.
• You can paste all ten at once — the field keeps only the first one.
• Hyphens are optional, letter case does not matter, and stray spaces or line breaks are fine. Paste straight from your notes and the field tidies it up for you.
• Each code works once; the other nine stay usable.

Once you are signed in, turn two-factor authentication off and set it up again on your new phone. Setting it up again also replaces the recovery codes with ten new ones.

Turning it off

In "⚙ System settings", in the "Two-factor authentication" section, enter both your current password and a code from your authenticator app (or a recovery code), then press "Turn off". Neither one alone is enough.

Approving a computer for the dedicated host (first time only)

The first time you use your cloud account on a computer with the dedicated host, you approve that computer once in your browser.

1. On the dedicated host's sign-in screen, sign in with your cloud account as usual.
2. Your browser opens the cloud approval page (if it does not, select "Open the approval page"). If you are not signed in, sign in there (with your 6-digit code or a recovery code if you use two-factor authentication).
3. Check that the dedicated host and the browser show the same number, then select "Approve".
4. The dedicated host finishes signing in automatically. There is nothing to press there.

After that, you sign in with your ID and password as before. Daily start-up and signing in again do not ask for approval or a 6-digit code. Without an internet connection, the dedicated host keeps working within its saved usage period, as before.

You can review or remove approved computers under "Registered computers" on the approval page. A removal takes effect when that computer next connects to the internet.

18. Keyboard shortcuts

Jumping straight to a line or verse

In the hymn line list and the Bible "📜 All verses" list, each row is labelled 1 2 … 9 0 a b … z. Press that key to go straight there — faster than stepping with → when the order is not sequential (repeats, skips, going back). Shift is not required, but holding it works too.

Labels are assigned from the top and stop at row 36; later rows have no label and cannot be jumped to.

To prevent accidents, the keys do nothing while you are typing, while a dropdown is open, or while settings are open. Holding Alt gives priority to tab switching. While the keys are inactive the labels are dimmed, so you can see at a glance why nothing happens; leaving the field with Esc restores them.

Jumping directly with a line shortcut changes only the preview. Press Enter (TAKE) to project it. This is different from using next/previous to step through the same song already taken live.

1 col / 2 col ⇕ / 2 col ⇔ at the top right changes the layout. 2 col ⇔ (default) reads left, right, next row; 2 col ⇕ fills the left column top to bottom first. Your choice is remembered.

Switching tabs with number keys

The column 3 tabs are Alt+1 Bible, 2 Hymns, 3 Media, 4 Screen share, 5 History. The number is shown permanently at the top right of each tab heading.

"/" jumps to the verse field

/ moves the cursor to the Bible tab's "🚀 Jump / full-text search" field, switching to that tab first if necessary.

So / → Ps 119:137 → Enter reaches any passage without touching the mouse — much faster than a dropdown for a chapter with 176 verses.

19. Troubleshooting

• A badge at the top says "Running as Cloud mode (assumed)" or "Edition mismatch": the server could not tell for certain whether it is the offline mode or the cloud service. You can keep working, but plan limits may be applied to the wrong edition, which can leave you able to open only one projection window. On a offline mode, run the setup again (your data is kept). If the badge stays, contact us — the app already sends us what we need to find the cause.
• Black screen, or the console does not open: reload the page. If that does not help, clear the browser cache (hard reload).
• The projection does not change: check whether it is still in the preview. Nothing goes live until TAKE. Also check for the "another tab is in control" banner.
• Cannot sign in: invalid credentials always return you to the sign-in screen. Use "Forgot your password?" to reset it — the reset email arrives in the language your console is set to.
• Data does not appear on another computer: cloud installations sync automatically. For the offline mode, use "Sign in with your cloud account" or "Sync now" in system settings.
• If none of this helps, please contact support.

🛡️ If a security warning appears while setting up the offline mode

When you run the setup for the offline mode, Windows or macOS may show a warning. This is normal. It is the operating system's standard check, and it means "this publisher does not have much of a track record yet". It does not mean a virus was found. Follow the steps below and you can carry on safely.

🪟 On Windows

1. If the browser says "This type of file can harm your computer" while downloading, choose Keep (or Continue).
2. When you double-click the downloaded file, a blue screen may say "Windows protected your PC".
3. Click More info on that screen. A Run anyway button appears below it — click that.
4. A black window titled JTM Cast Setup opens and the setup begins.

🍎 On a Mac

1. Expand the downloaded ZIP and double-click the .command file inside it.
2. If macOS says "cannot be opened because it is from an unidentified developer", use either method below.

Method A (macOS 14 and earlier): right-click (control-click) the file, choose Open, then click Open again in the dialog that appears.

Method B (works on every version): open Terminal (Applications → Utilities), paste the single line below and press return.

curl -fsSL https://app.jtmcast.com/downloads/setup-mac.command -o ~/Downloads/JTMCast-setup.command && bash ~/Downloads/JTMCast-setup.command

This way no warning appears at all — it downloads and starts the setup in one step.

🖼️ What the preview shows on a slow connection

Where the connection is slow, an image can take a while to appear after you press TAKE. While you wait, the preview shows "🖼️ Loading the image…".

• There is no need to press again. The image appears by itself once it arrives.
• If it cannot be loaded you will see "⚠ The image could not be loaded". Press TAKE again, or try a different image.
• This notice appears only in the preview. Nothing is ever drawn on the live screen your congregation sees.
• If another image was already showing, the screen does not go blank — the previous image stays until the new one arrives.

