How do I set the Time or Timezone on a BrightSign player using BrightAuthor?

Last Updated: February 15, 2019

NOTE: The LS424 does not have a supercapacitor to maintain its time setting while unpowered and therefore will need to be able to contact the configured time server or have its clock manually set after power is restored.

If the player has Internet access, the clock is set automatically over the Internet by communicating with the BrightSign time server. If you want to change the default time server to something else, refer to this FAQ.

The time zone on a player is set during the setup process in BrightAuthor (using the Time zone dropdown menu in Tools > Setup BrightSign Unit).

Using Daylight Saving Time

To have the player automatically shift hours for summer/winter time, select a named time zone that uses Daylight Saving Time (DST): For example, since most of Europe uses DST, selecting one of the European timezones (WET/CET/EET) will instruct the player to observe summer/winter hours automatically.

If you want to ensure that a time zone does not use DST, select the GMT equivalent: For example, if you want the EET time zone without summer/winter hours, select GMT+2 instead.

The U.S. and Australia have some regions that do not observe DST, in which case the time zones have different versions: For example, you can select either MST (U.S. Mountain Time) or MST1 (U.S. Mountain Time without DST) because the majority of the state of Arizona does not observe DST.

Manually Setting the Date and Time

If the player does not have access to a network time server, you can manually set the date and time using one of the methods below:

The LS424 has a real-time clock (RTC) but does not have a supercap to save the configured time after it power cycles. This player model must be able to communicate with a time server to play day-parted presentations reliably.

1. Using the DWS

1. Ensure your player is set up with the Diagnostic Web Server (DWS) enabled.
2. On a PC connected to the same local network as your player, enter the IP address of the player into your browser.
   Note: To retrieve the IP address of a player, power on the player without an SD card or other storage device inserted. After a few moments, the player will display its IP address on the connected display.
3. Sign in to the DWS and select the Info tab.
4. Click the (set) link next to the date/time information. This will allow you to set the current time on the player

2. Using a script

1. Download this script.
2. Open the SetDateAndTime.txt file in Notepad.
3. Specify the time and time zone for the player on the first two lines of SetDateAndTime.txt
   The example is set for EST and sets the clock to April 19, 2014 at 3:07 PM
   
4. Save the changes.
5. If your screen does not support 1920x1080x60p resolution/rate, you will need to change the video mode in the autorun.brs script on line 6. This FAQ lists all supported resolutions.
6. Copy the config files onto a blank SD card. The files must be copied to the root directory of SD card, not in a folder.
7. Insert the SD card in the unit and power up the unit.
8. Leave the unit powered up for at least the next 4 hours so that supercap that maintains the time can charge.  It does not have to be running the script, you can use it normally, just keep it powered up.
   

3. Using a plugin

Download this sample project created with BrightAuthor 3.7, along with a video that shows how it's used. You can use this sample project to set the date and time on your player. That will allow the scheduling to work. Step-by-step directions are below:

1. Open the timesettings.bpf project.
2. Change the image in zone 1 to something on your local drive.
3. Go to File > Presentation Properties > Variables. Set the appropriate time/date for your location.
4. Go to the Data Feeds tab in the Presentation Properties window. Set the location of setdatetime.brs so that it makes sense for the location where you saved it.
5. Save the project under a new name (File > Save timesettings As).
6. Click on Publish tab and select Local Storage. The project will appear in schedule grid as active all day, every day.
7. Publish schedule to a blank SD card and insert it into your BrightSign unit.
8. Power on the unit This should set the time and date on screen.
9. Once the time and date are set, publish a different set of content, as the timesettings presentation will continually reset the time to the specified time.
10. Leave the unit powered up for at least the next 4 hours so that supercap that maintains the time can charge.

NOTE:

When setting the time using a script or plugin, it can take up to 4 hours for the supercapacitor (i.e. the internal battery), to charge.
After setting the date/time, the player needs to remain powered up for 4 hours to get a full charge out of the supercap.
It does not need to remain connected to the Internet.
If you used the presentation and plugin to set the date/time, you should publish a different presentation as the presentation with plugin will continually reset the time to what you specified and not allow it to advance.
Once fully charged, the player can maintain the date and time while unpowered for up to a day and a half for the LS423, up to two weeks for other models with supercapacitor.

NOTE: The LS424 does not have a supercapacitor to maintain its time setting while unpowered.  This means that if it is unplugged from power, its clock will be immediately lost and the player will need to have its clock set when it is powered up again.  This is noted in the differences between Series 3 and Series 4 models.