Instructions for Using BrightSign Controllers for

A Simple Standalone Multi-Screen Presentation

These instructions are meant to accompany the BrightAuthor User Guide, available at and the tutorial on creating multi-screen presentations located at

The following assumptions are being made:

  1. Two or more BrightSign controllers are being used in a multi-screen presentation.
  2. The presentation is standalone; i.e., it is not utilizing a web server or a BrightSign Network.
  3. The BrightSign controllers are connected via a standard Ethernet switch (or router, provided the router is not connected to a network).
  4. The IP address of the master controller must be set manually.
  5. The media content to be displayed by the controllers will be located in local storage on SDHC cards that can be inserted into SDHC slot of the controllers.
    *According to the BrightSign documentation, SDHC cards that are to play HD video are recommended to be capable of at least 4 Mb/s read rate. Class 4 SDHC cards are rated at a minimum of 4 Mb/s read rate. See the tech note entitled, “Selecting SD/SDHC Flash Cards”, which can be downloaded at: .
  1. To ensure the media played by all the controllers is synchronized as seamlessly as possible, all video clips that are scheduled to play at the same time should have exactly the same duration. All still images that are scheduled to be displayed at the same time should be set to display for the same duration.

Step 1: Update the Firmware of the BrightSign Controllers

Follow these steps only if you need to update the firmware for one or more BrightSign controllers. It is probably advisable to make sure all the controllers used for a presentation have the same version of firmware installed.

  1. Determine the version of firmware installed on the BrightSign controllers, and update the firmware if necessary.
  2. Connect a BrightSign controller to a monitor with a VGA or HDMI cable.
  3. Power up the controller by plugging in the power supply. Wait for the BrightSign logo screen to appear.
  4. The bottom line of the logo screen will indicate the firmware version that is currently installed.
  5. As of 11/11/2011, the most recent firmware version is 3.5.77.
  6. If the firmware is not up to date, update the firmware.
  7. Download the most recent version of the firmware at:

  8. Unzip the downloaded zip file. The important file you need is called, “update.rok”.
  9. Copy the “update.rok” file to the root folder of a blank SDHC card. There should be no folders or other files on this card.
  10. Insert the SDHC card containing the “update.rok” card into the BrightSign controller.
  11. Power up the controller (unplugging the power cord and plugging it back in if necessary). Watch the progress of the update on the monitor.
  12. When the monitor displays a message stating you can remove the SDHC card, remove the card. The firmware has been updated, and the new version should be displayed on the screen. (If the firmware is not updated, or if an error occurs, consult the BrightSign website:
  13. Repeat steps 1-2 above for each BrightSign controller that needs a firmware update. The "update.rok" file on the SDHC card will have been deleted by the update process to prevent accidental firmware updates when the card is reused, so if you need to update additional controllers, you will need to recopy the “update.rok” file to the card.

Step 2: Designate the MasterBrightSign Controller

For a multi-screen presentation, one controller must be set as the master, while the others are slaves. The two things that differentiate the master from the slaves in a standalone scenario are:

  1. The master controller will have its IP address manually set.
  2. The master controller will have the SDHC card containing the master project created by the BrightAuthor application.

To designate a master controller, you first need to manually set the controller’s IP address, as follows:

  1. Select one BrightSign controller to be the master, and label it as such. It doesn’t matter which controller you select as the master, you just need to be able to identify it so you know which controller should have the SDHC card containing the master presentation. You do not need to set the IP addresses of the slave controllers.
  2. Download the “Manual IP Address Assignment” zip file. A link to this file can be found at:
  3. Unzip the downloaded zip file. The file you need is called, “autorun.brs”.
  4. Copy the “autorun.brs” file to the root folder of a blank SDHC card. There should be no folders or other files on this card.
    TheBrightSign controllers are programmed by default to automatically run the autorun.brs file if it is present. Here we are only using the autorun.brs file to manually set an IP address. Presentations created using BrightAuthor will have autorun.brs files containing other scripts created specifically for those presentations.
  5. Insert the SDHC card containing the “autorun.brs” card into the BrightSign controller.
  6. Power up the controller (unplugging the power cord and plugging it back in if necessary). You should see the message, "Manual Network Configuration", displayed on the monitor.
  7. When the monitor displays the message, “Settings Updated. Remove Network Configuration Script from flash card.”, the controller’s IP address has been set. If you must reuse the SDHC card, be sure to remove the “autorun.brs” file from the card to prevent the IP address from being reconfigured if the card is reused.
    If you have an extra SDHC card, it is advisable to keep the “autorun.brs” file for setting the IP address on the extra card so you can easily reconfigure the master controller’s IP address, when necessary, as the master controller can lose its IP address if it is powered off and on repeatedly, as when testing a presentation.

