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Firmware Version 6.1

This object allows you to configure resolution and other video output settings. The same video resolution is applied to all video outputs on a BrightSign player. Video or images that are subsequently decoded and displayed will be scaled (using the hardware scalar) to this output resolution if necessary.

Object Creation: The roVideoMode object is created with no parameters.

CreateObject("roVideoMode")

The roVideoMode object generates roHdmiInputChanged and roHdmiOutputChanged event objects whenever the hotplug status of the HDMI input or output changes.

ifVideoMode

SetMode(mode As String) As Boolean

Sets the video output mode. If the specified video mode is different from the current video mode of the object, the unit will reboot and change the video mode to the new setting during system initialization. The supported video modes are listed in the Video Resolutions FAQ. This method also accepts "auto" as a mode parameter. The following optional parameters can be appended to the string

<resolution>:<color_space>:<depth>bit: The video profile for HDMI output. For example, to output 4Kp60 at the 4:2:0 color space with 10 bits of depth, you would pass the following string: "3840x2160x60p:420:10bit".
<resolution>:preferred: A preferred video-mode flag. This instructs the player to only use the video mode if the display EDID indicates that it is supported. Otherwise, the output will default to "auto" mode. If no EDID is detected at bootup, the player will output the preferred video mode. If an HDMI hotplug event occurs afterward, then the player will perform the preferred video-mode check again. The :preferred flag currently ignores video profile settings (i.e. color space and bit depth).
<resolution>:rgb:<range>: The RGB range setting for the video mode. The <range> parameter can be either "fullrange" for RGB Full (0-255) or "limitedrange" for RGB Limited (16-235). For example, to output 1080p60 at RGB Full, you would pass the following string: "1920x1080x60:rgb:fullrange".

BrightSign hardware has a video anti-aliasing low-pass filter that is set automatically.

SetModeForNextBoot(video_mode As String) As Boolean

Specifies the target video mode of the device the next time it reboots. Once a video mode is specified using SetMode(), it can only be changed by a device reboot.

GetModeForNextBoot() As String

Returns the target video mode of the device the next time it reboots. The return value is specified with the SetModeForNextBoot() method.

GetBestMode(connector As String) As String

GetMode() As String

Returns the current video mode of the device, which is specified using the SetMode() method.

GetActiveMode() As AssociativeArray

Returns information about the current video mode as an associative array. All values in the roAssociativeArray are strings:

videomode: The current video mode (e.g. "3840x2160x60p")
colordepth: The current color depth ("8bit", "10bit", or "12bit")
colorspace: The current color space ("RGB" or "YUV")
preferred: A "true" or "false" string indicating whether the current video mode is the preferred mode, which is set using the SetMode() method.

GetConfiguredMode() As AssociativeArray

Returns information about the video mode configured using the SetMode() method. This method returns an roAssociativeArray of strings. If the video mode is set to "auto", this method will return Invalid:

videomode: The configured video mode (e.g. "3840x2160x60p")
colordepth: The configured color depth ("8bit", "10bit", or "12bit")
colorspace: The configured color space ("rgb", "yuv420", or "yuv422")
preferred: A "true" or "false" string indicating whether the configured video mode is the preferred mode, which is specified using the SetMode() method.
width: The width of the video plane
height: The height of the video plane
graphicsPlaneHeight: The height of the graphics plane. The maximum value is "1080", even for 4K video.
graphicsPlaneWidth: The width of the graphics plane. The maximum value is "2048", even for 4K video.
framerate: The framerate of the video output
interlaced: A "true" or "false" string indicating whether the video output is interlaced
dropframe: A "true" or "false" string indicating whether the video output is dropping frames to account for an FPS discrepancy between the source video and the display

GetFPS() As Integer

Returns the current framerate of the video output.

