Documentation Vision Library+ Documentation

Vision Library+ / Tools

Playback

Playback replays a historical PI Vision display range in controlled time steps so you can review how the complete display changed during an event.

Overview

Playback replays a historical PI Vision display range in controlled time steps so you can review how the complete display changed during an event.

Playback controls

When to use it

Use Playback for root-cause analysis, shift review, training, and any workflow that benefits from advancing the entire display through a past time range.

Use the PI Vision time bar instead when you only need to inspect one static time range.

Before you begin

  • Open the display that you want to review.
  • Identify the historical start and end times.
  • Choose a display span that keeps the relevant process behavior visible.
  • Choose a step size and interval that let operators follow the changes.

Use the tool

  1. Select Playback from the tools pane.
  2. Select Reset to Display Time to initialize the range from the current PI Vision display, or enter the start and end times.
  3. Select Play to begin playback.
  4. Use Pause, Step Back, or Step Forward to inspect a specific point in the sequence.
  5. Drag the progress slider to move directly to another position.
  6. Select Go to Start or Go to End to jump to a boundary.

When the tool is open, use the keyboard shortcuts:

  • Right Arrow: Step forward.
  • Left Arrow: Step back.
  • Spacebar: Toggle play and pause.

If you zoom or pan a PI Vision trend while playback is active, playback pauses and synchronizes its position with the updated display time range.

Configure the tool

  • Display Span: Sets the time window visible on the display at each playback position.
  • Step Size: Sets how far the display advances for each step. Use a step smaller than the display span when adjacent views should overlap.
  • Step Interval (s): Sets the delay between automatic steps. A smaller value produces faster playback.
  • Start / End: Define the complete historical range.
  • Loop Mode: Restarts playback at the beginning after it reaches the end.
  • Reset to Display Time: Reads the current PI Vision display range and derives the start, end, span, and step size.

Troubleshooting and limitations

  • If playback stops after you zoom or pan, select Play to resume from the synchronized display range.
  • If changes pass too quickly, increase Step Interval (s) or reduce Step Size.
  • If gaps appear between views, set Step Size equal to or smaller than Display Span.
  • Playback changes the shared display time range. Symbols that use an independent symbol time range do not necessarily follow it.