Video PlayBook 101: How to use BlackBerry Presentation Mode when the BlackBerry PlayBook is hooked up to an external display via HDMI
One of the quick videos I whipped up for our indepth BlackBerry PlayBook Review was demonstrating BlackBerry Presenter Mode on the BlackBerry PlayBook. To take advantage of Presenter Mode, you first need to hook the PlayBook up to an external display device via an HDMI cable, such as a television, monitor or projector.
Once the PlayBook is hooked up via HDMI, you can jump into Settings > HDMI on the PlayBook to control different output settings. Though the PlayBook's display is 1024 x 600, it can output to a much higher resolution, and you can change up the settings for things like aspect ratio. I've watched a few full length movies now from the PlayBook on my television and have been loving it!
Beyond mirroring what's on the PlayBook's display, Presenter Mode is a unique feature that takes things a step further. From within PlayBook apps like Videos and Slideshow To Go (Powerpoint), when hooked up to an HDMI output you get a new Presenter mode icon that you can tap from within these apps. When tapped, the output on the external display continues to play the main video output (be it a movie or powerpoint), but while this is occuring you can continue to use your PlayBook normally. So you can be giving a presentation on the display while looking at your slide notes on the PlayBook, or browsing the web while your kids are watching a movie. Furthermore, and as I demonstrate in the video above, you can easily jump between Presenter mode presentations just by swiping between apps. So if you're giving a power point and want to quickly show a movie, instead of having to mess around with embedding movies or leaving powerpoint to open a video, you can simply jump from one app to the next without missing a beat. This is POWERFUL stuff right here.
We've even caught wind that RIM is working on putting DLNA (wireless streaming) support into the PlayBook with a future software update that will get rid of the need for an HDMI cable. I'm super stoked for that. I can keep all of my videos on my PlayBook, sit back on the couch to watch a flick on a Friday night, and still use my PlayBook the whole time the video is playing. Check out the video above to see it in action!
