BrightAuthor Version 4.6

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Standalone players are not connected to a network and must be updated manually. To change presentations/schedules, you must remove the storage card (or USB flash drive), update it on your computer, and reinsert it into the player. Updating standalone units is the only case in which you should remove the storage card after setting up the unit.

Tip

If your player has a USB flash drive slot, we recommend that you use an SD card when setting up the unit and keep it in the player as the internal storage. You can then update the content on the SD card via a USB flash drive. See the Local Storage publishing page for details.

To set up a player for standalone use, navigate to Tools > Setup BrightSign Unit.

Name Specification

Name: Enter a name for the player
Description:(Optional) Enter a description for the player.
Customization: Select one of the following:
- Append unit ID: Appends the serial number of the player to the end of the player name.
- Use name only: Does not append anything to the player name.

Network Properties

Enable Wireless: Check this box to connect the player to the local network using a wireless connection. In order to use a wireless connection, you must purchase a Wireless Module for your BrightSign player. If the player is connecting to a secured network, enter the following:
- SSID: Enter the SSID of the wireless network.
- Security key: Enter the password for the wireless network
Network Connection Priority: Use the up and down arrows to prioritize either the Wired or Wireless connection. The BrightSign player will always attempt to download and upload using the first option, and will only use the second option if the first is unavailable.
Time zone: Select the time zone where the player is located.
Time server:(Optional) Specify the server (using a supported protocol) that the player should use to synchronize its clock. Players use the BrightSign Network time server by default.

Advanced Network Setup

Click the Advanced Network Setup button to customize advanced settings for your networked player.

Unit Configuration

Use the Unit Configuration tab to specify the following:

Specify hostname: Check this box to specify a custom hostname for the player on the network. By default, the player serial number is used to generate a unique hostname (i.e. "brightsign-<serial_number>").
Use Proxy: Check this box if you want the player to use a proxy server.
- Address: Enter the address of the proxy. If you need to provide a user name and password for the proxy, use this format: <user name>:<password>@<proxy server address> (e.g. “admin:root@myproxy.com”).
- Port: Enter the port number of the proxy. If you do not specify a port number, the player will default to using port 1080.
- Proxy Bypass: Use the Add Host button to add host names to the proxy bypass list. Host names that are checked will be accessed directly, rather than using the specified proxy server. Entering a host name such as "example.com" will exempt "example.com", "example.com:80", and "www.example.com" from the proxy setting. This feature includes bypass options for the BrightSign Network (content downloads, log uploads) and BrightSign Network Feeds (Dynamic Playlists, Live Media Feeds, Live Text Feeds) by default.

Wired/Wireless

Use the Wired and Wireless tabs to specify the following:

Data Types Enabled: Use these checkboxes to determine the data types that can be transferred using the connection. You can enable/disable downloads (Content, Text Feeds, Media Feeds), as well as uploads (Health, Log Updates).
Connection Settings: Indicate whether the IP address is auto-generated (via DHCP) or static. If you’re using a static IP address, enter the parameters in the fields.

Diagnostics

Use the Diagnostics tab to specify the following:

Enable network diagnostics: Check this box to have the player display the network diagnostics screen during setup.
- Test Ethernet: The player will indicate whether or not it was able to attain an IP address over Ethernet.
- Test Wireless: The player will indicate whether or not it was able to attain an IP address over wireless.
- Test Internet Connection: The player will indicate whether or not it was able to communicate with a remote server.

Firmware

Click the Specify Firmware Update button to include a firmware update with the setup files. The firmware update will be performed after you insert the storage device containing the setup files into the player and power it up. Locate the section corresponding to your BrightSign model and select one of the following:

Production Release: The current official release of BrightSign firmware
Beta Release: The current beta release of BrightSign firmware
Minimum Compatible Release: The minimum firmware version that supports presentations created by your version of BrightAuthor. The minimum compatible firmware will likely not support all features provided by a contemporary version of BrightAuthor.
Select specific file: Use the Browse button to select a .bsfw firmware update file from your hard drive. The other options will download the update file from BrightSign servers when the setup files are created.

Splash Screen

Standard Splash Screen: The player will display the BrightSign logo when booting up.
Custom Splash Screen: The player will display a custom logo when booting up. Click Browse to locate and select the image you wish to use. See this FAQ for image size and format restrictions.

Unit Configuration

Select the Standalone option. Then configure the following:

Enable diagnostic web server:(Optional) Check this box to enable the Diagnostic Web Server. You can include a username and password in the text fields below for added security.
Enable local web server:(Optional) Check this box to enable the Local Web Server. You can include a username and password in the text fields below for added security.
- Enable Update Notifications:(Optional) Check this box to have the player automatically refresh the User Variables webpage whenever variable values change on the player.
USB Content Update Password: Enter a password in the field to enable password protection for USB content updates. This feature helps to ensure that a player will not be assigned incorrect schedules or data when updated via USB.

Beacons

This section allows you to configure persistent BLE beaconing. Beacons can also be paired with presentations.

