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4 K presentation : problems with brighautor

CHRISTIAN DURIX

August 05, 2025 07:19

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I'm working on a 4K touchscreen presentation in 3840 x 2160.

All my source elements, piuctures and video  are in this resolution.

With BrightAuthor, regardless of the player, the touch

 zones are defined in a 1920 x 1080 window.

Will the final presentation be in 4K with the zones

in the correct position?

 

With BrightAuthor Connect, still images are limited

and resized to 2048 x 2160, ( Stange for 4 K PLAYERS !!!)

  except with  XT1145 players. 

However, there's no problem with videos, where the

 window for defining touch zones is indeed 3840 x 2160.

 

So it seems that the only player I can use to have images

and video natively in the desired resolution is the XT1145.

The disadvantage of BrightAuthor Connect is that the

 videos are not previewed, which is not convenient at all

 for defining touch zones. Do you know how to make

 them visible?  If some on can help many thanks. Christian

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2 comments

• 0
  
  peter September 02, 2025 04:01

  Hello,
  
  
  

  Touch Zone Resolution in BrightAuthor (classic)

  BrightAuthor’s authoring canvas is fixed at 1920×1080 for interactive layouts, even if your project is targeting 4K output.

  That can make it look like your touch zones won’t line up, but on the player, BrightSign maps the zones proportionally to the full screen resolution.

  So if your project is set to 4K output and you’ve aligned elements visually on the 1080p canvas, the zones scale correctly and will appear in the right position at runtime.

   Bottom line: Yes, your final presentation will output in 4K, and touch zones will be in the right place. The 1920×1080 design window is just an editing limitation.

  2. BrightAuthor:Connected & Image Scaling

  In BA:Connected, you’ve found the limitation: still images are automatically resized to 2048×2160 except on XT1145 players, which support full 4K images.

  Videos are different: they can stay at 3840×2160 and the interactive canvas matches the real resolution when editing.

  This is by design — BrightSign’s firmware prioritizes video at full resolution, while static images are resampled for performance and memory efficiency (except on higher-end XT-class units).

  So you’re correct: if you want both stills and video at true 4K, the XT1145 (or equivalent XT series) is your only option.

  3. Video Previews in BrightAuthor:Connected

  Unfortunately, BA:Connected does not preview 4K video in the editor. That’s why when defining touch zones, you can’t “see” the video content behind them.

  Workarounds:

  Use a still placeholder image (frame grab of the video) while defining zones. Replace it with the video in the final playlist.

  Or, define touch zones by coordinates (a bit tedious, but precise if you know positions).

  Some integrators use BrightAuthor classic for zone placement (since it previews video), then import/migrate the project into BA:Connected for deployment.

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

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• 0
  
  tlementhiss December 10, 2025 02:56

  So your assumption was right — the 1080p edit-mode is just a limitation of the editing interface, not the final output:

  • According to the BrightSign support forum: when you use BrightAuthor (classic), the “authoring canvas” (i.e. the editor window) is fixed at 1920×1080 even if your final project is set to output 4K. At runtime, when played on a 4K-capable BrightSign player, the system scales the zones proportionally — so, yes, your touch zones should map correctly to the full 4K output. 

  • In other words: your final presentation will run in 4K, and despite designing in a 1080p editor window, the touch zones should end up in the correct positions on a 3840×2160 display (assuming everything else is set up properly)

  • Many BrightSign players, especially non-XT (or lower-end) models, do not support full-resolution 4K for static images under BrightAuthor:Connected. Instead, still images get auto-resized (often to 2048×2160 or even less).
  • This explains why, in your testing, only on the XT1145 (or other XT-class players) you see proper 4K still-image handling — that matches reports from other users.
  • Videos are handled differently: 4K video files can be used, and in BA:Connected, when you insert video zones, the editing canvas for that zone matches the real 3840×2160 resolution — so you can place touch zones accurately over a 4K video.

  Hence your conclusion is correct: if you want both high-resolution stills and video in true 4K with accurate touch-hit areas, XT-series players (like XT1145) are the practical choice.

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