Native Versus Non-Native Digital Signage Player Software
The multimedia industry features two types of digital signage player software.
- Native software applications like the Navori QL Engine, VLC, video games, and others.
- Web media players developed in a browser-centric programming language.
Native software is developed using low-level programming languages that directly access a device’s processor and internal components without the need for any translation. This is why native software products offer so many advantages over web-based applications. You get much better performance, greater control over a device’s resources, and better overall reliability. Browser-based programming languages can’t deliver the same performance.
Image rendering and transition quality
Native software offers a level of rendering quality that is unmatched. Transitions are smoother, images are sharper and more vibrant. Browser-based coding languages can’t deliver the same level of sophistication.
Only native software media players can deliver complex content with smooth transitions.
Here is why…
Content pre-loading
Navori QL pre-loads its content to ensure the smoothest transitions. How do we do it? QL loads the next media in the background while the current media plays. The results are seamless, almost imperceptible transitions between any content, including multi-layered templates and tickers.
Interestingly, recent studies presented in Munich have shown that the optimal duration for digital signage content is 7 seconds. The fact is the shorter the content’s duration, the more important the transition quality becomes.
Multi-core and multi-threading
To achieve such a high-quality image rendering QL Player uses parallel threads, each one assigned to a unique GPU/CPU core. Only native software has this level of control over a device’s processor and internal components. The results are unparalleled frame accuracy and transition quality.
QL delivers complete control on Windows PCs and Android devices.
Image Rendering
QL Player features proprietary algorithms that are precise to the nanosecond. A rendering graph is dynamically created based on: the content to render, available PC / Android device resources, and components. This level of control offers a level of quality and reliability that is essential for commercial and professional applications. Because this is our own proprietary algorithm, we can update or replace any of its modules on our own initiative without having to rely on any third party.
Reliability
QL has complete control of the system on which it is running as opposed to software based on HTML or other managed development environments. QL Player constantly monitors the content playback and if necessary the software will take preemptive action to prevent any failures. QL Player is also “self-healing” and if necessary it will restart or reboot the device autonomously.
QL Player is made up of three components:
- QL Engine manages all content rendering.
- QL Conductor is a background service that manages all communications with QL Server. It also provides watchdog and data feed retrieval duties.
- QL Guard monitors and controls the QL Conductor module.
When looking for professional-grade digital signage software, it’s important to remember that apps developed in HTML5, JavaScript, or managed development languages can only fulfill the most basic requirements. Non-native software can’t deliver smooth transitions and doesn’t have the ability to control media player hardware the way native software does. Rendering quality also lags behind what you experience with native applications.
It’s important to note that 95% of the digital signage player software on the market isn’t native so it’s worth spending an hour or two benchmarking software before making your purchase decision.
You will discover that professional-grade multimedia player software like QL, are all native. Others simply don’t make the cut.
So what’s involved in creating a professional, native multimedia player like Navori QL?
- Developing native software requires advanced engineering skills. More so than with non-native software.
- The investment required to develop a native player is 5 to 10 times higher than for HTML.
- Native software must be developed from scratch for each operating system.