SetDecoderMode(decoder As String, timeslice_mode As String, z_order As Integer, friendly_name As String, enable_mosaic_deinterlacer As Boolean) As Boolean

Configures the video decoder(s) on the player for either standard mode or Mosaic mode. In standard mode, a single decoder is used to play a single video; in Mosiac mode, the decoder can be used to decode multiple videos from different local or remote sources. See the Selecting Decoders section below for more information on assigning video players to decoders in HTML or BrightScript.

decoder: The video decoder to be used (decoder availability differs by model).
- "4K": The 4K decoder (on 4Kx42 models only)
- "HD1": The first HD decoder
- "HD2": The second HD decoder
timeslice_mode: The maximum resolution that the decoder will accept (at framerates up to 60p). If this resolution is the same as the decoder's maximum resolution limit, the decoder will use standard mode, not Mosaic mode.
- "4K": 4096x2160
- "HD": 1920x1080
- "SD": 720x576
- "CIF": 352x288
- "QCIF": 176x144

Important

Upscaling videos in Mosaic mode currently causes severe performance degradation.

z_order: The z-order of the video window (in standard mode) or group of video windows (in Mosaic mode). To change the z-order of Mosiac-mode windows, use the roVideoPlayer.ToFront() method.
friendly_name: A human-readable name for referencing the decoder in HTML and scripts
enable_mosaic_deinterlacer: A Boolean value indicating whether Mosaic-mode videos can be interlaced or not. Enabling the deinterlacer will allow playback of interlaced videos in Mosiac mode, but will reduce the number of Mosiac-mode videos that can be decoded simultaneously as well.

GetDecoderModes() As roArray

Returns an array of associative arrays, each one corresponding to a single decoder. Each associative array contains the following entries:

decoder_name: The system name of the decoder
friendly_name: The name of the decoder as specified when calling SetDecoderMode()
max_decode_size: The maximum resolution of the decoder, as set by system software. This value can be either "4K" or "HD"
configured_decode_size: The maximum resolution of the decoder that is specified when calling SetDecoderMode()
mode: The current mode of the decoder, which can be either "Regular" or "Mosaic"
usage_count: The number of videos currently being decoded by the decoder
max_usage: The maximum number of videos that can be decoded simultaneously by the decoder. The optimum max_usage limits are described below; the limit may be lower depending on a number of factors, including interlacing and frame rate.
- 4K decoder:
  - 1 4K video
  - 2 HD videos
  - 4 SD videos
  - 8 CIF videos
  - 10 QCIF videos
- HD decoder:
  - 0 4K videos
  - 1 HD video
  - 3 SD videos
  - 4 CIF videos
  - 5 QCIF videos
mosaic_mode_interlace: The current deinterlacing mode of the decoder, which can be either "Enabled" or "Disabled". This value is specified when calling SetDecoderMode().

Set3dMode(mode As Integer) As Boolean

Sets the 3D video output mode, which is specified by passing one the following parameters:

0: Standard mono video (default)
1: Side-by-side stereo video
2: Top-and-bottom stereo video

Screenshot(parameters As roAssociativeArray) As Boolean

Captures a screenshot of the video and graphics layer as a .jpeg or .bmp file. The screenshot is configured by passing an associative array of parameters to the method:

filename: A string specifying the name and path of the image file that will be saved (e.g. "SD:/myscreenshots/screen.jpg").
width: An integer specifying the width of the image file.
height: An integer specifying the height of the image file.

Note

The default dimensions of the image file is 640x480.

filetype: A string determining whether the image is a "JPEG" or "BMP" file type. Note that the file extension (".jpg" or ".bmp") is not appended to the filename by default and, if needed, should be included in the filename string.
quality: An integer value (between 0 and 100) that determines the image quality of the screenshot. This parameter is set to 50 by default.
async: An integer value that determines whether the screenshot should be taken synchronously or asynchronously. If set to 0, the function returns True after the image file has successfully finished writing. If set to 1, the function will return True prior to saving the file, then return an roScreenShotComplete event once the file has finished writing.

GetResX() As Integer

Returns the current width of the graphics plane.

GetResY() As Integer

Returns the current height of the graphics plane.

GetVideoResX() As Integer

Returns the current width of the video plane.

GetVideoResY() As Integer

Returns the current height of the video plane.

GetOutputResX() As Integer

Returns the width of the display for the current video mode.

GetOutputResY() As Integer

Returns the height of the display for the current video mode.

GetSafeX() As Integer

Returns the horizontal coordinate for the upper-left corner of the "safe area". For modes that are generally displayed with no overscan, this will be zero.

GetSafeY() As Integer

Returns the vertical coordinate for the upper-left corner of the "safe area". For modes that are generally displayed with no overscan, this will be zero.

GetSafeWidth() As Integer

Returns the width of the "safe area." For modes that are generally displayed with no overscan, this will return the same as GetResX.

