BrightSign HD120 User manual

HARDWARE MANUAL
BrightSign HD120, HD220, HD1020
BrightSign, LLC. 16795 Lark Ave., Suite 200 Los Gatos, CA 95032 | 408-852-9263 | www.brightsign.biz

TABLE OF CONTENTS
OVERVIEW............................................................................................................................1
Block Diagram ...................................................................................................................................................................2
Ports ..................................................................................................................................................................................3
HD120 ...............................................................................................................................................................................3
HD220 ...............................................................................................................................................................................3
HD1020 .............................................................................................................................................................................4
Power Connector ...............................................................................................................................................................5
DE9 RS-232 Connector .....................................................................................................................................................5
DA15 Switch/LED Connector.............................................................................................................................................6
Ethernet .............................................................................................................................................................................8
USB ...................................................................................................................................................................................8
DE15 VGA Connector........................................................................................................................................................8
Triple RCA Component HD Video Connector....................................................................................................................9
3.5mm Audio Connector ....................................................................................................................................................9
HDMI Connector ..............................................................................................................................................................10
ENVIRONMENTAL AND POWER USAGE .........................................................................11
MECHANICAL......................................................................................................................12

THEORY OF OPERATION ..................................................................................................15
Power Supply ..................................................................................................................................................................15
Reset ...............................................................................................................................................................................15
BCM7208 CPU ................................................................................................................................................................15
Built-in Flash....................................................................................................................................................................15
SDRAM............................................................................................................................................................................16
Serial Port........................................................................................................................................................................16
Video Encoder and Filter .................................................................................................................................................16
Audio Outputs..................................................................................................................................................................16
On-Board LEDs ...............................................................................................................................................................16
On-Board Switch..............................................................................................................................................................17
Reset Switch/GPIO Button ..............................................................................................................................................17
SDHC/SD Flash Slot........................................................................................................................................................18
NAND Flash.....................................................................................................................................................................18
Ethernet ...........................................................................................................................................................................18
USB .................................................................................................................................................................................18

BrightSign HD120, HD220, HD1020
1
All information provided in this reference manual applies to products under development. The characteristics and specifications of these products are subject to
change without notice. BrightSign assumes no obligation regarding future manufacturing unless otherwise agreed to in writing. © BrightSign LLC, 2012
OVERVIEW
The BrightSign HD120, HD220, and HD1020 players can be used to drive a variety of HDTV and computer monitors for
digital sign and kiosk applications. In addition to driving a video display, these players have many different built-in
interfaces that allow them to be controlled.
This reference manual specifies the hardware interfaces on the BrightSign HD120, HD220, and HD1020. This manual
does not describe any software functions.

BrightSign HD120, HD220, HD1020
2
All information provided in this reference manual applies to products under development. The characteristics and specifications of these products are subject to
change without notice. BrightSign assumes no obligation regarding future manufacturing unless otherwise agreed to in writing. © BrightSign LLC, 2012
Block Diagram

BrightSign HD120, HD220, HD1020
3
All information provided in this reference manual applies to products under development. The characteristics and specifications of these products are subject to
change without notice. BrightSign assumes no obligation regarding future manufacturing unless otherwise agreed to in writing. © BrightSign LLC, 2012
Ports
HD120
Front
•DA15 female for GPIO, IR in/out, and 3.3 V power
Left
•GPIO button
•Stereo 3.5mm mini plug for audio output
Right
•SD/SDHC flash card slot
•Red status/error LED
•Yellow update LED
•Green power LED
•Green flash activity LED
Back
•Reset button
•DE15 VGA video connector
•HDMI connector
•Power plug for 5 V power input at 3 A
HD220
Left
•GPIO button
•Stereo 3.5mm mini plug for audio output
Right
•SD/SDHC flash card slot
•Red status/error LED

BrightSign HD120, HD220, HD1020
4
All information provided in this reference manual applies to products under development. The characteristics and specifications of these products are subject to
change without notice. BrightSign assumes no obligation regarding future manufacturing unless otherwise agreed to in writing. © BrightSign LLC, 2012
•Yellow update LED
•Green power LED
•Green flash activity LED
Back
•Reset button
•10/100 Ethernet jack
•DE15 VGA video connector
•HDMI connector
•Power plug for 5 V power input at 3 A
HD1020
Front
•DE9 male RS-232
•DA15 female for GPIO, IR in/out, and 3.3 V power
Left
•GPIO button
•USB connector
•Stereo 3.5mm mini plug for audio output
Right
•SD/SDHC flash card slot
•Red status/error LED
•Yellow update LED
•Green power LED
•Green flash activity LED
Back
•Reset button
•DE15 VGA video connector

