BAconnected General FAQ

Setup

Setup allows you to set up a player with your desired settings and publishing type (Standalone, Local Network, BSN.cloud, or Web Folder). The specific settings of each player that you set up will be saved to the Setup Library where they can be edited, deleted, or used for reference.  

Provision

Provision is the process of configuring a player (network settings, logging, etc.) and installing a player app on it. The player app tells the player what to do after booting up.

When BrightAuthor:connected is used, the player app consists of an autorun and associated files. It includes information like the publishing mode (Standalone, Local Network, Web Folder, etc.). For partners who prefer to use their own Content Management System (CMS), the player app is used to connect the player to the partner's CMS.

Publishing presentation content is separate from provisioning, but these steps can be combined. For example, you can deliver the player app with the content as a package through an autorun.zip file.

Activate

A QR code appears on the connected display when a player is first powered up. This code can be used to provision the player and automatically apply a default Setup:

• If the player is using the Control Cloud, it will be configured for DHCP with Local Network publishing and given a default name.

• If the player is using the Content Cloud, it will be configured for DHCP with BSN.cloud publishing and given a default name.

If you do not want to use the default Setup, first create a Setup to apply to your player. If you use the QR code to set up your players and then try to change to a different Setup type, you will have to go through the re-provisioning process. See this page for more information about that process, and see Activate for more details about player activation.

This information is governed by the Terms of Service:

• Current subscriptions include 1GB/player/month or 12GB/player/year for download.

• Active storage on our service is currently not limited. 

• Customers are responsible for the backup of their data and BrightSign makes no commitment to retain data that isn't currently in use.

• Single file upload is limited to 5GB per file.

Yes, players are capable of displaying HTML pages by placing the index.html file, along with any required content files, in the root folder of the storage device. HTML presentations can be published using either the Standalone publishing mode (i.e., copying the files directly to the storage device and inserting the storage device into the player) or by uploading the files to the player's microSD card via the SD tab of the player's Remote Diagnostic Web Server.

Players support True Type Font files (.ttf) as well as Web Open Font files (.woff/.woff2) which can be added to the player's storage device. If no fonts are specified or provided, the player will use its default system font.

While BrightAuthor:connected is required to create multi-zone presentations, a limited set of interactive functionality is available for HTML pages via JavaScript BrightScript objects.

Playlists can be created in the BrightAuthor:connected Presentation tab (see this page for a tutorial).

To create simple presentations without BrightAuthor:connected (or any other publishing software), see https://brightsign.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/DOC/pages/1889468440/Setup+FAQ#Can-I-play-files-without-presentation-software-(BrightAuthor%2C-BAconnected%2C-etc.)%3F

No. BrightSign players are not capable of traditional computer file sharing and thus do not appear on Mac or PC network viewers.

If your player was set up for the BSN.cloud publishing mode, it will be visible under the Network tab in BrightAuthor:connected where various settings can be accessed.

If your player is on the same network as the computer you are using to run BrightAuthor:connected, you can publish to the player directly using the Local Network publishing mode. Alternatively, you can set the player up for the Web Folder publishing mode where content on the player is automatically updated from a designated web folder.

More info on the various publishing modes can be found here.

The Video Mode option in BrightAuthor:connected allows you to determine how videos will be scaled to fit in a Video or Image zone. This option has no effect if the video and the zone are the same size.

See https://brightsign.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/DOC/pages/388432875/Zones#Zone-Types for more information about the BrightAuthor:connected Video Mode types.

This is usually caused by a communication issue with BSN.cloud servers (for example, a missing player setting or configuration or a network issue). Check the following:

1. Make sure that Enable BSN.cloud is selected in Admin > Player Settings > Advanced (this setting is Enable Control Cloud or Content Cloud in BrightAuthor:connected 1.36.0 or later):

2. Make sure that the player was activated before or during the setup process. For more information, see this page.

3. To communicate with players, the network must meet some basic requirements. See this page for more details.

4. Players must be on BrightSign OS version 8.0.119 or later to run BSN.cloud, so make sure your player OS is compatible with BSN.cloud. See the next topic if you need instructions about how to update your OS.

There are several different ways to update the OS in BrightAuthor:connected. See Update the Player OS for more information.