The Player Synchronization Protocol

Instructs the follower players that they should start loading a certain Media File so that the devices are ready to play it when they receive the Play message.

Message ID: 1

Parameters:

Example: SplashPlayerBroadcast/Station_Left/1/

Instructs the follower players to play the previously-queued Media File.

Message ID: 2

Parameters: none

Example: SplashPlayerBroadcast/Station_Left/2/

Instructs the follower players to regenerate their list of Media Files. Is sent when the Leader Player detects a change in its playlist, for example when a new loop is generated or when emergency messages are received.

Message ID: 3

Parameters: A list of Bundle and Design IDs that represent the Leader Player's updated playlist.

Example: SplashPlayerBroadcast/Station_Left/3/

The Leader Player periodically broadcasts this to indicate its presence. Follower players that go too long without hearing it will assume that the Leader Player is not working and will seek a new Leader (or become one themselves)

Message ID: 100

An ID that is used to determine which Leader Player should switch down to Follower mode in case 2 or more Leaders meet on the same Sync Group. For example: SplashPlayerBroadcast/Station_Left/100/C8C8FF0B-5260-4F45-9932-D22AFFAF4276

The synchronization makes it so all players will start playing the same media file at the same time. However, under certain conditions, such as very long video files, it might be necessary to have synchronization during the playback of the file itself. This is accomplished through Media File synchronization.

Once again, this is accomplished via UDP broadcasts. However, due to the intense and real-time nature of this synchronization feature, a responsive network connection is required. Over unstable wireless networks, enabling this feature will likely do more harm than good.

To configure it, edit the player.exe.config on the player machine. The following two values control the feature: