Using NTP to Synchronise a Digital Signage System
Digital signage is advancing quite rapidly for such a burgeoning new industry. Fantastic new innovations and content styles are being developed all the time and there are some really fantastic campaigns out there and more and more adventurous implementations are springing up all the time.
One of a growing number of trends is the use of complicated, scheduled and synchronised campaigns on multiple machines. These are incredibly eye-catching especially when the content is synchronised to provide passers-by with an almost interactive experience.
Synchronised content can be really challenging to implement and this sort of content is certainly not for the beginner as setting up such a sophisticated campaign can be really difficult.
One of the essential aspects of these types of scheduled digital signage campaigns is to ensure all displays are synchronized together. Synchronization is perhaps the most crucial aspect of these types of sophisticated digital signage campaigns. There are multiple methods of synchronising this type of campaign.
One solution is to a network time server which receives a single time source and distributes it amongst all devices on that network using the time protocol NTP (Network Time Protocol).
NTP servers receive the time from an external source (normally GPS or long wave radio) so there is no need to have the network connected to the internet although it is just as possible to synchronise to an internet time source although this can be problematic if there is any disturbance in the internet connection.
Any large network of digital signage displays also need to be protected, especially if media players or PCs are being used to generate content. The best option for ensuring total security is to place both the screen and media device in a display enclosure, often referred to as an LCD enclosure.