BrightSign HD120, HD220, HD1020
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All information provided in this reference manual applies to products under development. The characteristics and specifications of these products are subject to
change without notice. BrightSign assumes no obligation regarding future manufacturing unless otherwise agreed to in writing. © BrightSign LLC, 2012
•HDMI connector
•Power plug for 5 V power input at 3 A
Power Connector
The power connector on this board is rated for 5 V at 3 A. The plug for the connector is a standard, center-positive 5.5mm
plug with a 1.65mm center pin hole.
DE9 RS-232 Connector
The RS-232 connector is a male DE9. Like PCs, the BrightSign HD series of players are DTE devices. The input to the
chip accepts a range between +30V and -30V, so it is compatible with standard +12V and -12V signaling. The output from
the chip is rated at a typical +7V and -7V, which exceeds the voltage required by the RS-232 specification.
The baud rate is 115,200, with no parity, 8 data bits, and 1 stop bit. There is no hardware or software flow control. The
maximum cable length is 50 meters, and the total cable capacitance is 2500pF.
Note: A lower capacitance cable allows you to use cable lengths beyond 50 meters.
The following diagram illustrates the behavior of the TX and RX signal:
The following table illustrates the pinout of the DE9 on the HD series of players:

BrightSign HD120, HD220, HD1020
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All information provided in this reference manual applies to products under development. The characteristics and specifications of these products are subject to
change without notice. BrightSign assumes no obligation regarding future manufacturing unless otherwise agreed to in writing. © BrightSign LLC, 2012
pin Description pin Description
1 NC 2 Receive data into the player
3 Transmit data out of the player 4 Available 5V@500mA
5 Ground 6 NC
7 Optional TX 2nd channel 8 Optional RX 2nd channel
9 NC -- --
DA15 Switch/LED Connector
The switch/led connector is a DA15 female. This connector is used to allow the player to control external LEDs or other
devices requiring 24 mA of current or less.
Connect the LED outputs to the LED ANODE and connect the LED CATHODE to the ground. If you want to connect
another device, then the output is capable of sourcing or sinking up to 3.3 V at 24 mA, but there is a series resistor of 100
Ohms in each line.
The connector also allows the connecting of external contact closures to the ground. In order to connect a switch, connect
one side of the switch to the switch input, and connect the other side to one of the ground pins on the DA15 connector.
The connector can also supply 3.3 V at up to 500 mA to an external device. The 3.3 V output is polyfuse-protected and
can source up to 500 mA.
If one BrightSign player is driving the inputs on another BrightSign player, then you can drive at most three inputs from
one output. The following calculations explain this limitation:
Note: The GPIO outputs have 100 Ohm series resistors; the GPIO inputs have 1K pullup resistors to 3.3 V; and the input
threshold on the 541 chips is 2 V high and .8 V low. The high voltage is not a problem, but the low voltage can be if there
are too many inputs connected to one output.

BrightSign HD120, HD220, HD1020
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All information provided in this reference manual applies to products under development. The characteristics and specifications of these products are subject to
change without notice. BrightSign assumes no obligation regarding future manufacturing unless otherwise agreed to in writing. © BrightSign LLC, 2012
1 out driving 1 in V=3.3*100/(100+1,000)=0.3
1 out driving 2 in V=3.3*100/(100+500)=0.55
1 out driving 3 in V=3.3*100/(100+333.3)=0.76
1 out driving 4 in V=3.3*100/(100+250)=.94 (This is too high, so 1 output
driving 3 inputs is the maximum)
The following table illustrates the pinout of the DA15 on the HD series of players:
pin Description pin Description
1 IR blaster input 2 Ground
3 Button 6 I/O 4 Button 5 I/O
5 Button 3 I/O 6 Ground
7 Button 1 I/O 8 +3.3V output at 500mA
9 Ground 10 Button 7 I/O
11 Ground 12 Button 4 I/O
13 Button 2 I/O 14 Ground
15 Button 0 I/O -- --
Here is the DA15 female as viewed from the front of the BrightSign HD120 and HD1020:
A button/LED/IR board can be used to demonstrate the GPIO and IR functions on a BrightSign player. This board is built
by a third-party manufacturer and can be purchased upon request.

BrightSign HD120, HD220, HD1020
8
All information provided in this reference manual applies to products under development. The characteristics and specifications of these products are subject to
change without notice. BrightSign assumes no obligation regarding future manufacturing unless otherwise agreed to in writing. © BrightSign LLC, 2012
Ethernet
The BrightSign HD220 has a standard RJ45 connector for 10/100 base-T Ethernet. The maximum length for the Ethernet
cable is 100 meters. The following table illustrates the pinout of the RJ45:
pin Description pin Description
1 TX+ 2 TX-
3 RX+ 4 RC to ground
5 RC to ground 6 RX
7 RC to ground 8 RC to ground
USB
The HD1020 has a high-speed (480 Mbit) USB host port. The maximum length for the USB cable is 5 meters. The
following table illustrates the pinout of the USB host port.
pin Description pin Description
1 VBUS 2 D-
3 D+ 4 Ground
DE15 VGA Connector
The VGA connector is able to output RGB video. The following table illustrates the pinout of the DE15 VGA connector:

