Send Serial, CEC, and VSYNC Commands in BrightAuthor

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Last updated: Aug 22, 2024
5 min read

Sending Serial Commands

You can use serial I/O to issue commands to a display through a BrightSign player. Once a player and display have been connected by RS-232 through DB9, USB, or 3.5mm serial cables, presentations can deliver Commands as scheduled through BrightAuthor. Proper use of this document requires knowledge of BrightSign player serial port configuration.

Connecting Devices

RS-232 communication is conducted between two interface types: Data Terminal Equipment (DTE) and Data Circuit-terminating Equipment (DCE). In order to connect a BrightSign player and display for serial I/O, the interface types on the two devices must be determined. Most BrightSign players function as a DCE devices, while displays may vary. Consult documentation for both the player and display to determine if they are DTE or DCE.

Straight-through cabling only supports DTE to DCE connections. If both devices are DTE or DCE, a connection can be established through a null-modem cable or transformer, which flips RX/TX signals. 

Issuing Commands

The DE-9 (more commonly referred to as DB-9) serial port is fully RS-232 compatible, but the 3.5mm serial port can only interoperate with some RS-232 compatible devices. It can receive from any RS-232 device, but transmission may not work depending on the electrical characteristics of the devices.

After the connection between devices is established, commands can be sent from the player to the TV. Commands can typically be found in the display manufacturer documentation. BrightAuthor can only send decimal or ASCII values; however, many TVs operate in other numeric systems like hexadecimal. Be sure to properly convert the command value to decimal or ASCII before entering the serial bytes. BrightSign players can support sending commands in hexadecimal and binary through the use of third party scripts and plugins. For more information on how to do this, contact support@brightsign.biz.

Sending a Command in Decimal

  1. Create an Interactive presentation in BrightAuthor.

  2. Open the media state or event where you want to send the command.

  3. Click the Advanced tab.

  4. Click Add Command and set the command to Send – Serial Bytes.

  5. Set the Port to 0 (standard case for most serial devices). Note that a USB-serial device (such as a GPS receiver) will enumerate on port 2. Additional USB-serial devices will enumerate on ports 3, 4, 5, etc. The enumeration order will remain consistent between reboots as long as the USB-serial devices are connected to the same player/hub ports. The enumeration order can be retrieved using the "usblist" command at the brightsign> shell prompt; otherwise, it will need to be determined by testing the setup.

  6. Enter the command in the Bytes field. Use a comma to separate each byte.

Sending a Command in ASCII

  1. Create an Interactive presentation in BrightAuthor.

  2. Open the media state or event where you want to send the command.

  3. Click on the Advanced tab.

  4. Click Add Command and set the command to Send – Serial String (EOL).

  5. Set the Port to 0 (standard case for most serial devices). Note that a USB-serial device (such as a GPS receiver) will enumerate on port 2. Additional USB-serial devices will enumerate on ports 3, 4, 5, etc. The enumeration order will remain consistent between reboots as long as the USB-serial devices are connected to the same player/hub ports. The enumeration order can be retrieved using the "usblist" command at the brightsign> shell prompt; otherwise, it will need to be determined by testing the setup.

  6. Enter the command in the String field.


Sending a Serial Command after Receiving a UDP Message

  1. In a full-screen presentation, select the Edit tab and click Layout.

  2. Add an Audio Only zone. Resize the zone and rename it to “EventHandler”

  3. Under the Edit tab:

    1. Select Playlist 

    2. Select the "EventHandler" zone via the Zone drop down menu or by selecting it from the layout representation (it should be number 2).

    3. Switch the playlist type for the "Eventhandler" zone to interactive.

  4. Under Media Library:

    1. Select the other tab and drag and drop the Event Handler state to the playlist area (see the image above).

    2. Click the events tab under Media Library.

    3. Drag and drop the UDP Input event onto the Event Handler state in the playlist area.

    4. Enter the UDP input that the BrightSign player will be listening for (i.e. “AMX_Command1).

  5. Go to the Advanced tab and select Add Command:

    1. Select the type of serial command to send when the player receives the specified UDP input message (Serial-send string with EOL, Serial-send string without EOL, or Serial send byte).

    2. Enter the serial command string/value.

    3. Select OK.

  6. Go to File > Presentation Properties > Interactive > Serial.

    1. Make sure that the serial settings from this panel match the serial settings of the device you would like to communicate with (Baud rate, Data bits, Parity, Stop bits, Protocol, Send EOL, Receive EOL). The DB9/3.5mm serial connector on the player is referred to as "Port 0".

      Note: The DE-9 (more commonly referred to as DB-9) serial port is fully RS-232 compatible, but the 3.5mm serial port can only interoperate with some RS-232 compatible devices. It can receive from any RS-232 device, but transmission may not work depending on the electrical characteristics of the device.

  7. Enter the value from your AMX controller or other UDP application in UDP Destination Port and UDP Receiver Port. These should be the same value.

Sending CEC Commands

CEC commands work over HDMI only and require a display that supports CEC over HDMI. Check the display manual to see if CEC commands are supported. You should also use the latest BrightAuthor and OS releases.

You can either use the default "on" and "off" commands, or send custom CEC strings for other commands:

  1. Create or open an interactive presentation.

  2. Open the state or event when you want the CEC command to be executed.

  3. Select the Advanced tab.

  4. Click Add Command.

  5. Select BrightControl from the Commands drop-down list:

  6. Use the Display On or Display Off commands to send "on" or "off" commands to the display. You can also select the Send Ascii String command to send a custom CEC command.

 

HD110-HD1010 models owners should know that CEC is only supported on our rev G units. The player rev is the third digit in the player serial number.

Using Monitor Power Save Mode Commands

You can enable or disable power save mode to kill the signal on the HDMI and VGA ports:

  • Enable monitor power save mode places the display in standby by turning off the player video signal

  • Disable monitor power save mode reactivates the signal on the HDMI and VGA ports, turning the display back on.

Power save mode commands are added using a similar process to the CEC commands outlined above, but you select Video > Enable/Disable monitor power save mode commands. See this FAQ for more details. 

Scheduling Display Cycles

You can schedule the player to turn the display on and off on any models that support scheduling. You can use a separate project to turn off/on the screen. See this video for details.

The player must know the date and time for scheduling to work.