PolyField Track

A results viewing and display software package for FinishLynx and TimeTronics photo-finish systems. Runs on Windows and Mac as a desktop device linked to your photo-finish results folder.

Download from polyfield.co.uk

PolyField Track

Overview

PolyField Track turns your FinishLynx or TimeTronics results into live displays across your venue. One desktop instance watches your results folder and serves a web interface that any device on the network can open — scoreboards, an athlete self-service kiosk, a speed board, and more.

It keeps the operator in control: results only appear once they are saved, ensuring positive validation before display. Multiple saves are supported — so you can show distance-race athletes early, or reveal a race once the top 3 have performances assigned.

How it works

You run one instance of the desktop app on a computer connected to your photo-finish results folder.
The app builds a web interface on port 3000. Any device on the same network opens it in a browser — no install needed on the displays.
Each display registers itself and can be given a layout to show. The number of displays is limited only by your network and the host computer.
The operator drives what appears — results, overlays (text, screensaver, countdown, records, line view), or a full custom layout.

Getting started

1. Set the results directory

This is the folder FinishLynx or TimeTronics saves results into (LIF, etc.). Click the red button in the top-right corner, “Select Results Folder”. You can change it later with “Change Folder”.

Set the results folder or modify the path in the top right corner:

Once set, the web interface builds and the access address is shown at the top of the desktop app (e.g. http://track.local:3000 or http://<your-IP>:3000).

2. Open a display

On each display device, open a browser and go to the address shown, then /display. Each screen that connects auto-assigns a number. See Connecting screens for the QR-code shortcut.

Tip — leave the desktop app on its home screen and drive the displays from there, or from a second device on the web interface. This keeps you in control of the overlays while the results flow automatically.

The desktop control panel

The control panel is the operator’s home. Along the top you set the results folder and see the connection address. The main controls are grouped into a compact button row (which wraps to a second row on narrow windows):

Control	What it does
Text & screensaver	Type a message to show on all screens, or link a graphic. Great for sponsor messages, “meet suspended”, etc.
Screensaver	Show a linked image or a chosen saved layout across the screensaver area. If a source is already set, one press toggles it on/off; the ⚙ button re-opens the options.
Line View	Push the latest photo-finish image to the displays. Greyed out until photo-finish JPGs appear in the results folder.
Clock	Show the running clock full-screen on screens with a clock widget.
Records	Show celebratory record cards for athletes flagged with a record. Prev / Next step through the flagged athletes or manual selection.
Countdown	Count down to a target time of day. Enter the time and Start; it hides itself at zero.
Layout Builder	Open the layout designer (see below).
Browse LIF	Re-show any previous result from the monitored folder.

Overlays

Overlays are things you show on top of (or instead of) the results: text, screensaver, line view, clock, records and countdown. Three important points about how they work:

You can run several at once. For example a screensaver background with a countdown and a text banner on top. Turning one on no longer turns the others off.
The widgets decide what shows where. Each display only shows the overlays that its assigned layout contains — so different screens can show different combinations from one desktop.
A new result clears them all and returns every screen to the results — so live results always take priority.

Screensaver (image or layout)

Choose Image (a linked graphic — sponsor boards, notices) or Layout (any saved layout shown as a full takeover of the screensaver area). Pick the source, then press Display. Once a source is set, the Screensaver button toggles it directly.

Countdown

Counts down to a target time of day, read from each screen’s own clock. Enter the time (e.g. 15:40) and Start. In the Layout Builder you can set the caption (default “Next Event In:”), whether seconds are shown, and the text/font/colour. It hides itself at zero and yields to new results and other overlays.

Records

Flag an athlete’s record in FinishLynx (see setup), then press Records to show a celebratory card — athlete, category, event, club and time. Prev / Next step through multiple flagged athletes. Manual selection of an athlete from an existing LIF file and flagging them as a Record is also possible. Press Records then Manual Selection to start the 3 step flow. 1. Choose the race. 2. Choose the Performance. 3. Choose or input the Record type.

Manual records selection:

Line view

Sends the latest photo-finish image to displays with a line-view widget. The Rotation (s) control sets how often it alternates the photo with the result.

Text size & rotation modes

The default results text size is adjusted with the + and − buttons (layout widgets have their own Text Size in the Layout Builder).

