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Version: 3.2.7

Backup Image

The SMIL player has the option to set up a backup image to avoid a black screen if something goes wrong during the SMIL file download (e.g., the file does not exist) or during XML to JSON conversion (e.g., invalid XML).

A default backup image is provided by SignageOs, which is locally stored in the SMIL player's repository.

Currently, only a single image is supported.

Fallback Mechanisms​

The SMIL Player provides two fallback mechanisms for handling errors:

1. Backup Image (Default Behavior)​

When an invalid SMIL file is encountered (either during initial load or update), the player displays a backup image. This prevents black screens but interrupts the current content.

2. Fallback to Previous Playlist (Optional)​

When fallbackToPreviousPlaylist="true" is configured in the refresh meta tag, the player continues playing the current valid playlist if an invalid SMIL update is received. This provides seamless continuity without interruption.

<!-- Enable fallback to previous playlist -->
<meta http-equiv="Refresh" content="60" fallbackToPreviousPlaylist="true"/>

When to use each approach:

  • Backup Image: Use for initial deployment or when you want clear visual feedback that something is wrong
  • Fallback to Previous: Use in production when display continuity is critical and temporary deployment issues shouldn't disrupt playback

See Updating SMIL Playlist for more details on the fallback to previous playlist feature.

Setup​

There are two options for setting up your backup image.

There are two options how you can setup your backup image.

Option 1 - Image stored locally in SMIL repository​

Store the image locally in the public/backupImage/backupImage.jpg file. The name of the backup image has to be backupImage.jpg at the moment.

Option 2 - Provide URL to image via timings in Box​

The URL has to be stored in the backupImageUrl variable in timings in the applet definition. The name of the file does not matter in this case.

Set backup image in applet configuration