HDx20 Hardware Interfaces
Power Connector
The power connector on this board is rated for 5 V at 3 A. The plug for the connector is a standard, center-positive 5.5mm plug with a 1.65mm center pin hole.
DE-9 RS-232 Connector
The RS-232 connector is a male DE-9 (more commonly referred to as DB-9) connector. Like PCs, the BrightSign HD series of players are DTE devices. The input to the chip accepts a range between +30V and -30V, so it is compatible with standard +12V and -12V signaling. The output from the chip is rated at a typical +7V and -7V, which exceeds the voltage required by the RS-232 specification.
The baud rate is 115,200, with no parity, 8 data bits, and 1 stop bit. There is no hardware or software flow control. The maximum cable length is 50 meters, and the total cable capacitance is 2500pF.
Note
A lower capacitance cable allows you to use cable lengths beyond 50 meters.
The following diagram illustrates the behavior of the TX and RX signal:
The following table illustrates the pinout of the DE9 on the HD series of players:
pin | Description | pin | Description |
1 | NC | 2 | Receive data into the player |
3 | Transmit data out of the player | 4 | Available 5V@500mA |
5 | Ground | 6 | NC |
7 | Optional TX 2nd channel | 8 | Optional RX 2nd channel |
9 | NC | -- | -- |
DA15 Switch/LED Connector
The switch/led connector is a DA15 female. This connector is used to allow the player to control external LEDs or other devices requiring 24 mA of current or less.
Connect the LED outputs to the LED ANODE and connect the LED CATHODE to the ground. If you want to connect another device, then the output is capable of sourcing or sinking up to 3.3 V at 24 mA, but there is a series resistor of 100Ω in each line.
The connector also allows the connecting of external contact closures to the ground. In order to connect a switch, connect one side of the switch to the switch input, and connect the other side to one of the ground pins on the DA15 connector. The connector can also supply 3.3 V at up to 500 mA to an external device. The 3.3 V output is polyfuse-protected and can source up to 500 mA.
If one BrightSign player is driving the inputs on another BrightSign player, then you can drive at most three inputs from one output. The following calculations explain this limitation:
Note
The GPIO outputs have 100Ω series resistors; the GPIO inputs have 1K pullup 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.
1 out driving 1 in | V=3.3*100/(100+1,000)=0.3 |
1 out driving 2 in | V=3.3*100/(100+500)=0.55 |
1 out driving 3 in | V=3.3*100/(100+333.3)=0.76 |
1 out driving 4 in | V=3.3*100/(100+250)=.94 (This is too high, so 1 output driving 3 inputs is the maximum) |
The following table illustrates the pinout of the DA15 on the HD series of players:
pin | Description | pin | Description |
1 | IR blaster input | 2 | Ground |
3 | Button 6 I/O | 4 | Button 5 I/O |
5 | Button 3 I/O | 6 | Ground |
7 | Button 1 I/O | 8 | +3.3V output at 500mA |
9 | Ground | 10 | Button 7 I/O |
11 | Ground | 12 | Button 4 I/O |
13 | Button 2 I/O | 14 | Ground |
15 | Button 0 I/O | -- | -- |
Here is the DA15 female as viewed from the front of the BrightSign HD120 and HD1020:
BrightSign provides a button/LED/IR board that can be used to demonstrate how the GPIO and IR functions. An example schematic for connecting to the GPIO connector can be provided upon request
Ethernet
The BrightSign HD220 has a standard RJ45 connector for 10/100 base-T Ethernet. The maximum length for the Ethernet cable is 100 meters. The following table illustrates the pinout of the RJ45:
pin | Description | pin | Description |
1 | TX+ | 2 | TX- |
3 | RX+ | 4 | RC to ground |
5 | RC to ground | 6 | RX |
7 | RC to ground | 8 | RC to ground |
USB
The HD1020 has a high-speed (480 Mbit) USB host port. The maximum length for the USB cable is 5 meters. The following table illustrates the pinout of the USB host port.
pin | Description | pin | Description |
1 | VBUS | 2 | D- |
3 | D+ | 4 | Ground |
DE15 VGA Connector
The VGA connector is able to output RGB video. The following table illustrates the pinout of the DE15 VGA connector:
pin | Description | pin | Description |
1 | Red Analog video output | 2 | GREEN analog video output |
3 | Blue analog video output | 4 | NC |
5 | Digital ground | 6 | Analog ground |
7 | Analog ground | 8 | Analog ground |
9 | +5V DDC supply | 10 | Digital ground |
11 | NC | 12 | DDC SDA |
13 | HSYNC output | 14 | VSYNC output |
15 | DDC SCL | -- | -- |
RCA Component HD Video Connector
Using a component cable adaptor on the VGA port, the component triple RCA connector is able to output the following formats:
480p video: Y from Green jack, Pr from Red jack, and Pb from Blue jack
720p video: Y from Green jack, Pr from Red jack, and Pb from Blue jack
1080i video: Y from Green jack, Pr from Red jack, and Pb from Blue jack
1080p video: Y from Green jack, Pr from Red jack, and Pb from Blue jack
3.5mm Audio Connector
The HD120, HD220, and HD1020 each have one 3.5mm female audio connector, which transmits a stereo signal. The full scale voltage output of the audio is 2 V RMS, with no load. The minimum load resistance connected to the audio output should be 32K Ohms (though Rev D and earlier versions of the HDx20 require 5K Ohms).
Note
The BrightSign expansion module allows you to drive up to three sets of 5W headphones directly.
The audio connector has the following pinout:
Tip: Left audio
Ring: Right audio
Base: Ground for audio signal
HDMI Connector
The HDMI® connector is used to send digital video and audio to HDMI-enabled sink devices. The following table illustrates the pinout of the HDMI connector:
pin | Description | pin | Description |
1 | TX2p | 2 | Ground |
3 | TX2n | 4 | TX1p |
5 | Ground | 6 | TX1n |
7 | TX0p | 8 | Ground |
9 | TX0n | 10 | TXCp |
11 | Ground | 12 | TXCn |
13 | CEC | 14 | NC |
15 | DDC SCL | 16 | DDC SDA |
17 | Ground | 18 | +5V DDC |
19 | HDP (Hot Plug Direct) | -- |