Step 3: Connect the Video Displays to the BrightSign Controllers

The BrightSign controllers can be connected to monitors or other video displays via either a standard VGA cable or a HDMI cable (but not both on the same controller). If you are using multiple controllers, you can use different cables for the different displays; i.e., you don’t have to use all VGA cables or all HDMI cables.

  1. Connect each display to a BrightSign controller using the appropriate cable.

Step 4: Connect the BrightSign Controllers to a Switch

Connecting the controllers to each other via a switch allows the master controller to synchronize video playback with the slave controllers. You can use a standard router as a switch as long as you don’t connect anything to the “WAN” or “Uplink” ports. You do not need to have a network connection for a standalone multi-screen presentation.

  1. Connect an Ethernet cable from the master BrightSign controller to the port labeled #1 of the switch.
  2. Connect the slave controllers to the other numbered ports of the switch.
  3. Power on the switch.

Step 5: Creating the Content to be Displayed by the BrightSign Controllers

Refer to the BrightAuthor User Guide, available at , for specifications of what media types and formats are allowed.

Step 6: Creating the Master Presentation

Each BrightSign controller must have its own presentation. In this standalone scenario, all presentations are stored locally on SDHC cards, so each controller must have its own presentation stored on its own SDHC card. The primary difference between the master presentation and the slave presentations—other than the fact that different media are being displayed—is that the master presentation is set up to broadcast synchronization events, while the slave presentations are set up to receive the synchronization events.

For creating a standalone, multi-screen presentation, the BrightAuthor User Guide, combined with the “Creating a Multi-screen Synchronized Presentation using BrightAuthor” video tutorial available at gives you pretty much all you need for creating a simple presentation. Below are some general guidelines.