BrightSign HD120, HD220, HD1020
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All information provided in this reference manual applies to products under development. The characteristics and specifications of these products are subject to
change without notice. BrightSign assumes no obligation regarding future manufacturing unless otherwise agreed to in writing. © BrightSign LLC, 2012
pin Description pin Description
1 Red Analog video output 2 GREEN analog video output
3 Blue analog video output 4 NC
5 Digital ground 6 Analog ground
7 Analog ground 8 Analog ground
9 +5V DDC supply 10 Digital ground
11 NC 12 DDC SDA
13 HSYNC output 14 VSYNC output
15 DDC SCL -- --
Triple RCA Component HD Video Connector
Using a component cable adaptor on the VGA port, the component triple RCA connector is able to output the following
formats:
•480p video: Y from Green jack, Pr from Red jack, and Pb from Blue jack
•720p video: Y from Green jack, Pr from Red jack, and Pb from Blue jack
•1080i video: Y from Green jack, Pr from Red jack, and Pb from Blue jack
•1080p video: Y from Green jack, Pr from Red jack, and Pb from Blue jack
3.5mm Audio Connector
The HD120, HD220, and HD1020 each have one 3.5mm female audio connector, which transmits a stereo signal. The full
scale voltage output of the audio is 2 V RMS, with no load. The minimum load resistance connected to the audio output
should be 5K Ohms.
Note: The BrightSign expansion module allows you to drive up to three sets of 5 Ohm headphones directly.
The audio connector has the following pinout:
•Tip: Left audio
•Ring: Right audio

BrightSign HD120, HD220, HD1020
10
All information provided in this reference manual applies to products under development. The characteristics and specifications of these products are subject to
change without notice. BrightSign assumes no obligation regarding future manufacturing unless otherwise agreed to in writing. © BrightSign LLC, 2012
•Base: Ground for audio signal
HDMI Connector
The HDMI connector is used to send digital video and audio to HDMI-enabled sink devices. The following table illustrates
the pinout of the HDMI connector:
pin Description pin Description
1 TX2p 2 Ground
3 TX2n 4 TX1p
5 Ground 6 TX1n
7 TX0p 8 Ground
9 TX0n 10 TXCp
11 Ground 12 TXCn
13 CEC 14 NC
15 DDC SCL 16 DDC SDA
17 Ground 18 +5V DDC
19 HDP (Hot Plug Direct) 20 Ground

BrightSign HD120, HD220, HD1020
11
All information provided in this reference manual applies to products under development. The characteristics and specifications of these products are subject to
change without notice. BrightSign assumes no obligation regarding future manufacturing unless otherwise agreed to in writing. © BrightSign LLC, 2012
ENVIRONMENTAL AND POWER USAGE
The HD120, HD220, and HD1020 players are designed to be used between 0°C and 40°C, at 90% maximum relative
humidity, non-condensing.
The power supply on the BrightSign HD series is 15 W and 5.0 V at 3 A. These players will use approximately 1 A of
power when playing a 720p or 1080i MPEG2 HD source file.
Note: 1 A at 5.0 V is approximately 5 W.
There is 2 A of additional available power that can be used by peripherals connected to a player. Do not connect any
combination of peripherals that will exceed 2 A of draw. If more than 2 A is drawn, then the external power supply will shut
down due to overcurrent conditions. The unit will not be damaged, but it may reboot or not operate properly until the
overload is removed.
The remaining 2 A can be shared in any way among the following connectors:
Connector Power Usage
Ethernet Approx. 180 mA (when transferring data)
USB Max 1500 mA*
DE9 5V 500 mA
DB25 3.3V 500 mA
HDMI 5V Max 55 mA
6 LED outputs on DB25 Up to 24 mA (each)
*The USB spec is 500mA, but more current has been placed on the USB connector to be able to use the BrightSign
Expander, in some cases without an additional 5V power supply.

