# View a live preview or stream

Open a screen's **Overview** tab to use **Live preview**. Tilecast asks the Player for a still image and refreshes it about every 20 seconds while the page is open. Select **Refresh** to request another image.

## Choose the right view

| Feature                      | Best for                                             | Stored?                                              | What it tells you                                  |
| ---------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------- |
| **Live preview**             | Checking a recent screenshot from the Player         | May be kept through preview or Snapshot history      | What the Player captured recently                  |
| **Watch live**               | Watching the Player while the live window is open    | No                                                   | What the Player is capturing during that session   |
| **Snapshot history**         | Looking back at saved screenshots                    | Yes, according to Snapshot history limits            | What the Player captured at those snapshot times   |
| **Activity / Proof of Play** | Checking playback history and what Tilecast reported | Yes, according to Activity retention                 | What the Player reported as playing                |

A screenshot or stream only shows what the Player captured at that moment. It does not prove that the correct content played for an entire scheduled window.

Activity / Proof of Play records what the Player reported as playing; it is not a recording of the screen.

## Watch the screen live

1. Open **Screens** > **Fleet** and select an online screen.
2. On **Overview**, select **Watch live** in **Live preview**.
3. Keep the **Live stream** window open while you watch.
4. Select **Stop watching** when you are finished.

Watch live is separate from the periodic preview. The stream runs only while the window is open, and closing it ends the session. Tilecast does not save the stream frames to previews, Activity, or backups.

Frame rate and update speed depend on the Player and network.

## When preview is unavailable

- **Watch live** works only while the screen is online.
- Protected Player screens are not captured. AirPlay-mirrored output is also excluded.
- An offline Player cannot send a new screenshot, so the last preview may be stale.
- Some Player or device states do not allow capture. Studio shows the preview as unavailable or reports a capture error.

Live preview shows a recent image; it does not prove that scheduled content played.

## Next steps

- Use [Activity](../activity/) to check Player-confirmed playback.
- Check [screen status](../screen-status/) when the image is stale or unavailable.