The rotation mode determines how results with more than 8 competitors display:

Mode	Behaviour
Scroll	Top 3 rows locked; rows 4+ scroll through the remaining competitors.
Page	Paginates: 1–8, then 9–16, etc. on rotation.
Scroll All	All 8 rows scroll through the competitors with no locked positions.

The default athlete rotation speed is 5 seconds.

Browse & restore

Browse LIF lists previous results from the monitored folder so you can re-show any of them — useful for photo opportunities or re-displaying an earlier heat. Opening an old file in FinishLynx does not disturb the live display; only a genuine change to a result promotes it.

Connecting screens

Open http://<address>:3000/display on each screen; it auto-assigns a number. The Screen QR Codes page (from the Screens panel, or /screens-overview) shows a scannable code for every display page, so you can point a phone, tablet or TV browser at the right page quickly.

In the Screens panel you assign a saved layout to each screen independently, and remove screens that are no longer live. The desktop also has a built-in scoreboard preview that mirrors a real screen when you assign it a layout.

The Layout Builder

Open the Layout Builder to design custom scoreboard layouts from widgets. Each layout has an aspect ratio and a theme, and is built by dropping widgets onto a grid and positioning them.

Add widgets from the palette on the left, grouped by Current Event, Results, Overlays and Information.
Select a widget to edit its Properties on the right — position & size, columns, text size, font, colours and per-widget options.
Overlapping widgets: use the ◀ Widgets ▶ navigator at the top of the Properties panel to cycle selection through every widget, including ones hidden behind others.
Assign a layout to a screen (or the scoreboard preview) from the Screens panel.

The Layout Builder — widget palette on the left, the layout canvas in the middle, and the properties panel (with the widget navigator) on the right

Widget	Shows
Results Table	The current result, with configurable columns, rotation and text size.
Multi-Result	A grid of several results (2×2 / 3×2), latest or rotating.
Start List	The start list for the current event.
Running Clock / Stopped Time	Live or frozen clock.
Event Name / Wind	Current or result event name and wind.
Custom Text / Logo / Time of Day	Static text, an image/logo, or the time.
RAZA / Field Results	Para-athletics WPA points, and PolyField field-event results.
Text / Screensaver / Line View / Clock overlays	The text banner, screensaver image/layout, photo finish, and full-screen clock (shown when the operator triggers the matching overlay).
Record Overlay	Celebratory record cards (drag-positioned elements, per-element size).
Countdown Overlay	Countdown to a target time with an editable caption.

Combined Events points

For a combined-events (multi-event) competition, the results table can show an extra Combined Event column that scores each track performance against the official 2026 UKA/ESAA Combined Events Score Tables.

A U14B 80mH result with the Combined Event points column — points per athlete, and no score for DNF/DQ

Add the column — in the Layout Builder, select a Results Table or Multi-Result widget and add the Combined Event column (Properties → Columns). Tick Append “pts” to Combined Events points column to show 617 pts rather than 617.
Automatic by event & gender — the scoring table is chosen from the event name (e.g. 80mH (76.2) U14B), so every age group is covered — U13 to U20, Senior and Masters — with no per-athlete setup.
Track only — hurdles and flat races are scored; field events, relays and any event without a matching table are left blank.
Non-finishers — DNS athletes are not shown; DNF and DQ show no score.

The time used for the lookup is the value displayed (already rounded to the timing precision), so the points match the official tables exactly.

Themes, bibs & club abbreviations

Themes set the default colours for all displays; you can create, duplicate and edit them. Bibs can be shown or hidden in the results view. Club abbreviations are managed centrally (edit the club list) and applied everywhere — add a new club or override a built-in abbreviation, and changes reach all displays within a few seconds.

Web views

The web views are best accessed through the web interface, using the access details at the top of the desktop app. Key pages:

Page	URL
Scoreboard (activated layout)	`/scoreboard`
Display screen	`/display`
Multi-Result view	`/results`
Athlete kiosk	`/athlete`
Speed board	`/speed`
Running clock	`/clock`
RAZA rankings	`/raza`
Screen QR codes	`/screens-overview`

Multi-Result view

Displays results in a 2×2 or 3×2 matrix. Configure it to show the latest results or rotate through all available results; adapt the text size; and use full-screen mode to hide the toolbar (any mouse movement pops it back up). Results paginate, with the current page shown at the top. The search icon opens the athlete kiosk.