GetSafeHeight() As Integer

Returns the height of the "safe area." For modes that are generally displayed with no overscan, this will return the same as GetResY.

More information about safe areas can be found here:

SetGraphicsZOrder(order As String)

Specifies the order of the graphics plane (which includes all graphical elements) in relation to the video plane(s). This method accepts three parameters:

"front": Places the graphics plane in front of the video plane(s).
"middle": Places the graphics plane between two video planes. This option is only applicable to XDx30, XDx32, and 4Kx42 models.
"back": Places the graphics plane behind the video plane(s).

If the player is rendering two videos, the front and back options will always place the graphics plane in front of or behind both video planes. To determine the z-order of video planes in relation to one another, use the ToFront() and ToBack() methods provided by the roVideoPlayer object. The following table shows all possible video and graphics z-order arraignments that can be specified using the SetGraphicsZOrder() method and calling the ToFront() and ToBack() methods on a "Video1" roVideoPlayer instance.

SetGraphicsZOrder()	front		middle		back
ToFront()/ToBack()	ToFront()	ToBack()	ToFront()	ToBack()	ToFront()	ToBack()
Z-Order	Graphics	Graphics	Video1	Video2	Video1	Video2
	Video1	Video2	Graphics	Graphics	Video2	Video1
	Video2	Video1	Video2	Video1	Graphics	Graphics

SetImageSizeThreshold(parameters As roAssociativeArray) As Boolean

Changes the maximum allowed resolution for images. The default image resolution limit is 2048x1280x32bpp (or 4096x2160x32bpp for 4K players), though you can sacrifice width to increase height. Displaying images larger than the default value may deplete the graphics memory and cause a crash, so we recommend testing a script that uses this method thoroughly before deploying it in a production environment. This method accepts an associative array with the following parameters:

width: Overrides the maximum allowed width with the specified value.
height: Overrides the maximum allowed height with the specified value.
ignore: Disables resolution limits completely if the value is 1.

Tip

Without altering the default maximum resolution, you can increase the maximum width of images by sacrificing height (e.g. using a 4096x640x32bpp image on non-4K players is allowed). You can also increase the maximum width/height by reducing the bpp value (e.g. using a 4096x1280x16bpp on non-4K players is allowed).

AdjustGraphicsColor(parameters As roAssociativeArray) As Boolean

Adjusts the video and graphics output of the player using the following parameters, which can be passed to the method as an associative array: "brightness", "hue", "contrast", "saturation". Each parameter has a default value of 0 and can accept a range of values between -1000 and 1000.

ConfigureHdmiInput(parameters As roAssociativeArray) As Boolean

Configures EDID reporting for the HDMI input. By default, the input EDID includes video modes from the display attached to the HDMI output, some video modes supported by the player, and support for PCM audio up to 48kHz; it does not report proprietary media codecs that can be decoded by the device connected to the HDMI output, so you can use this method to announce such support if available at the endpoint. Using this method to change the default configuration will trigger a reboot on the player. The passed associative array can contain the following parameters:

MaxSampleRate: An integer value specifying the maximum supported PCM audio sampling rate in Hz (e.g. the default sampling rate is 48000)
EnableAC3: An integer value specifying whether AC-3 is not supported (0) or supported (1)
EnableEAC3: An integer value specifying whether E-AC-3 is not supported (0) or supported (1)
EnableTrueHDMlp: An integer value specifying whether TrueHD MLP is not supported (0) or supported (1)
EnableDTS: An integer value specifying whether DTS is not supported (0) or supported (1)
EnableDTSHD: An integer value specifying whether DTS-HD is not supported (0) or supported (1)

GetHdmiOutputStatus() As roAssociativeArray

Returns an associative array of Boolean and integer values if an HDMI output is currently connected to a display device. This method will return Invalid if the HDMI output is currently not connected to a display device. The associative array contains the following parameters:

output_present: Returns True if the HDMI output is connected to a display device or False if no device is present.
output_powered: Returns True if the display device is on (i.e. RX powered) or False if it is off.
- EOTF: Returns a string indicating the current electro-optical transfer function (EOTF) used by the display.
  - "HDR (GAMMA)"
  - "SDR (GAMMA)"
  - "SMPTE 2084 (PQ)"
  - "Future (BBC/NHK)"
  - "unspecified"
audio_bits_per_sample: The number of bits per audio sample
audio_format: The format of the audio output. A "PCM" value indicates that the player is sending decoded output.
audio_channel_count: The number of audio channels in the output
audio_sample_rate: The audio sample rate (in hertz)

Note

If an HDR video is playing, the following values will be retrieved from the video file: "max_cll", "max_fall", "red_primary_x", "red_primary_y", "green_primary_x", "green_primary_y", "blue_primary_x", "blue_primary_y", "white_point_x", "white_point_y", "min_mastering_luminance", "max_mastering_luminance".

