This article provides the instructions to configure synchronized multimedia playback across multiple screens.
Appspace applies controller-worker clock synchronization when scheduling content to ensure the unified synchronization of content across multiple distributed screens.
Clock synchronization nominates a controller device as the timekeeper, while worker devices adjust their time to synchronize with the controller device’s time, synchronizing content playback between screens and speakers, preventing latency drift.
Note
If you are looking to configure video walls instead, please refer to Setup Video Wall Displays with Appspace.
Prerequisites
- The devices must meet the manufacturer’s minimum hardware and technical specifications. Please refer to Supported Devices & Operating Systems.
Two or more Appspace App supported devices, installed and configured with the Appspace App within the same environment. However, we only support the following:Devices Clock Sync Mode Playlist Channels Advanced Channels Cards Chrome OS with i3 processor and above Controller and worker Video and images Media Zone and Text Widget Announcement card and Data Visualization card Android BrightSign OS 8 LG webOS UWP Note- Image and video resolution will depend on the individual device’s resolution.
- Channel scheduling and dayparting are supported in playlist channels.
- Only single channel is supported.
- An active Appspace account, with sufficient User IDs for user mode, or Device IDs for device mode.
- An active Internet connection.
- It is recommended that the device clock is set to automatically retrieve time from a Network Time Protocol (NTP) server, with the correct time zone, in order for it to sync correctly with the Appspace server.Note
- Appspace cloud servers by default retrieve time from a NTP server. If an Appspace on-premises server is used, ensure the server time is automatically retrieved by a NTP server.
-
Appspace has updated the timezone configurations, which now includes timezones other than GMT. This enables users with daylight savings to adjust the time accordingly.
For more information, please refer to the Appspace 7.1-ac.8 Release Notes.
- Please ensure your network is configured to allow Appspace Approved URLs and the relevant network ports.On your proxy server, ensure our approved URLs are listed in the ‘How to set up networks with SSL content filters’ section in the following article: https://support.google.com/chrome/a/answer/3504942#sslinspection.
Configure Synchronized Playback
The table below provides a quick description of all device properties required for configuring synchronized playback for mirrored displays.
| Configuration | Property Name | Property Value | Applicability | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Synchronized Playback | player.scheduling.mode | synchronized | Controller and worker devices | Enables the synchronized playback at the layout level. |
| player.clocksync.mode | controller | Controller device | Designates each device as a controller or worker. Select only one device to act as the controller clock. | |
| worker | Worker devices | |||
| player.clocksync.controller.ip | xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx | Worker devices only | The controller device’s IP address is used by the worker device to synchronize the clock. | |
| remote.enable | true | Controller device only | Grants permission to worker devices to connect to the controller device via WebSocket. | |
| player.content.preloadtime | Controller and worker devices | Defines a pre-load time in seconds for content on the device. This helps adjust content playback on devices that take a longer time to load or play (such as low power devices); playing all content in a synchronized manner. | ||
| Recommended preload time: | ||||
| - LG WebOS - 3.5 seconds | ||||
| - Chrome - 1.5 seconds | ||||
| - UWP - 3 seconds | ||||
| - BrightSign - 3 seconds | ||||
| Debugging | player.clocksync.debug | true | Optional for controller and worker devices | Enable or disable an overlay on the screen that shows debug information. |
Note
- Content will sync every 30 seconds to ensure smoother experience during mid playback.
- Layout transitioning and video transitioning will be disabled by default. Image transitioning will still be available.
Follow the instructions below to configure synchronized playback on multiple screens for the Appspace App devices.
- Register your controller and worker devices individually. Follow the instructions in the Register a device article. (Skip this step if devices have already been registered.)
- Once all devices have been registered, navigate to Devices from the Appspace menu.
- Select the designated controller device, and add in the following device properties:
Device Property Value player.scheduling.mode synchronized player.clocksync.mode controller player.clocksync.controller.ip player.content.preloadtime - Select the worker device, and add in the following device properties:
Device Property Value player.scheduling.mode synchronized player.clocksync.mode worker player.clocksync.controller.ip player.content.preloadtime - Repeat Step 4 for all worker devices.
- You may now assign the desired channel to the devices
Debug Synchronized Playback
To debug synchronized playback on mirrored displays, add the following device property to both the controller and worker devices:
| Device Property | Value |
|---|---|
| player.clocksync.debug | true |
Once in debug mode, the debug layer appears on all devices, and switches between four colors (purple, blue, green, black) if all devices are in sync.
The debug layer also displays the following information:
- Device time.
- Identify if the device is a controller or worker.
- The Delta (differential) sync between the controller, and worker devices.
- The round-trip between the controller, and worker devices.
- The last updated Delta sync, and round-trip between the controller, and worker devices. If the round-trip between devices is larger than 0.5 seconds, the device will show as offline.
- The controller device will display the number of worker devices connected to it.
- The worker device will display the controller IP address it is connected to.
