Specifications

Synchronized Content
69
AMX InspiredSignage XPress Programming Guide
Troubleshooting
Synchronized content over multiple screen needs a correct configuration of the IS-SPX-1000 and a well-
designed project to work as expected. In the event that the project is not displaying as desired, the following is
a list of parameters to check before contacting AMX Technical Support.
NTP Synchronization
The content are not synchronized, i.e. one or more screens play their part of media earlier or later than the
other displays.
Please check the following:
Make sure that NTP is enabled through the Browser-Based Configuration Pages, and that you have
chosen one or more NTP servers:
It should be on your local network in order to be able to achieve the few milliseconds of precision
required.
Public NTP servers are usually too “far” to provide such a precision. Please refer to the
Synchronization section on page 61 for details on inserting NTP server addresses.
Verify your IS-SPX-1000s NTP statistics:
Values in the column “Time offset” should be as close to 0 as possible.
Make sure that at least one NTP server is always reachable (at least one column “Reach” should be
equal to 100%).
In case your NTP server can't be reached (“Status” column remains always “Initializing”), it may be behind a
firewall or just wrongly configured. Check the NTP server configuration with your system administrator. For
further details on the NTP protocol, please refer to http://www.ntp.org.
If you used the master/slave configuration, be careful to correctly implement the architectures covered in the
Using an IS-SPX-1000 as an NTP server section on page 62. Double check your master ("Monitor only"
selected) and slave configurations ("Monitor only" NOT selected).
Project creation
Verify that your index.svg file contains the spx:begin attribute, or that your project uses a schedule file (.ics), as
explained in the Syntax for multiscreen synchronized content section on page 64. A good test to verify if your
content uses a begin attribute or a calendar is to open the index.svg file in XPress. If your project starts from
the beginning, then no schedule is present.
If opening the project multiple times always shows the same starting point, then no schedule is present and the
playback will not be synchronized.
Internal clock calibration.
The local clock on the device is not calibrated when shipped from the factory. NTP behaves differently when
the local clock has not yet been calibrated, and it will not synchronize as expected. Figure 20 below shows the
configuration window before calibration is completed.
Calibration consists in finding the offset in frequency between the internal clock and a NTP reference and is
necessary for normal operation of NTP.
The calibration process is started automatically and will take approximately 60 minutes when at least one NTP
server (other than loopback) is available. Once the calibration data is saved, it is reused when the device is
rebooted or powered off.
To calibrate the clock of an IS-SPX-1000, do the following:
1. Start the player.
2. In your Web browser, open the player’s Browser-Based Configuration Pages.
3. Look at the NTP statistics section of the Date/Time page. If the end of the NTP statistics section states
that the clock is calibrated, no more operations are required. If the clock is not calibrated, continue this
procedure.
4. Check that at least one NTP server other than loopback is reachable and selected as peer.
5. Allow for some time in order for reachable servers to become peers.
6. If no NTP servers are reachable, check that the NTP servers are correct and that the network configuration
is working. If not, modify the settings and restart the procedure.