🧾 Sending a crash report (local version)

If something keeps going wrong, you do not have to investigate it. Just send us what the app has already recorded.

1. Open ⚙️ System settings → Data export.
2. Press "🧾 Export crash report" at the bottom.
3. A single file named jtmcast-crash-report-(date-time).json appears in your usual Downloads folder. The file name is shown on screen as well.
4. Send us that file as it is. There is no need to open it or work out what it says.

🔌 When a device connection changes

Cameras and audio devices can change the way the computer identifies them — after waking from power saving, when a driver re-detects the hardware, or after another app has used the device. This can happen without warning while you are working, even if nobody touched a cable.

When it does, JTM Cast reselects the same device automatically wherever it can, and tells you what happened in a one-line banner just above the "📹 Video input" selector in column 1. There are three kinds.

• Green — "🔌 The device connection changed, so the same device (…) was reselected automatically. No action needed."
  Everything is back to normal. Carry on.
• Yellow — "⚠ The device you were using (…) was not found. …"
  It could not be restored automatically. Check the cable and power, then press "🔄 Refresh" or pick the device again from the list.
• Yellow — "⚠ Camera/microphone access was not granted (…). …"
  Another app is holding the device, or the browser permission has expired. Close the other app, then press "🔄 Refresh".

On top of that, if the camera you picked simply cannot be opened (for example another app is holding it), JTM Cast switches to another connected camera so you still get a picture. When it does, a blue banner in the same place says "The video input you selected could not be opened (it is in use). You are now seeing "…" instead", naming the device you are actually seeing. It never switches silently. To go back, close the app that is using the original device and press "🔁 Try the selected device again" just below the banner. If it succeeds, the banner disappears.

The preview frame itself tells you too. While a preview in column 4 (📽️ Prompter / 📡 Stage) has no picture, the frame shows "📷 Reconnecting to the video input…", and once the automatic attempts have been used up, "📷 Could not open the video input. Check the cable and power." Both lines end with "Projection, streaming and operation can continue as they are." If you keep column 1 collapsed, the one-line banner is replaced by a small dot on the collapsed strip, so the same information is written in the frame you are actually looking at. This text never appears on the live projection or stage window.

20. System requirements

This is what JTM Cast needs in order to run. Everything listed here is something we have actually checked. An environment that is not listed is not necessarily unsupported — it simply means we have not verified it. If you are unsure, please ask support.

🌐 Browser

The following features are available in Chrome and Edge only. In other browsers the control simply is not shown, or the reason is displayed instead. Nothing else stops working.

• 🖥️ Selecting projection monitors through the dedicated host (the host is required in both Cloud mode and Offline mode; available permissions depend on the operating system and browser)
• 🔊 Choosing which speaker the audio goes to
• 🔤 Picking from the fonts installed on the computer (typing the font name works in any browser)
• 🎙️ The browser speech-recognition option of AI assist (experimental)

🖥️ Screen size

• 1280 × 720 or larger is required. Every test run checks that every control on the console can still be reached at that size.
• 1600 × 900 or larger is recommended. 1280 × 720 is the size at which things still fit — it is not a comfortable one.
• On a small screen, use the display scale (− / +) in the heading of ⚙️ System settings to shrink everything and fit more in.
• ⚠ Phones and tablets are not supported. The console is built as four columns side by side; there is no narrow-screen layout.

📶 Internet connection

• Cloud mode: a permanent connection is required. Make sure your church network lets HTTPS and WebSocket through (if a proxy blocks WebSocket, the badge at the top right stays on CONNECTING... — see 📶 The connection to the server).

💻 Dedicated projection host and offline use

Current JTM Cast uses a dedicated projection host to manage projection windows. Older instructions about using independent projection engines in Direct versus Compatibility mode do not describe the current setup. Even when opening the console URL directly in a browser, check its connection to the existing host in Column 1.

Before first using offline mode, sign in online with your cloud account, approve the device, then explicitly enable offline use in System settings. Offline use is disabled by default. Its current status is shown among the left-hand status icons. Enabling offline use does not itself change the physical screen assignments or composition mode.

Accessing a local instance over unencrypted HTTP from another computer can restrict camera, microphone and screen-sharing permissions. Verify actual device and audio behavior with your operating system and browser permissions.

🎙️ If you use AI assist (experimental)

• The option that recognises speech inside the browser downloads a recognition model the first time you use it (about 145 MB with the standard setting, about 40 MB with the lighter one).
• That download happens once. On a venue with a thin line we recommend trying it once before the service rather than on the day.
• 🎬 Listening pauses automatically while video, music or YouTube is playing, and resumes by itself when playback stops. The panel says so while it is paused. Listening during playback makes the video noticeably heavier (measured: browser CPU 1.35x, dropped frames 0% to 13-17%).
• ⚠ On a computer with little memory, simply having the AI started can make video heavy. The recognition model takes a lot of memory once loaded (measured on our test machine: the rendering process went from about 360 MB to 1.3-1.7 GB). For a service that uses a lot of video or YouTube, please leave AI assist stopped.

21. What's new

Loaded automatically from changelog.json — the same source as the in-app history. Where a "📖 Open the manual" link is offered, it jumps to the related section here.