GetHdmiInputStatus() As roAssociativeArray

Returns an associative array of Boolean and integer values if an HDMI input is currently connected to the device (4K1142, XD1132, XD1230 only). This method will return Invalid if there is currently no HDMI input source. The associative array contains the following parameters:

width: Lists the pixel width of the video input.
height: Lists the pixel height of the video input.
interlaced: Returns True if the video input is interlaced or False if it is not interlaced.
device_present: Returns True if there is an HDMI input device present or False if there is no HDMI input device present.

GetTxHDCPStatus() As roAssociativeArray

Returns an associative array indicating the current HDCP status of the HDMI output. The associative array currently contains a single key labeled state, which can have the following values:

"not-required": HDCP has not been requested.
"authenticated": HDCP has been enabled and successfully negotiated.
"authentication-in-progress": HDCP has been enabled, but authentication has not been completed.
"authentication-failed": HDCP has been requested but could not be negotiated.

ForceHDCPOn(force As Boolean) As Boolean

Forces HDCP authentication on the HDMI output if passed True. Passing False to this method will prevent forced authentication attempts with subsequent hotplug events. This method will return False if the player does not support HDCP or if ForceHDCPOn() has already been called with the same value.

DisableHDCPRepeater(disable As Boolean) As Boolean

Prevents HDCP authentication from taking place on the HDMI input if passed True. The HDMI source will treat the player like any other non-HDCP authenticated HDMI sink. This method returns False if the HDCP state could not be changed, indicating that there's no HDMI input on the player or that HDCP has already been disabled.

SetBackgroundColor(a As Integer) As Boolean

Specifies the background color using an #rrggbb hex value.

SetPowerSaveMode(power_save_enable As Boolean) As Boolean

Disables HDMI output, the syncs for VGA output, and the DAC output for component video. The absence of a signal will cause some monitors to go into standby mode.

IsAttached(connector As String) As Boolean

Returns True if the specified video connector is attached to an output device. This method can be passed the following parameters (note that they are case sensitive):

"hdmi"
"vga"

HdmiAudioDisable(disable As Boolean) As Boolean

Disables audio output if True. This method is set to False by default.

SetMultiscreenBezel(x_pct As Integer, y_pct As Integer) As Boolean

Adjusts the size of the bezel used in calculations when using multiscreen displays for video and images. It allows users to compensate for the width of their screen bezels in multiscreen configurations. The calculations for the percentages are as follows:

x_percentage = (width_of_bezel_between_active_screens / width_of_active_screen) * 100

y_percentage = (height_of_bezel_between_active_screens / height_of_active_screen) * 100

The bezel measurement is therefore the total of the top and bottom bezels in the y case, or the left and right bezels in the x case. When this value is set correctly, images spread across multiple screens take account of the bezel widths, leading to better alignment of images.

SaveEdids(filename As String) As Boolean

Saves the EDID information of the display(s) connected via HDMI and/or VGA. The EDID fields are saved sequentially as raw binaries into the specified file. The EDID sets are two 2kb each, resulting in a maximum file size of 4kb. This method returns True upon success and False upon failure.

GetEdidIdentity(video_connector As Boolean) As roAssociativeArray

Returns an associative array with EDID information from a compatible monitor/television. Passing True with this method specifies EDID over HDMI, while passing False specifies EDID over VGA. These are the possible parameters returned in the associative array:

serial_number_string
year_of_manufacture
monitor_name
manufacturer
text_string
serial_number
product
week_of_manufacture

The system will generate an roHdmiEdidChanged event when an HDMI cable is hotplugged and the EDID information changes. Calling GetEdidIdentity(true) at this point retrieves the new EDID information.

