This article is a guide to manually installing Signagelive on BrightSign series 3, 4, and 5 devices. These instructions will walk you through manually installing Signagelive from your BrightSign's out-of-the-box state.
Please note
During this process, your device will download additional files from Signagelive. Therefore, an active network connection will be needed to complete the installation.
Requirements before you begin:
1. Ensure you are running the correct firmware
Begin by powering on your supported BrightSign device without a microSD card inserted. This will cause the Player to power on and display the hardware information and the currently installed firmware version on the connected display.
Next, check that your device is running at least the minimum recommended/supported firmware (8.5.47 for 3/4 series devices and 9.0.145.1 for 5 series devices), and if not, install the recommended firmware. You can find the firmware files and installation steps here.
2. Generate your configuration files
The configuration files tell your Player what timezone, resolution, screen rotation (and so much more!) that it should use. All of this information is bundled into a single settings.json file that you'll need to create and then place onto the Player's SD card. To do this:
Open the BrightSign Config Tool
Fill in the required fields in the “Configuration” area of the page
Press the “Generate” button, and this will then automatically download the settings.json file
Additional Settings in the Configuration Tool for Series 5 devices
Due to the additional outputs that some Series 5 devices offer, you'll need to complete an additional section when creating a configuration file for one.
As well as step 2 above, please also complete the following before clicking the "Generate" button:
Select Yes from the Is Series 5 Device? drop-down menu
Select your model from the Select Device drop-down menu
Ensure the fields below each HDMI section are completed as per your desired configuration (this will vary depending on which model you have chosen in the previous step)
If you are configuring a multi-output BrightSign XC device, please also see the Configuring a multi-output BrightSign device section below:
Configuring a multi-output BrightSign device (XC and XT2145 models only)
Configuring a multi-output BrightSign device (XC and XT2145 models only)
When creating your configuration files as per above, ensure that your XC model Player is chosen from the Select Device drop-down menu
Now you can configure the settings for each individual HDMI output on your device
Once complete, press "Generate" to create and download your settings.json file
Please Note: if you are outputting to multiple displays, we recommend choosing an output resolution for each HDMI output as opposed to leaving this as the default option Automatically (screen will detect)
By default, your device is configured to connect to the internet using the ethernet port via DHCP. Should you wish to change the network settings (or you're using a Wi-Fi module for your device), please see the optional Network Configuration step below:
(Optional) Network Configuration
(Optional) Network Configuration
Open the BrightSign Config Tool
Scroll down to the “Networking” section
Configure the Networking Mode for your Player, from either DHCP/Static IP
If choosing Static IP, enter all other configuration options
Select your Connection Type from either ethernet or Wifi (Wi-Fi requires optional Wifi Adapter Module)
If choosing Wifi, add SSID and Passphrase details
Press Generate
This will then automatically download the network.json file
3. Imaging your microSD card and installing Signagelive
With your device running the correct firmware and your configuration files ready, you can now install Signagelive.
Download the latest Signagelive Client for BrightSign devices here.
Select the autorun.zip folder on your laptop and “extract all” to the root of the micro SD card. (The "root" is the main directory where all the other folders and files are located)
Create a folder called data (case sensitive on the root of the SD card)
Add the settings.json file you downloaded to the data folder on the microSD card
Optionally, if you generated one, add the network.json file to the data folder.
Remove the microSD card from your laptop and insert it into the powered-off BrightSign Player
Power on your BrightSign Player
Once you have completed the steps above and your Player finishes downloading all of the necessary files, you should see the Signagelive Activation Code displayed on-screen. You can now proceed with activating your Player.
Signagelive Settings/Setup Menu
Once Signagelive is installed on your BrightSign device, you can connect a USB keyboard anytime and press CTRL + S to open the Signagelive Settings Menu. From this menu, you can manually change the settings you configured in your settings.json file on-screen (such as screen rotation, date and time settings, etc).
Once you have made a change, hit the Save button and these changes will be reflected on your Player when the Signagelive application relaunches.
Recommendations and known limitations when configuring multiple outputs
Recommendations and known limitations when configuring multiple outputs
Using the “auto” resolution/video mode setting is not recommended if you are enabling more than a single display. This is because the canvas screen positioning (ScreenX/ScreenY) is fixed, and they may not scale correctly.
Screen X and Y coordinates cannot overlap with another screen configuration.
Video Mode support (e.g. in regards to bit depth, colour space and frequency) will depend on the screen attached. No colour space and colour depth options are available on the screen setup page if the resolution is set to “auto” as when set the device will automatically determine what the resolution and other settings should be.
H265 codec is mandatory for the higher resolution testing otherwise video performance is affected, this tends to be noticeable through choppy playback and it will log to the console (debug over IP) that the resolution of the video is unsupported; in certain instances the player will crash either when it tries to play the video or when it tries to transition to the next video asset.
Removing or plugging in the HDMI leads to the screen will not change if the output is enabled or disabled; it will still span based on its last set screen configuration settings.
For more details on unsupported features of BrightSign devices, please see this article.