BrightSign HD120, HD220, HD1020
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All information provided in this reference manual applies to products under development. The characteristics and specifications of these products are subject to
change without notice. BrightSign assumes no obligation regarding future manufacturing unless otherwise agreed to in writing. © BrightSign LLC, 2012
MECHANICAL

BrightSign HD120, HD220, HD1020
13
All information provided in this reference manual applies to products under development. The characteristics and specifications of these products are subject to
change without notice. BrightSign assumes no obligation regarding future manufacturing unless otherwise agreed to in writing. © BrightSign LLC, 2012

BrightSign HD120, HD220, HD1020
14
All information provided in this reference manual applies to products under development. The characteristics and specifications of these products are subject to
change without notice. BrightSign assumes no obligation regarding future manufacturing unless otherwise agreed to in writing. © BrightSign LLC, 2012

BrightSign HD120, HD220, HD1020
15
All information provided in this reference manual applies to products under development. The characteristics and specifications of these products are subject to
change without notice. BrightSign assumes no obligation regarding future manufacturing unless otherwise agreed to in writing. © BrightSign LLC, 2012
THEORY OF OPERATION
Power Supply
There are five voltages present in the player: 5 V, 3.3 V, 2.5 V, 1.5 V and 1.2 V. 5 V comes in from the power connector
and is used directly for the USB. 3.3 V is created from 5 V by a switching regulator. Similar regulators are used to create
2.5 V for the DDR SDRAM and 1.2 V for the CPU core voltage.
Reset
The HD120, HD220, and HD1020 players have a Low Voltage Reset circuit. This circuit will hold the RESET_L signal low
until a valid 3.3 V power source is present.
BCM7208 CPU
The HD120, HD220, and HD1020 players utilize a BCM7208 Multimedia CPU. This CPU runs on 3.3 V, 2.5 V, and 1.2 V
and runs from a 27 MHz oscillator. The CPU is reset by the RESET_L signal from the low voltage reset circuit going into
the RESET_IN pin on the BCM7208. When the RESET_in pin goes from low to high, the BCM7208 will boot from the
NAND flash.
Built-in Flash
The boot code in the BCM7208 instructs it to continue the boot process by reading additional code from the onboard
NAND flash, which can be updated in the field, either from on the flash slots or USB mass storage. Part of the NAND flash
is also used to hold non-volatile parameters. The contents of the boot flash are copied into the SDRAM. The CPU then
jumps to the boot code.

BrightSign HD120, HD220, HD1020
16
All information provided in this reference manual applies to products under development. The characteristics and specifications of these products are subject to
change without notice. BrightSign assumes no obligation regarding future manufacturing unless otherwise agreed to in writing. © BrightSign LLC, 2012
SDRAM
The HD120, HD220, and HD1020 players each contain one DDR SDRAM device. When the BCM7208 boots, it will copy
the code from the NAND flash device into the SDRAM and then execute the code from the SDRAM. The SDRAM runs at
a clock rate of 666MHz, with a data rate of 1333MHz.
Serial Port
The player has a built in UART that communicates with the RS-232 level shifter. The MAX232 creates valid RS-232
voltage levels for the transmit pin by using a capacitive voltage switcher.
Video Encoder and Filter
The BCM7208 streams decoded video using a single-data race clock. It also streams the same video out of the on-board
DACs.
Audio Outputs
The HD120, HD220, and HD1020 players each have a single Texas Instruments high quality audio DAC device, which
takes in digital audio signals from the BCM7208 in an I2S audio format. The AUD_LRCIN is the framing signal for the
audio and runs at the frame rate of the audio source (usually either 44.1KHz or 48KHz). The AUD_BITCLK signal is
typically 64 times higher than the AUD_LRCIN.
The audio output from the TI amplifier is sent directly to the audio output jack. It can drive a 32 Ohm load with a 2 V RMS
signal.
On-Board LEDs
There are four on-board LEDs that indicate the following:
LED Indication
Green power Flashes any time the board is powered up and not in reset mode.

BrightSign HD120, HD220, HD1020
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All information provided in this reference manual applies to products under development. The characteristics and specifications of these products are subject to
change without notice. BrightSign assumes no obligation regarding future manufacturing unless otherwise agreed to in writing. © BrightSign LLC, 2012
Green flash activity Flashes any time there is CPU activity.
Yellow update Flashes when the board is being upgraded.
Red status Flashes a certain number of times to indicate which error is occurring. The flash codes are
described below.
2 Unspecified error
3 Network recovery script is preparing to run on a device configured for network recovery.
4 No upgrade file found
5 Failed to load kernel module
6 Board is not capable of running the current firmware version.
7 Problem related to the Ethernet chip
7 A piece of on-board hardware is not working correctly (on firmware versions 4.1 and later).
8 Problem related to the storage device (either the USB drive or SD card)
9 Problem related to the registry/EEPROM
10 The autorun script encountered a load/run error.
11 WiFi-related error (mainly, WiFi not found on USB)
12 Unable to find a bootable image (on firmware versions 4.0 and later)
On-Board Switch
The on-board switch is connected to the GPIO32. A pullup on the button normally sets the GPIO32 to be pulled high.
Conversely, the GPIO32 is pulled low when the button is pressed.
Reset Switch/GPIO Button
The on-board switch is connected to the GPIO12. Pressing down the reset button will cause the GPIO12 to go low.
Holding the reset button low for approximately 10 seconds will cause a hard reset. When the board goes into reset mode,
the power LED will be dark until the reset button is released.