The following topics are discussed in this article. The Timer API was created to address problems with currently available timers. For example, Microsoft Windows provides timers that developers can use even for windowless controls. However, Windows timers are not as accurate as applications may require. Although Windows timer messages can be scheduled with millisecond accuracy, they seldom deliver that result because the accuracy of a Windows timer is dependent on the system clock and current activity.
Computer clocks are just as problematic.
All computer devices rely on high-resolution quartz clock chips to keep time. Although these chips are accurate, they are not consistent across all hardware. For example, sound cards may vary in speed by as much as 7 percent. This means that playing a five-second audio clip may require more or less than five seconds. If there is a soundtrack for the animation or video, poor synchronization may be noticed.