Galleries that want a wall of screens playing in perfect sync usually face an ugly choice: proprietary media servers that cost more than the artwork, or fragile DIY scripts that drift out of alignment mid-exhibition. kSync is my answer to that problem: an open-source media synchronization and automation platform running on a custom Embedded Linux distribution for Raspberry Pi hardware, built for artists and institutions that need frame-accurate playback without the enterprise price tag.

The software engine uses GStreamer for video processing and implements a multi-tier synchronization strategy. A central Leader node broadcasts UDP sync packets while Collaborator nodes calculate temporal deviation using an exponentially weighted moving average filter to compensate for network latency. Minor offsets are corrected by a proportional controller that gently adjusts playback rate; larger deviations trigger accurate flushing seeks. The result is sub-10ms alignment with no visible stutter.

Beyond video, kSync conducts entire physical environments from a single protocol-agnostic timeline: DMX lighting, MIDI audio, serial motor control, and WebSocket messaging, all scheduled against the media clock. Deployment is deliberately gallery-proof: provisioning a node means inserting a USB drive with the media and a config file, so no specialized IT staff is needed on site. The system has run 24/7 in public Berlin exhibitions, in one case synchronizing 11 displays while coordinating kinetic sculpture rotations over serial motor control.