Multi-Result view — a 2×2 grid of results with the toolbar along the bottom

Athlete kiosk (self-service)

Open <IP-ADDRESS>:3000/athlete. An athlete searches by name or bib number; clicking a name shows all their performances in the current results directory. Clicking a result card displays it full-screen for photo opportunities. Reset clears the search; the back button returns to the search field.

The athlete self-service kiosk — search by name or bib number

FinishLynx & TimeTronics setup

Scoreboard scripts — use the supplied polyfield.lss, polyfield-wind.lss and polyfield-backup.lss scripts so FinishLynx sends the live running clock, wind, start lists and results to PolyField Track. See Scoreboard setup below for how to configure each output.
Records — flag an athlete’s record in the FinishLynx User 3 field (e.g. PB or W50 WR). Record codes are expanded to full titles from the club list.
Line view — export your photo-finish images (JPG) into the monitored results folder; the Line View button enables once they appear.
Results — save your LIF as normal; PolyField only displays saved results.

Scoreboard setup (FinishLynx)

PolyField Track receives the running clock, start lists, live results and wind over a single UDP feed on port 5001. FinishLynx sends this through its Scoreboard outputs (Options → Scoreboard). Set up the outputs below — each is a Network (UDP) scoreboard pointed at the computer running PolyField Track.

Settings common to every output:

Setting	Value
Serial Port	Network (UDP)
Port	`5001`
IP Address	the IP of the computer running PolyField Track
Code Set	Single Byte
Results	Auto · Paging on

1. Main output — `polyfield.lss`

The primary feed: running clock, start lists and live results.

FinishLynx Scoreboard settings for the main PolyField Track output

Script: polyfield.lss · Name: PolyField Track
Running Time: Normal
Running Time → Options: Send results if armed ✓
Auto Break: Finish ✓ (with if capturing ✓)
Results → Options: Always send place ✓ · Include first name ✓ · Track live results ✓ (leave Affiliation abbreviation off — PolyField Track expands club names from its own club list)

2. Wind output — `polyfield-wind.lss`

A dedicated output for wind readings.

FinishLynx Scoreboard settings for the wind output

Script: polyfield-wind.lss · Name: PolyField Track Wind
Running Time: Raw — wind fires on every beam break; Raw mode passes each reading straight through (PolyField Track ignores the “no data” values)
Running Time → Options: Send results if armed off
Results → Options: Always send place ✓ · Include first name ✓ · Affiliation abbreviation ✓ · Track live results ✓

3. Backup output — `polyfield-backup.lss` (recommended)

A second, independent copy of the start list for resilience. FinishLynx sends each start list only once when the event loads, so a single dropped UDP packet can leave a screen blank. This backup output sends an identical start list from a separate scoreboard, so if one packet is lost the other still arrives. Point it at the same PolyField Track computer.

FinishLynx Scoreboard settings for the backup start-list output

Script: polyfield-backup.lss · Name: PolyField Track Backup
Running Time: Normal
Running Time → Options: Send results if armed ✓
Results → Options: Always send place ✓ · Include first name ✓ · Track live results ✓

All three outputs can run at once and send to the same IP and port — PolyField Track sorts them out by content.

Networking

The app serves on port 3000 and advertises itself as track.local on the network, so displays can use http://track.local:3000 without knowing the IP.
On computers with more than one network card (common on Windows), pick the correct network adapter in the connection panel so the right address is advertised.
All devices must be on the same network as the host computer.

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Check
Line View button is greyed out	No photo-finish JPGs in the monitored folder yet — check your FinishLynx image export path.
Records shows nothing	The athlete must be flagged in FinishLynx User 3 or via manual selection, and the layout must contain a Record Overlay widget.
A display shows “waiting for layout”	Assign a layout to that screen in the Screens panel.
An old result reappeared	Opening a file in FinishLynx no longer promotes it; only a real change does. Use Browse LIF to re-show past results intentionally.
Displays can’t connect	Confirm the same network, port 3000 reachable, and (multi-card PCs) the right network adapter is selected.

Download & support

Download the latest version from www.polyfield.co.uk or the releases page. Support: support@polyfield.co.uk.