Why can’t ordinary switches do this job? PTP switches have two professional yet easy-to-understand core features, built for IEEE 1588 Precision Time Protocol:

Hardware Timestamping

Ordinary switches process time through software, which is easily disrupted by system lags. A PTP switch is fitted with a dedicated hardware timestamping unit right at the Ethernet port — like a precision stamper that marks the exact time on a data packet the moment it enters. This timing is completely unaffected by system performance, delivering sub-microsecond accuracy that standard switches can never achieve.

Transparent Clock (TC)

It takes time for data packets to pass through a switch. A PTP switch records the exact dwell time of each packet (e.g. "this packet stayed in the device for 0.0002ms") just like a courier tracking slip, and automatically offsets this delay when forwarding the packet. This eliminates cumulative timing errors across the network, a capability ordinary switches do not have.