**ShowPlay Reference Manual, Chapter 3 (ControlVariables): startimage**

===== Startimage -- Specify which stimulus image to show before start =====
An integer indicating that an image stimulus should be dislayed on the screen before the paradigm actually begins. A value of 0 means use the first image in the stimulus list, 1 means use the second, etc. The default value is -1, so no image is shown.

If you use STARTIMAGE you should keep in mind that the normal FLAG, ONSET, and DURATION options in the [[jvs:cigal:showplay:manual:chapter1:stimulustable|stimulus table]] do not apply for images presented before the paradigm starts. In particular, if you want the image to disappear at time 0 (when the paradigm starts), you will need to either overwrite it with another image or put an explicit erase into the stimulus table.

Example PPF using STARTIMAGE:
  showplay 0
  sbackcolor = 'black'
  stextcolor = 'white'
  startimage = 0
  return
  
  ;stimulus        ID  Flg  Onset Duration Loc
  startpic.jpg      0    0     0      0    -1 -1
  erase             0    0     0
  stim1.jpg         1    0     0   1000    -1 -1
  ...

In this example, the image "startpic.jpg" will appear on the screen as soon as the paradigm is loaded, and will be erased then replaced by "stim1.jpg" at the moment the paradigm actually starts to run.

**See Also:**\\
[[jvs:cigal|CIGAL Home]], 
[[jvs:cigal:manual|CIGAL Manual]], 
[[jvs:cigal:showplay|ShowPlay Home]], 
[[jvs:cigal:showplay:manual|ShowPlay Manual]], 
[[jvs:cigal:showplay:manual:chapter3|InputParameters List]], 
[[jvs:cigal:showplay:manual:help|Manual Help]]