Skip to main content
Biamp Cornerstone

Modena Hub operation modes

This page explains the concepts of rooms, sessions, and roles within a Modena system, as well as Modena's various operation modes available for different spaces.

Understanding Modena

Rooms and sessions

Within the context of Modena, a room corresponds to a single connected Modena system (including the Modena Hub or Hub+ base unit, as well as any connected peripherals such as a display, webcam, microphone, or loudspeaker). Each room is identified by a name that is defined by the system administrator. Often these will correspond to the physical space (e.g., "First Floor Huddle Room"), but they may also correspond with the group that makes use of the system (e.g., "Marketing Department Room 1") or the purpose of the system (e.g., "Tech Demo"). 

session is an occurrence of a group of people utilizing a Modena room to meet, most often for the purpose of sharing presentations or conducting a videoconference. A session begins when the first meeting participant connects to a room and ends when the last meeting participant disconnects from the room.

Passcode

By default, each session is protected with a passcode to ensure meeting privacy. The passcode comprises a randomized 4-digit number that will be automatically generated when the first session participant connects. Any subsequent participants will need to enter this passcode upon connecting to the session.

The passcode for a session can be found in several places:

Passcode protection can be disabled altogether via the web admin console, but this is not recommended. 

Roles

Within a session, there are several possible roles. Below is a brief description of each of these.

  • Participant: someone who is connected to a session.
  • Presenter: a participant who is sharing their screen with other participants.
  • Viewer: a participant who is receiving the presenter's screen.
  • Host: a participant who is running a videoconference on their device and sharing its screen with other participants.

Operation modes

Modena has many excellent features and capabilities. Which ones are utilized is dependent on a number of factors, including the device model, configuration settings, and local IT infrastructure (including network and user device performance).

USB device(s) connected

If at least one USB device (camera, microphone, speaker) is connected and selected in the USB page of the web admin console, Modena will be configured as follows:

  • Maximum number of user devices: 12
  • Maximum number of simultaneous presenters with HDMI output at 1080p: 1
  • Maximum number of simultaneous presenters with HDMI output at 4K: 1
  • Presentation sharing stream quality: 1080p @ 30fps
  • Videoconferencing quality: 720p @ 30fps

USB device(s) not connected

If no USB device is connected or selected in the USB page of the web admin console, Modena will be configured as follows:

  • Maximum number of user devices: 24
  • Maximum number of simultaneous presenters with HDMI output at 1080p: 6
  • Maximum number of simultaneous presenters with HDMI output at 4K: 2
  • Presentation sharing stream quality: 1080p @ 30fps
  • Videoconferencing quality: 720p @ 30fps

Note: if the Modena Hub+ wireless access point is active, the maximum number of participants is reduced to 12

Auditorium mode

To enable Auditorium mode, please refer to Configuring general and room settings

This mode is intended for larger groups and meeting spaces.

In meetings of this size and scale, it may not be possible for all users to comfortably see presentation content being shown on the main display from where they are located in the space. Because of this, Auditorium mode allows for 150 user devices to connect to the session and have the meeting content shown on their personal devices.

The video feed received on the Modena Hub USB port is automatically broadcasted to all connected participants devices, which are 'receive-only' and cannot become presenters. The video source can be, for example, a USB webcam or an HDMI signal connected through an HDMI to USB converter: 

  • In a university room, a camera pointing to the teacher and the blackboard can be connected to the Modena Hub USB port and send the video stream to the devices of the students sitting in the back rows, far from the teacher
  • In an auditorium, one of the video matrix HDMI out can be converted to USB and connected to the Modena Hub USB port in order to broadcast the projector signal to the devices of people sitting away from the screen

Note that, in this mode, wireless presentation from the app or browser is disabled. Wireless videoconferencing is also disabled, as is the built-in WiFi access point for Modena Hub+ devices. Users must connect to Modena via the local corporate LAN.

When set to Auditorium mode, Modena will be configured as follows:

  • Maximum number of user devices: 150
  • Maximum number of simultaneous presenters: USB feed
  • Presentation sharing stream quality: 720p @ 10fps
  • Videoconferencing quality: Disabled
  • Built-in wireless access point (Modena Hub+ only): Disabled

Capabilities and performance

The table below summarizes the capabilities of each Modena model in each of the available operation modes.

Model Rooms USB devices Presentation quality Wireless USB stream quality Max participants Max presenters
(with 1080p HDMI out)
Max presenters
(with 4K
HDMI out)
Modena Hub 1 USB device(s)
connected 
1080p, 30fps 720p, 30fps 12 2 1
USB device(s)
not connected 
1080p, 30fps 720p, 30fps 24 6 2
Auditorium mode selected 720p, 10fps - 150* 1x USB feed 1x USB feed
Modena Hub+ 1 USB device(s)
connected 
1080p, 30fps 720p, 30fps 12 2 1
USB device(s)
not connected 
1080p, 30fps 720p, 30fps 24** 6 2
Auditorium mode selected 720p, 10fps - 150* 1x USB feed 1x USB feed
Modena Server 7 Small / Medium Room 1080p, 30fps 720p, 30fps*** 12 - -

* For dynamic content, the maximum number of participants is 100

** If the Modena Hub+ wireless access point is active, the maximum number of participants is reduced to 12

*** Multicam feature, available in 1 room and supporting 4 video streams

Please note: when there are no HDMI connected displays, the maximum number of presenters is 1.

  • Was this article helpful?