One of the best aspects of being a Duke University Digital Media Engineer for the Office of Information and Technology is that I can regularly attend manufacturer-sponsored AV training sessions related to projects where I may not be directly involved. Learning about new platforms is an exciting opportunity to compare and contrast our existing offerings while exploring new or unique features a new platform offers. Duke is no stranger to BrightSign hardware. We’ve been deploying rebadged BrightSign decoders and encoders for our CampusVision (Duke’s Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) offering) for years. But, we’ve never used BrightSign’s hardware and software on a project, until now.
First and foremost, BrightSign makes hardware media players. As of the writing of this post, they offer eight different players with a variety of configurations (some that display 1080p video, others that play 4K… also, audio capabilities differentiate the players). Some of their players have HDMI encoders, which can come in handy in a wide range of environments. Most people like BrightSign hardware as it’s an alternative to installing a computer, where you need to maintain the operating system, application(s), etc. They perform a simple, yet expanding, set of functions, and they do it well.
For the project in question, Duke has installed an 18 display video wall in a 6 x 3 configuration. Currently, it’s capable of displaying the output from either a Windows computer or Linux computer in a “left nine screens, right nine screens” configuration, but more flexibility (and fewer computers) is the desired outcome. The training BrightSign provided went over the setup of the boxes and adding them to the BrightSign Network (a cloud service BrightSign offers). Overall, the setup was easy and we’re looking forward to the next training where we’ll go over uploading content and controlling the devices. Stay tuned!
