The layout of the screen is defined in the global header section of SMIL document.
Layout
Within the <head> node, one can use the <layout> tag to define screen regions.
<smil>
<head>
<layout>
<!-- Global layout definition here -->
</layout>
</head>
<body>
<!-- Contents here -->
</body>
</smil>
Global resolution
The <root-layout> tag defines the width and height of the display area. For digital signage, this is the logical resolution of the entire screen area.
<layout>
<root-layout width="1920" height="1080" />
</layout>
Region
The <region> tag defines an area over the entire display zone where individual media items can be assigned to play.
<layout>
<root-layout width="1280" height="720" />
<region regionName="video" top="0" left="0" width="720" height="480" z-index="1" />
<region regionName="ticker" top="480" left="0" width="1280" height="240" z-index="1" />
<region regionName="slideshow" top="0" left="720" width="560" height="480" z-index="1" />
<region regionName="overlay" top="50" left="50" width="100" height="100" z-index="2" />
</layout>
The <head> section defines a typical 3-zone digital signage application with a zone for 720x480 video, a slide show zone, and a ticker zone. Overlaying the video zone is an overlay layer which allows the user to place a logo or a dynamic message on-top of the running video.
Overlay over video is not yet supported. Feature in development.
The user can then assign each media objects to a region.