Brightcove Player with Beacon Web Apps

In this topic, you will learn about using Brightcove Player with Beacon web apps.

Introduction

Beacon web apps use Brightcove Player in all instances of where a player is used. Beacon web apps now support the following:

  • Brightcove Player v7
  • Configurable web player - not limited to the default player
  • Skip forward/backward buttons
  • Brightcove Player plugins

Brightcove Player v7

While Beacon web apps will continue to support Brightcove Player v6.66.8, we recommend upgrading to Brightcove Player v7. Upgrading will allow you to take advantage of the latest player improvements and functionality.

To check the player version for your Beacon web app, do the following:

  1. In a web browser, navigate to your Beacon app.
  2. Start playback for an episode or movie.

  3. Right click in the player and select Player Information.

    player information

  4. Here you will find the current version of Brightcove Player being used by your app.

    player version

Configurable web player

You are no longer limited to just using the default player in your account for Beacon web apps. You can create one or more configurable players in your account. This allows you to have different players configured with different plugins to handle multiple use cases.

You can also test new plugins with a specific player without affecting the entire application.

Here is an example of how you can create multiple players for use across one app:

  • One player for live previews in beacon
  • One player for live players in beacon
  • One player for VOD players in beacon
multiple players

Skip forward/backward buttons

Beacon web apps provide two new buttons to move 10 seconds ahead or behind the current player position.

skip forward back buttons

When you use these buttons, an icon is displayed in the player indicating the action you have just performed.

Brightcove Player plugins

You can customize Brightcove Player by using plugins. Let's first look at where Brightcove Player is used in Beacon web apps.

Player instance details

Four instance of Brightcove Player are used in Beacon web apps. Those instanced are located in these locations:

  1. Autoplay page layout
  2. Live TV preview
  3. EPG preview
  4. Player E VOD

The following video shows each player instance in a Beacon app:

 

Feature availability table

This table displays which plugins are implemented in each player instance. The following codes are used in the table:

  • The N/A signifies Not Applicable. For instance, it just does not make sense to have thumbnail scrubbing on a small preview player.
  • The L/A signifies Limited Availability. This means the plugin is functional, with some reservations.
Plugin
▼		 Player E VOD Auto Play EPG Preview Live TV Preview Player E Live
Airplay Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Analytics Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
DRM Yes Yes Yes Yes Not Applicable
SSAI Yes Not Applicable Not Applicable Not Applicable LA1
Chromecast Yes Not Applicable Not Applicable Not Applicable Not Applicable
IMA3 2 Warning Warning Warning Not Applicable Not Applicable
Thumbnail
Scrubbing		 Yes Not Applicable Not Applicable Not Applicable Not Applicable
Google
Tag
Manager		 Yes Yes Yes Not Applicable Yes
Interactivity Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

Table notes:

  1. SSAI supported, but does not report beacons.
  2. Currently, the IMA3 plugin is only supported for Brightcove Player v6. Support for Player v7 coming soon.

Plugin support table

Here is additional information about the plugins supported by Brightcove Player and the Beacon web apps:

Plugin name Supported Notes Link
Airplay Yes Brightcove AirPlay Plugin
DRM Yes Airplay with DRM only works on Safari Configuring the Brightcove Player for DRM
Google Chromecast Yes In Safari, the icon is not displayed Chromecast Plugin for Brightcove Player
Google Tag Manager Yes BGoogle Tag Manager Plugin for Brightcove Player
IMA3 Supported for Player v6 - Player v7 coming soon When manually advancing to the next video in a playlist, the postroll from the previous video, if present, may play over the new video content Advertising with the IMA3 Plugin
SSAI Yes Safari 10/11 sometimes shows the last frame of the postroll at the end of the video Implementing Server-Side Ads with Brightcove Player
Interactivity Yes

Features supported:

  • Add chapter menu
  • Chapter markers
  • Add quiz
  • Add text overlay link
  • Add transparent overlay link
  • Add image overlay link
  • Add a draw
 Interactivity module

Automatically enabled plugins

Some plugins are automatically enabled for Player E. Others you must manually enable.

By default the following plugins are automatically enabled:

  • Analytics
  • DRM
  • SSAI
  • Chromecast