The SSSP uses a low-power CPU, in addition to this the application is single-threaded (can only do one thing at a time) as it is Javascript, therefore, there are some limitations when using SSSP displays.
Maximum supported Image and Video Resolution on SSSP D/E Series
On SSSP D and E series displays, images and videos are restricted to full HD or below only. This means that any image or video with a resolution of 1920x1080 or below for landscape displays or 1080x1920 or below for portrait displays will play. Any images or videos that exceed these resolutions will not playback on the device but will instead be skipped.
Maximum supported frame rate on Samsung Tizen Displays
Samsung Tizen panels do not currently support frame rates above 30fps. You will need to re-encode any video content above this frame rate in order to display it on any Samsung Tizen display. You can learn more about encoding your media files, here.
Playing Multiple videos concurrently
Only one video can play at a time, this is because the SSSP has one video decoder that can only decode one stream at a time.
Please note that 'video' in this context refers to video files, IPTV streams, and HDMI input.
If there are two zones with videos in the video will be played on a first come first serve basis, i.e. the zone that requests it first will play the video. If for example, there are two zones with entirely videos in one of the zones will not be able to play its videos and will display black.
Video zones overlaid over other content zones
If video content is overlaid over 'other' content zones it will not display as the SSSP application is unable currently to make the transparent cut through the content within the zone required to display the video. This is because the video layer is below all other layers so in the 'standard' scenario e.g. no overlapping zones the background image is cut out, however, this is not currently possible with scheduled zones. To work around this please use PNGs and cut out the required area with a transparent section.
Smoothness of Ticker
To ensure the ticker is smooth it refreshes 16 times per second (approximately 60Hz), if there is another process such as a content download or asset in a zone loading this will have an effect on the ticker as CPU cycles are taken away from the ticker. This effect should only be temporary whilst the other operation is executed.
In order to limit the effect of this, it is recommended to set the Content Check as infrequent as possible to limit the occurrences of this occurring and carefully consider the design of the content and playlists, adding lots of zones will have a detrimental effect on the performance of the ticker.
Note that ticker performance is greatly improved if using a fade rather than an animation.
It is rumoured that Samsung will be introducing hardware acceleration in future models of the SSSP as they have this available with Smart TVs which will defer all animation rendering to the GPU eliminating this limitation.
Playing a video after HDMI input
After the SSSP has rendered the HDMI input, it may take up to a second for a video that is next in the playlist to start playing, during this time the screen (if fullscreen) or zone will display black. The reason for this is that the panel is switching inputs between HDMI and the internal media input.
Screen and Audio Settings
It is not possible to set the settings such as brightness, contrast, and audio settings whilst the SSSP is running. Note that if a video is playing you will be able to, however, this will only affect the screen area where the video is playing not the entire screen - This is a bug in the Samsung firmware. Currently, it is also not possible to set these settings via the Samsung SDK as they do not work, this is logged with Samsung as a defect. If you need to set the audio settings switch to another input and make the changes there as they are global and then reset the panel.
Running Videos in Portrait
When portrait support is added to the SSSP all video content will need to be rotated appropriately before publishing to the SSSP, this is because the video decoder does not support rotation. Please note that 'video' in this context refers to video files, IPTV streams, and HDMI, therefore if a streaming format is required to be used in portrait a third party piece of hardware that rotates the stream must be between the source and the
SSSP.
Running Seenspire content on Samsung D and E Series Players
Due to the age and performance capabilities of these older Samsung D and E Series devices, some Seenspire content may cause performance issues. If your content makes use of background videos/animations there can sometimes be issues with videos rendering on some feeds, therefore Seenspire's Support Team advise setting the animation level of feeds to “no animation” for optimum performance.
Why has the Samsung display shut down in Safe Mode?
Samsung Players can enter Safe Mode when overheated or from improper shutdown (for example a power outage or due to the impact of malware). In any case, this is a debug mode which will allow you to isolate the issue and remove applications you wouldn't be able to when not in Safe Mode. If this has happened unexpectedly and you do not anticipate that there is an issue, you can exit Safe Mode by rebooting the device.