The Lightwing software architecture requires only a fraction of the memory used by Qt, Windows, Android and browser platforms. Eliminating unnecessary software components not only improves reliability and security, it also reduces maintenance costs and frees up room for content. Lightwing hardware can have 1 to 4 GB of DDR3 RAM, most of which is free for content. This architecture makes Lightwing the most lightweight, cost-effective, reliable, low-maintenance and secure platform for digital signage, video walls, touch kiosks and 3D UX on the planet. The software architecture of Lightwing offers many benefits.
Lightwing runs the same content on Windows and i.MX6 Linux players (except audio and video are disabled on Windows). This allows content to be developed on Windows, then deployed to any number of Linux players, without modification, through a local network or over the web securely through OpenSSH. Lightwing supports both landscape and portrait display orientations on both platforms.
Lightwing integrates many different types of digital content. This diagram illustrates the different content types and the open tools used to import or create them on Windows. Most of these are open-source tools freely available from the web and are provided in the Lightwing SDK for convenience. Why develop content with proprietary tools, when superior open tools are available? Lightwing was designed specifically for these open tools.
Use Lightwing on Windows to develop new content. Then, deploy it to any number of Lightwing players using WinSCP, which encrypts the files. Lightwing players can be configured with static IP addresses or they will request one from a DHCP server. Lightwing players will only receive content updates which have been authenticated with an RSA key, when OpenSSH is enabled.
Linux Lightwing players first decrypt and unzip content updates pushed through secure OpenSSH connections. Lightwing then restarts to parse and display the new content. Lightwing can also pull updated content and RSS channel feeds from the web at designated time intervals through http connections. Network Time Protocol (NTP) is used to get the date and time from the web.