Connect a screen
Pair a Brix player by code, claim devices that appear on your network automatically, or turn a browser tab into a screen.
Every screen joins your workspace before it can play anything. Brix gives you three ways to connect one: a 6-digit code, a device Brix finds on your network, or a browser tab. Use this guide when you install new hardware, or when you want to try Brix with no hardware at all.
What you can do
- Pair a hardware device — Type the 6-digit code the player shows on the screen.
- Claim a nearby device — Name and claim a device that Brix already found on your network.
- Turn a browser tab into a screen — Use a laptop, a Chromebook, an iPad or a smart TV browser.
- Send a pair link to another site — Share one link for a screen you cannot reach yourself.
Every route starts at the Add screen button in the top right of the Screens page.
️ If the Add screen button is absent, ask an administrator for permission to create screens. Brix hides the button rather than showing a control you cannot use.
Pair a hardware device
- Plug in your Brix player.
- Turn on the screen.
- Wait for the 6-digit pairing code to appear.
- Select Add screen on the Screens page.
- Choose Pair a hardware device.
- Type the 6-digit code into the six boxes, or paste it.
- Wait for the green Found line under the boxes.
- Type a name into Screen name.
- Pick a place under Location.
- Select Finish pairing.
The Location you pick drives the time zone, the brand kit and the operating hours for that screen.
️ The dialog moves to the naming step on its own when Brix finds the code on your network. You never select Continue in that case.
️ A device on another network, another site or a guest Wi-Fi never appears by itself. Type the code, select Continue, and pair the device anyway.
️ The dialog stays open while Brix claims the code. Escape and the X do nothing until the claim ends.
Give the new screen something to play
- On the Screen paired step, select Add content.
- Pick a playlist, a schedule, a layout, a media file or an app.
- Or close the dialog to leave the screen empty for now.
Until you assign content, the screen shows the Ready for content splash. To choose content later, read put content on a screen.
Fix a code Brix rejects
- Read the red message under the code boxes.
- Hold Command, or Control on Windows, and press Backspace to clear all six digits.
- Read the code on the screen again.
- Type the six digits again.
- If the screen shows no code, turn the player off and on again.
️ A failed claim returns you to the code step and names the reason. The most common reason is a code that expired.
Claim a device that appears on its own
A device that reaches the internet from the same address as your computer appears above the screens list. Claim the device there and skip the code.
- Look for the amber New devices on this network strip above the list.
- Type a name into the Name this screen… box on the device row.
- Select Add to location….
- Pick where the screen belongs.
- Select Claim on that row.
️ If no device appears, select Look for devices in the top right. The button reports how many devices it found, and Refresh inside the panel reads the list again.
️ The panel reads the list every five seconds, and pauses while the browser tab sits in the background. Devices carried over from an older system arrive with their old name already in the box.
️ Select the X on a row only for a device you do not want. Brix expires that pairing, and the device shows a fresh code at its next check-in.
Claim a whole install day at once
- Name each row you want to keep.
- Leave the other rows blank.
- Select Add to location….
- Choose one place for the whole batch.
- Select Claim all.
- In the success message, select Assign content to give them all content.
️ Claim all appears only when two or more devices wait in the panel. A row you do not name takes the device label instead, so rename it later in the screens list.
Match a row to the screen in front of you
- Read the 6-digit code on the screen.
- Type the code into the Type code on screen… box in the panel header.
- Check that the chip reads Found.
- Check that the row preview shows the same code.
Turn a browser tab into a screen
Any device with a browser can act as a screen. Use this route for a laptop, a Chromebook, an iPad or a spare display you can paste a URL into.
- Select Add screen on the Screens page.
- Choose Open in a browser tab.
- Leave the control on Pre-paired link.
- Select Copy next to Player URL.
- Open that URL in the browser on the screen.
- Select Post a message now to send content, or Done to finish.
️ The pre-paired URL is the credential for that screen. Anyone who opens the URL becomes that screen, so send the URL to one person only.
️ Brix creates a new link every time the dialog opens. Copy the link once, and close the dialog when you finish.
️ The dialog also shows a backup pairing code. Use the code when private browsing or a link scanner strips the credential out of the URL.
Set up a screen you can drive only with a remote
A screen with no keyboard cannot take a pasted URL. Send the universal pair link to that screen instead.
- Select Add screen on the Screens page.
- Choose Open in a browser tab.
- Choose Universal pair link.
- Select Copy next to Player URL.
- Open that URL in the browser on the screen.
- Read the 6-digit code the screen shows.
- Back in Brix, select Add screen.
- Choose Pair a hardware device.
- Type the code from step 6.
️ A browser screen cannot switch the display on or off, and cannot take a native screenshot. Anyone with a keyboard can close the tab. For a wall installation, use the Android or Windows player.
️ If you lose the player URL, open the screen panel and expand Lifecycle. Select Get new player URL there. The old URL stops working at once.
Next steps
- Name, group and check your screens in manage your screens.
- Set the rotation, the volume and the operating hours in screen settings, opening hours and display power.
- Work out why a screen is blank or offline in troubleshoot a screen.
Ready to get started?
Open Brix Portal