Overview

BrightAuthor:connected is the next generation authoring and management application for BrightSign players. Here are some of the key features of BrightAuthor:connected:

• Multi-Platform App: BrightAuthor:connected can be used on Mac or PC. It is also available as a Chrome browser application at https://bsn.cloud .

• Player Setup: Set up BrightSign players using Device Provisioning or publishing configuration files to an SD/microSD card.

• Player Management: Monitor, configure, and troubleshoot BrightSign players over the Internet using your BSN.cloud network.

• Presentation Creation: Create presentations using your content–including video, images, audio, HTML, and text.

• Presentation Publishing: Publish content to BrightSign players using one of the following methods:

  • BSN.cloud: Schedule content over the Internet using your BSN.cloud network (requires a Content Cloud subscription).

  • Local Network: Push content to players over the local network.

  • Web Folder: Host content on your own server.

  • Standalone: Publish content to players manually using a microSD card.

See this page for a list of BrightAuthor features that are not yet supported in BrightAuthor:connected.

New to BrightSign?

To download BrightAuthor:connected, set up an account, and provision players, see this page. The QuickStart Page covers the basics of setting up and publishing to a BrightSign player with BrightAuthor:connected.

Release notes for the production release and all future releases of BrightAuthor:connected and BSN.cloud can be found on the BrightSign Support website. Known Issues for the current versions of BrightAuthor:connected and BSN.cloud can also be found on the BrightSign Support website. 

Requirements

To create presentations and publish them to your player, you will need the following:

Mac or PC

Mac

Any Mac computer running one of the last two major production releases of the macOS.

Windows PC

Any Windows PC that meets or exceeds the following minimum requirements:

• 2.3 GHz CPU

• 2 GB RAM required (4 GB recommended)

• 100 MB available hard disk space for program files (additional disk space required if storing content and/or presentations on your hard disk)

• One of the following operating systems:
  
  

  • Windows 7 (32 or 64 bit)

  • Windows 8 (32 or 64 bit)

  • Windows 10 (32 or 64 bit)

  • Windows 11

The following are recommended components:

• Bonjour 3.x or later: Required for automatically discovering players on the local network; available with the Airport Utility installer.

Chrome Browser

If you are using the browser version of BrightAuthor:connected, we recommend accessing it with the Chrome browser for full feature support. Your Chrome version should be within five major releases of the current production release.

BrightSign Player

Any of the following models, which must be running the minimum firmware version or higher:

• Series 5:

  • AU335, XCx55, XDx5, LSx5, HDx5

  • AU335 minimum firmware version is 8.2

  • All other Series 5 players have a minimum firmware version of 9.0.22.3

• Series 4:

  • XTx44, XDx34, HDx24, LS424, HS124

  • Minimum firmware version is 8.0

• Series 3:

  • XTx43, XDx33, HDx23, LS423, HS123, HO523

  • Minimum firmware version is 8.0

• Series 2:

  • 4Kx42 only

  • Minimum firmware version is 8.0

Display

A monitor, TV, or touchscreen with an HDMI^® input

Storage Device

Any of the following:

• microSD card (for XTx44/43, XDx34/33, HDx23/24, LS424/423 models) or SD card (for earlier models)

• USB Flash Drive (supported on models with a USB port)

• M.2 SSD (XTx44, XTx43, XDx34, XDx33 models only)

• mSATA drive (4Kx42 models only)

Card Reader/Writer

Only required if publishing setup files and/or presentations to an SD or microSD card. The card reader/writer must be connected to your Mac/PC and must be compatible with your storage card.

Input Device

Required for interactive presentations only. Depending on the model, BrightSign players support the following input devices:

• Touchscreen equipped with a supported touch controller. See this link for a list of many supported touch controllers. 

• BrightSign BP200 and BP900 USB button panels 

• Many brands of USB keyboards 

• Many brands of USB mice or trackballs 

• Many brands of USB bar code scanners

• Quadravox Serial Button Board

• AMX, Crestron, and similar control devices

• Any GPIO (open/close contact switch) button, signal, or LED (your custom board or LED display); GPIO connections may require Phoenix-type GPIO terminal blocks.

• PC (via UDP or serial)

• IR input/output devices using the NEC or Pronto Hex remote control protocols