When a show outgrows one laptop and one projector, a media server takes over: hardware and software built to play synchronized video across many outputs, warp and blend it onto screens and set pieces, and obey show control. Names in the field include disguise, Hippotizer, and Watchout.
Servers earn their cost with reliability and integration: redundant playback, timecode lock to the band’s rig, remote control from lighting desks, previsualization of the whole stage.
Club and mid-size shows rarely need one; a VJ laptop covers them. Arena tours are media server territory by definition. The concepts, outputs, warps, sync, scale down to every rig in miniature.