Outputs on the 12-pin GPIO are described in the hardware interfaces document for each player (for example, this page).
The BrightSign players have 12 total connections: eight GPIO connections for buttons or LEDs (or any combination of buttons or LEDs that adds up to eight); two for 3.3V power, and two for ground. The GPIO port requires a simple contact closure connection. For an explanation of the different GPIO button pins and grounds, consult the Hardware Interfaces documentation for your player model.
Each button/LED must be connected to a GPIO pin and to a ground. The Switch/LED connector is a DA15 Female. This connector is used to allow , and allows the player to control external LEDs or other devices requiring 24mA of current or less.
You can use a 3rd Party Partner control board to connect more than eight buttons/LEDs, support higher voltage LEDs, or use other outputs.
Connecting to an LED
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To connect to an LED, you must connect the LED outputs to the LED
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anode and then connect the LED
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cathode to ground.
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If If you want to connect another player, then the output is capable of sourcing or sinking up to 3.3V at 24mA, but there is a series resistor of 100Ω in each line. The connector also allows the connecting of external contact closures to the ground.
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To connect an LED to the player GPIO connector (DA15), see the steps below. Once youwire the anode to pin 8 for testing, the LED anode is wired to a pin like the buttons. BrightSign players support 3.3v LEDs directly, without external power. :
Connect the Anode anode of the LED to pin 8 (PWR), and Cathode cathode to pin 14 (GND). We recommend using a 10-100 ohm series resistor to protect the LED.
The LED will be ON and will stay ON because pin 8 is always 3.3V and pin 14 is always GND. Use this to verify that the LED is working and that there is board power.
BrightSign players support 3.3V LEDs directly, without external power.
We recommend using a 10-100 Ohm series resistor to protect the LED.
Once youwire the anode to pin 8 for testing, the LED anode is wired to a pin like the buttons.
Connect the Anode anode to pin 15 and leave Cathode the cathode connected to pin 14 (GND). You can now control the LED with a BrightAuthor:connected project, BrightAuthor project, or script.
If the LED is too dim, remove the series resistor, as the board has an internal 100 ohm series resistor to limit current to the LED.
Connecting to a Switch
To connect to a switch:
Connect one side of the switch to the switch input
Connect the other side of the switch to one of the ground pins on the DB15 connector
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The GPIO outputs have 100Ω series resistors; the GPIO inputs have 1K pullup pull-up resistors to 3.3V; and the input threshold on the 541 chips is 2V high and .8V low. The high voltage is not problematic, but the low voltage can be if there are too many inputs connected to one output.
Examples
How to wire four buttons and four LEDs:
(20 KB)View file name GPIO_4buttons_with_LED_Button4.pdf
How to wire three buttons and three LEDs:
(10 KB)View file name LED_3Button3_.pdf
An example of a low-voltage button that only requires 3.3v for its LED:
(100 KB)View file name PV4-gpio-low voltage buttons.pdf