Hi everyone!


This article will explain to you about the Mosaic tab, its different functions, and ways to achieve the best settings for your Mosaic activation.


Columns X Rows
Select the number of rows and columns for the activation. Cells Count Will count the number of cells in your mosaic according to the defined ColumnsXRows value.
Think about them as pixels - the more you have the better and more detailed the main mosaic will be.


Tile Opacity
Add transparency to the tiles (0% completely transparent, 100% no transparency at all). The more transparent the tiles are, the clearer the Main image created out of the tiles is. The opacity value will help reach better results when using more detailed images as the main image. Default Opacity value is 70%.
**Note that the opacity is a tradeoff between how clear the final image is and how natural the small tiles look. 


Colorization Correction
The software algorithm will find the best matching photo for the tile. If the match is not perfect, it will apply colorization to the photo. The colorization correction parameter controls the spread of this colorization across the tile. When set to 0% - no colorization correction will occur. The dominant color will not spread across the tile and there will be no “color bleed” around defining lines (like Letters). When set to 100% - the tile will be completely colorized with the dominant color creating a more natural spread of color on the tile. The default colorization value is 25%.


Scatter 

Controls how randomly the tiles are filled across the same color areas.

By default, the software will choose the best possible position for each tile, but on some conditions, this may reveal a main area of the main photo and prevent the element of surprise.

*Note - The scatter value is a tradeoff between the best possible location and the randomness of placement.
100% scatter value will completely randomize the placement of photos on the board, even if it’s not the best fit for them. The Default Scatter value is 0%.

Click here to find out more about the Scatter feature 


Let's do it!

Here is an example of the usage of the different settings in the Mosaic tab. We'll use here the same Master Photo with three different activations so you can see the difference and decide which settings are the best for yours.


For more information about selecting the best settings and master photo for your activation, please check this article. 


Note that this is just an example and each photo has its individual properties that need to be considered. 


Our Master Photo:


As you can see, our Master Photo includes many colors with different contrasts and text.



Activation 1 properties:

  • Columns x Rows: 25x25
  • Opacity: 70%
  • Scatter: 0%
  • Colorization Correction: 25%



As you can see, the scatter percentage affects the randomization of the tiles located on the board during the activation. If we will set the Scatter percentage to a higher value, it will be more randomized.


Final result:

You can see that the final Mosaic photo is not very detailed, the writing is very hard to read and the colors are not showing great contrast. 


Therefore, we'll change the settings to get a better result:


Activation 2 properties:

  • Columns x Rows: 25x25
  • Opacity: 50%
  • Scatter: 50%
  • Colorization Correction: 25%


You can see that the activation tiles are much more randomized now, thanks to the Scatter percentage that we increased.


Our final photo also looks better due to the Opacity value change:




Now, let's change a few more settings to achieve even better results.


Activation 3 properties:

  • Columns x Rows: 50x50 - The bigger the board, the more details will be included in the final Mosaic photo.
  • Opacity: 50%
  • Scatter: 0%
  • Colorization Correction: 25%
  • Algorithm type: In this case, we changed it to Best Fit In Time - as opposed to FIFO, this algorithm will locate the photo on the best tile location using a smart Threshold and will filter and match best fitting photos while taking into account the time left and the number of tiles that were already filled. See more details in the user manual.


Final result: 





The thumb-rule should always be testing. Run several activations and see which has the best results and don't forget to WOW your guests!


Have fun!