  1. Launch the BrightAuthor application.
  2. Select File --> New Presentation from the File menu.
  3. In the dialog box that appears:
  4. Enter a name for the project.
  5. Use the Browse button to select a destination folder for the project.
  6. Select the model of the BrightSign controller that will be running the master presentation.
  7. Select the video connection type: VGA or HDMI.
  8. Select the screen resolution that is appropriate for the presentation, making sure that the monitor being used is capable of that resolution.
  9. Select an overscan option: full screen, action safe area, or title safe area. (Refer to the BrightAuthor User Guide for more information on the differences between these options.
  10. Click the Create button.
  11. In the Template dialog, select the template appropriate for your presentation. Full screen is the default option.
  12. For a standalone, multi-screen presentation, you need to set the UDP destination and receiver ports to be used by the master presentation to communicate to the slave presentations.
  13. Select File --> Presentation Properties from the File menu.
  14. In the Presentation Properties dialog, click the Interactive tab.
  15. Enter a valid port for both the UDP Destination Port and the UDP Receiver Port. Use the same port number for both ports. Port 80 is a good choice for a standalone presentation.
  16. You do not need to change any of the other settings, so click OK to close the Presentation Properties dialog.
  17. Set the location of the Media Library by clicking the Files tab in the Media Library pane, then clicking the Browse button to select the folder that contains the content for the master presentation. You should see icons displayed for all the valid media files.
    You cannot browse for specific files to add to the library; you can only set the folder containing the media for the presentation. To avoid confusion, you can create a separate library folder for each presentation.
  18. Since you are creating a multi-screen presentation, click the Interactive option in the upper right part of the playlist pane before dragging items into the playlist. If you drag items into the playlist pane before clicking Interactive, BrightAuthor will automatically link the items with default events, and you will have to delete or alter those events in order to set up your own events. Refer to the BrightAuthor User Manual for the types of media that are compatible with BrightAuthor.
    You can only drag items from the media library pane into the playlist; you cannot drag items from a file browser window, like Windows Explorer, directly into the playlist.
  19. Create the master presentation playlist by dragging the media items into the playlist. You can rearrange the items as needed. It is impossible to provide detailed guidelines for setting up every possible presentation, but here are some general guidelines for setting up a master presentation:
  20. It is typical for multi-screen, synchronized presentations to begin with a still image that is displayed for a certain period of time (e.g., 30 seconds or more), to give all the slave controllers time to initialize and be ready to receive synchronization commands from the master presentation. This is usually accomplished by connecting a Timeout Event to the image:
  21. Click the Timeout Event button,, in the event button toolbar, to select the Timeout Event.
  22. Click on the still image (typically placed as the first item in the playlist), and drag a line to the first media item to be displayed. A small stopwatch icon, numbered “1”, will be displayed below the still image, and a number “1” will also be displayed to the left of the first media item, to indicate the link between the still image and the first media item.
  23. Double click on the stopwatch icon below the still image to edit the Timeout Event’s properties. The important edits to make here are:
  24. Set the timeout duration. 30 seconds is usually enough time for all the controllers to be ready to receive synchronization signals from the master presentation.
  25. The Transition State indicates what media file to play once the timeout ends. It should be set for you. If it is not, you can change it.
  26. Click the Advanced button to bring up the command list.
  27. Click the Add Command button, and from the dropdown list that appears, select “Synchronize”. This tells the master presentation to send a synchronize event to all the slave controllers at the end of the timeout.
  28. Enter a parameter name in the box to the right of the “Synchronize” option. This value will be broadcast as part of the synchronize event, and will direct the slave presentations to play the media file appropriate for that event. Keep track of the names you use for the parameters, since you will need them again when you create the slave presentations.
  29. Click OK.
  30. If you have a series of other items in the playlist, attach the events appropriate for your needs to those items. Video items usually have Media End events attached to them, to indicate what to do when the video clip has ended; still images usually have Timeout Events attached to them, etc.
  31. You can attach these events by clicking on the appropriate event button, then dragging from one media item to the next media item in the playlist sequence.
  32. For each event, you should double click the icon below the media item, as described in 8.a.iii above, and add a Synchronize Event. You should use different parameter names for each event to avoid confusion.
  33. To create a playback loop, drag the event for the last media item in the playlist back to the first playback item; i.e., the item that is played immediately after the initial still image. If you only have one playback item, you can loop it to itself by dragging the event to the initial still image, then changing the value for Transition State so that the media item is directed to play itself.
  34. Now that you have created the presentation, you need to publish it to a SDHC card.
  35. Insert a blank SDHC card into the card reader on your system.
  36. Click the Publish tab located below the main menu. If you have not already saved your presentation, you will be prompted to do so.
  37. There are several options you can set here, but for a simple project that plays constantly, and you know the firmware on the controller has already been updated, the only thing you will need to do is Browseto select the location of the SDHC reader on your system, and click the Publish button. It may take several minutes to publish the presentation, depending on how large the media files are, and how fast your computer is.
  38. When the progress dialog says, “Complete”, you can remove the SDHC card. It is ready to be inserted into the master BrightSign controller. Publishing can take several minutes, depending on how large your media files are.

Step 7: Creating the Slave Presentations

The slave presentations are created similarly to the master presentation, except that instead of adding Timeout or Media End events to the media items, you need to add Synchronization events to listen for the events broadcast by the master presentation. To avoid confusion, all the steps from Step 5 are repeated below, with the necessary changes made for creating a slave presentation.

  1. Select File --> New Presentation from the File menu.
  2. In the dialog box that appears:
  3. Enter a name for the project.
  4. Use the Browse button to select a destination folder for the project.
  5. Select the model of the BrightSign controller that will be running the master presentation.
  6. Select the video connection type: VGA or HDMI.
  7. Select the screen resolution that is appropriate for the presentation, making sure that the monitor being used is capable of that resolution. Most likely you will want to use the same resolution you used for your master presentation.
  8. Select an overscan option: full screen, action safe area, or title safe area. (Refer to the BrightAuthor User Guide for more information on the differences between these options.
  9. Click the Create button.
  10. In the Template dialog, select the template appropriate for your presentation. Full screen is the default option.
  11. For a standalone, multi-screen presentation, you need to set the UDP destination and receiver ports to be used by the master presentation to communicate to the slave presentations.
  12. Select File --> Presentation Properties from the File menu.
  13. In the Presentation Properties dialog, click the Interactive tab.
  14. For the UDP Destination Port and the UDP Receiver Port, enter the same values you used for the master presentation. This is crucial, since if the port numbers do not match between the master and slave presentations, the presentations will not be able to synchronize.