Multiple Frames Support

It is possible to split the screen into multiple or customized Frames (rails and tickers) or dimensions. Each Frame has its own playlist.

Note: Multiple frames support is available with the v2 version of the generate endpoint (generate v2) and the generate_long endpoint (generate_long).

Broadsign Air supports up to 3 different playlists in each response. These playlists can contain items that play simultaneously, but are not necessarily synchronized.

The generate v2 and generate_long endpoints have the following limitations:

  • The endpoint does not support playlists with items that are expected to play across a day part change if the frame layout is different in each day part.
  • The endpoint does not support cross-player sync and scheduled conditions.

The number of playlists for a given timestamp depends on the number of Frames (with a maximum of 3 playlists).

The frame with the lowest ID will be in playlist 0, the frame with the second lowest ID will be in playlist 1, and so on.

For example:

  • If a day part active at 10:00 has 5 Frames, only 3 playlists will play. The first 3 playlists (sorted by ID) will play.
  • If a day part active at 12:00 has 2 Frames, 2 playlists will play.

Having more than 3 Frames on a Player is considered as a scheduling error.

Example

The following is an example of two alternating day parts:

Example 1:

Copy 
playlists [
 { items: [ Frame A, Frame A, Frame A, Frame E, Frame E, Frame A, Frame A, Frame A,] },
 { items: [ Frame B, Frame B, Frame B, Frame F, Frame F, Frame B, Frame B, Frame B,] },
 { items: [ Frame C, Frame C, Frame C, Frame G, Frame G, Frame C, Frame C, Frame C,] }
]

Example 2:

Copy 
playlists [
 { items: [ Frame A, Frame A, Frame A, Frame E, Frame E, Frame A, Frame A, Frame A,] },
 { items: [ Frame B, Frame B, Frame B, Frame B, Frame B, Frame B,] },
 { items: [ Frame C, Frame C, Frame C, Frame C, Frame C, Frame C,] }
]

In this example:

  • Each example contains 3 Playlists (Playlists 0, 1, and 2).
  • Day Part 1 contains Frames A, B, and C.
  • Day Part 2 contains Frames E, F, G in Example 1, and only Frame E in Example 2.
  • The Frame IDs will not change within a Day Part, so the order withing a Day Part will always be the same.
  • It is not possible to guarantee that each Playlist will have the same length, assuming frames changes with Day Part, but the order is guaranteed.
  • Frames B and C will never be in Playlist 0.
  • Frames A and C will never be in Playlist 1.
  • Frames A and B will never be in Playlist 2.