Name: Enter a name for the beacon.
Type: Use the dropdown list to select the beaconing mode/format:
- iBeacon: A simple beaconing format
  - UUID: A string representation of a UUID, which can be in 16-bit, 32-bit, or 128-bit format. A 16-bit UUID must be exactly four hex digits with no punctuation; a 32-bit UUID must be exactly eight hex digits with no punctuation; and a 128-bit UUID must be punctuated exactly as follows: "cd7b6f81-f738-4cad-aebf-d2a2ea36d996".
  - Major: An integer specifying the 2-byte Major value (0 to 65535)
  - Minor: An integer specifying the 2-byte Minor value (0 to 65535)
  - TxPower: An integer value that corresponds to the measurement of the Tx power level (in dBm) at 0 meters. The default value is -19, which corresponds to a level of -60dBm at 1 meter. The recommended calibration practice is to measure the RSSI in a circle at 1 meter from the beacon, then add 41 to the average measured signal strength to get the TxPower value: For example, measuring a -65dBm RSSI at 1 meter yields a TxPower value of -24.
- Eddystone URL: The Eddystone-URL format
  - URL: The URL to encapsulate in the advertisement packet.
  - TxPower: An integer value that corresponds to the measurement of the Tx power level (in dBm) at 0 meters. The default value is -19, which corresponds to a level of -60dBm at 1 meter. The recommended calibration practice is to measure the RSSI in a circle at 1 meter from the beacon, then add 41 to the average measured signal strength to get the TxPower value: For example, measuring a -65dBm RSSI at 1 meter yields a TxPower value of -24.
- Eddystone UID: The Eddystone-UID format
  - Namespace: A 6-byte value expressed as 12 hexadecimal digits
  - Instance: A 10-byte value expressed as 20 hexadecimal digits
  - TxPower: An integer value that corresponds to the measurement of the Tx power level (in dBm) at 0 meters. The default value is -19, which corresponds to a level of -60dBm at 1 meter. The recommended calibration practice is to measure the RSSI in a circle at 1 meter from the beacon, then add 41 to the average measured signal strength to get the TxPower value: For example, measuring a -65dBm RSSI at 1 meter yields a TxPower value of -24.

Note

The TxPower value does not modify the power level of the Bluetooth transmitter (this requires physical attenuation). Rather, the TxPower value is transmitted to Bluetooth clients in the BLE advertisement. Clients can then compare this value to the current RSSI of the signal to determine their approximate distance from the beacon.

Logging

Use the check boxes to enable/disable logs and specify log upload settings. You can view logs in the currentLog folder on the player storage.

Enable playback logging: Records playback start and end times, zone names, media types, and file names.
Enable event logging: Records timestamps, state names, zone names, event types, and event data.
Enable state logging: Records current and last state names, timestamps, and media types.
Enable diagnostic logging: Records timestamps, firmware and script versions, and the current presentation.
Enable Variable logging: Records the current and default values of all User Variables in the presentation. This log is only generated when logs are uploaded to a custom log handler URL.

Tip

See this FAQ to learn how to read player logs.

Remote Snapshot

Check the Enable remote snapshot box to enable the Remote Snapshot feature, which allows you to remotely monitor the contents of the presentation display.

Note

The Remote Snapshot feature is not available for the LS422, HD220, or HD1020.

Remote snapshot every [ ] minutes: Specify how often the player should take a snapshot of the presentation display.
Save up to [ ] images (1 - 100) on local storage: Specify how many JPEG snapshot images can be stored on the local storage of the player.
JPEG quality level [ ] (0 - 100): Specify the quality level (and thus the file size) of each image file.
Display snapshots in portrait mode: Check this box to have the player rotate the snapshots to portrait mode before saving and uploading them.

RF Channel Scan Data (optional)

Use this field to publish RF channel scan settings to an XD1230 player. This option is useful if you need to publish identical channel scan settings to multiple XD1230 players. See Publishing Channel Scan Results for more details.

Screen Color

Click Choose to specify what screen color the player should display after it has successfully completed the setup process. When the player displays this color, it is ready to receive content.

Creating and Installing the Setup Files

Now that you've configured the setup files, you need to publish them to your player:

Click Create Setup Files.
Browse to and select an SD card (recommended) or USB flash drive. Ensure the setup files are written to the root folder of the storage device.
Click OK.
Turn off the BrightSign player by unplugging the power adapter (or Ethernet cable if the player is being powered by PoE).
Insert the SD card or USB flash drive into the player.
Turn on the BrightSign player by reconnecting the power.

Note

We recommend formatting your SD/microSD card using FAT32 or exFAT. The exFAT format allows you to store files larger than 4GB, but it is only supported on Series 3 players (XTx43, XDx33, HDx23, LS423) using firmware 6.2.94 or later. The NTFS format also allows for files larger than 4GB, but the player will not be able to receive network updates or generate logs.

Important

The storage device must remain in the player at all times while playing presentations.

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