SetMpcdi(enable As Boolean) As Boolean

Enables MPCDI if passed True. This will only happen if all of the resources needed for MPCDI have been allocated and set correctly—otherwise, this method will return False and not enable MPCDI. You can pass False to this method to disable MPCDI after it has been enabled.

Tip

See the MPCDI tech note for more information about configuring MPCDI on BrightSign players.

SetMpcdiRegionResRectangle(window As roRectangle) As Boolean

Sets the region viewport. Use the <XResolution> and <YResolution> attributes in the <region> tag to configure the dimensions of the roRectangle.

SetMpcdiRegionRectangle(x As Float, y As Float, xsize As Float, ysize As Float) As Boolean

Sets the region coordinates. Pass the values contained in the <x>, <y>, <xsize>, and <ysize> attributes in the <region> tag.

SetMpcdiAlphaMapRectangle(r As roRectangle) As Boolean

Sets the width and height of the Alpha blend map. The x and y coordinates are set to 0.

SetMpcdiAlphaMap(data As roByteArray) As Boolean

Sets the alpha blend map. Pass the decoded .png data in the form of an roByteArray.

SetMpcdiAlphaMapGamma(gamma As Float) As Boolean

Sets the gamma value of the alpha map. Pass the value contained in the <gammaEmbedded> attribute in the <alphaMap> tag.

SetMpcdiWarpMapRectangle(r As roRectangle) As Boolean

Sets the width and height of the warp grid. The x and y coordinates are set to 0.

SetMpcdiWarpMap(data As roArray) As Boolean

Sets the warp geometry grid data extracted from the .pfm file.

SetMpcdiBetaMapRectangle(r As roRectangle) As Boolean

Sets the Beta blend map width and height. The x and y coordinates are set to 0.

SetMpcdiBetaMap(data As roByteArray) As Boolean

Sets the beta blend map. Pass the decoded .png data in the form of an roByteArray.

ifMessagePort

SetPort(port As Object) As Void

Posts events to the attached message port

ifUserData

SetUserData(user_data As Object)

Sets the user data that will be returned when events are raised.

GetUserData() As Object

Returns the user data that has previously been set via SetUserData(). It will return Invalid if no data has been set.

"Auto" Video Mode

If the mode is set to "auto," the BrightSign player will use the following algorithm to determine the best video mode to use based on connected hardware:

Try VGA: If VGA is attached, use the highest-resolution mode (as reported by the monitor) that the player supports.
Try HDMI: If HDMI is attached, use the highest-resolution mode (as reported by the monitor) that the player supports.
Default to 1024x768x75p.
If an HDMI hotplug event occurs at any point, recheck the monitor EDID to determine if the highest-resolution mode has changed. If it has changed, reboot the player and use the new video mode.

Selecting Decoders for Playback

An roVideoPlayer instance selects which video decoder to use based on the resolution probed from the video file. It will attempt to select the decoder that has the closest maximum supported resolution (i.e. 1920x1080 for the HD decoder and 3840x2160 for the 4K decoder), without exceeding that maximum resolution. If a decoder has been configured using the roVideoMode.SetDecoderMode() method, it will match the video resolution against the specified timeslice_mode instead. If both decoders support the same maximum resolution, you can select a decoder by matching the z-order of the roVideoPlayer instance (set using the ToFront() and ToBack() methods) with the z-order of the decoder (set using the roVideoMode.SetDecoderMode() method).

You can also select the decoder manually. First, configure the decoder(s) using the roVideoMode.SetDecoderMode() method. Then, use the friendly_name specified when calling the method to designate a decoder to use for video playback.

To select a decoder in BrightScript, pass an associative array to the roVideoPlayer.PlayFile() method containing the decoder:[friendly_name] parameter:

PlayFile({filename:"text_1.mov", decoder:"main-video"})

To select a decoder for HTML video, include the decoder:[friendly_name] property with the hwz attribute:

<video hwz="decoder:main-video;"> </video>
<video hwz="decoder:sd-video;"> </video>

The max_usage of a decoder determines how many video players can be assigned to the decoder using the system software algorithm described above—video players beyond the max_usage limit may be assigned to another decoder or not displayed at all. On the other hand, if you manually assign video players using the friendly_name of the decoder, you can assign more video players to the decoder than the max_usage limit, but this may cause unpredictable video-display behavior.

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