Digital Signage, help

[wesley]

Hi, we have about 12 Tvs for Digital Signage, but have not been able to update these for a few years,

 

They are all onelan boxes, but i was off sick a couple of years ago, and the one lan server was replaced, only it was replaced with a much newer one, this worked fine for a few years, until we tried using a feature that was only on the new server which then broke the connection to all the one lan boxes, think the server was version 10 and the boxs where only version 8 and they wont talk to each other at all now, after speaking to onelan, they say we need new boxes, as 10 wont control version 8 boxes, if you try and use any of the new features.

 

So we have had them sitting there for a couple of years just stuck on the same screens as they where, and we are at that time of year again, that the head has remembered that they dont change and asked me to get a quote / look at sorting them out, I had a quick look round and saw that new onelan boxes where going for 1k each and was like that's more than our £5 budget will take...

 

So had a look at free software options, but could only find one, https://xibo.org.uk/cms, but tried installing that and it needs a new version of windows 10 than we are currently running, so was wondering if any one could recommend any thing, atm thinking some sort of free software and intel nucs on the back of the tvs is prob going to be the cheapest option?

[dhicks]

we have about 12 Tvs for Digital Signage

 

The new Raspberry Pi 4 - maybe get the 4GB version at £55 each, and get a case for each one. On a modern smart TV with USB ports you might be able to power the Pi straight from the TV (this works for a Raspberry Pi 3 on my home smart TV, with two USB port powering one Pi via a Y-cable, I haven't tried it for a Pi 4 yet). The Pi is small and light enough that you can mount it to the back of a TV with Blutak or Sugru.

 

We have ours simply loading up a web browser in kiosk mode pointing at a Google Slides presentation, then appropriate staff have permissions to edit that Slides document as needed.

[jthompson]

We've just started work on replacing our Xibo server and clients (Windows PCs) with Raspberry Pis running Screenly Open Source Edition. We've had a Pi 3B running it for the last couple of weeks and it's great - definitely worth a look. The majority of content is either a Google Slides presentation or single images, but it'll play videos nicely enough as well.

 

Software is free but you will have to manage each one individually via its webUI. If you're running a Google Slides presentation, you only need to update the slides for those changes to play out through Screenly automatically, which allows for a dead easy way for regular staff to be able to update content.

Edited July 5, 2019 by jthompson

[theeggmaster]

We use Chrome Sign Builder. It's not free as you'll need to have managed Chrome devices, but if you're looking to buy an Intel NUC, getting a Chromebook or repurposing old Chromebooks might work out cheaper. I use Chromebooks that have damaged screens for ours, as the HDMI out still works.

[dmj]

We use Chrome Sign Builder. It's not free as you'll need to have managed Chrome devices, but if you're looking to buy an Intel NUC, getting a Chromebook or repurposing old Chromebooks might work out cheaper. I use Chromebooks that have damaged screens for ours, as the HDMI out still works.

 

Chromebits work well for this. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromebit

[FN-GM]

I saw this the other day. Might be worth looking at.

 

[theeggmaster]

Chromebits work well for this. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromebit

 

Chromebits are set to have their updates suspended from November 2020.

[Chris_Cook]

We use the chrome sign builder as well.

 

its running a google slides show which is shared with whoever wants to upload content.

 

You could probably run Chrome in kiosk mode on a normal PC, and point it at the correct URL for the google slides show.

[robyholmes]

I took the plunge recently and rebuilt our Xibo setup on a Linux VM using Docker. My god it wasn't easy but the new Xibo software is a lot better. I prefer Xibo over other 'Slide' based systems as you can schedule layouts to go up, for parents evenings etc. It takes some setup but I felt it was worth it. We pull a lot of information from our Website meaning we only need to update one place.

[mavhc]

There's also Rise Vision https://help.risevision.com/hc/en-us/articles/360000215923-What-is-the-difference-between-a-Free-Display-and-Licensed-Display- which can be used for free.

 

I just use Screenly OSE, set 1 webpage as a constant display, and then write the display in html, clock with current lesson, slideshow, iframes for free rooms, news, weather.

[NotSoFast]

I saw Yodeck recommended on here a few weeks ago. Not free, but cheap, easy and seems way more powerful that we need. I downloaded the SD card image, bunged it on and old pi and had it all up and running in a few minutes. We're going to licence it for 4 screens from September. Edited July 7, 2019 by NotSoFast

[Nailo]

Have you tried asus chromebit as Digitale Signage player ? there's a tutorial explaining how it works and to be honest looks ok to me

https://blog.viewneo.com/blog/asus-chromebit-as-a-digital-signage-player-hit-or-miss/

[TechMonkey]

Have you tried asus chromebit as Digitale Signage player ? there's a tutorial explaining how it works and to be honest looks ok to me

https://blog.viewneo.com/blog/asus-chromebit-as-a-digital-signage-player-hit-or-miss/

Be very careful. I'm sure they are coming out of support soon and Asus are not making a replacement.

 

We got a few and found they were ok for text only display but the minute you started adding a few graphics or a video they started to get stressed.

 

There is also no way to schedule a shutdown or a reboot. I know they are low power but having them on 24/7 didnt sit well with me and we had no way to reboot them regularly to clear any issues.

[Nailo]

Be very careful. I'm sure they are coming out of support soon and Asus are not making a replacement.

 

We got a few and found they were ok for text only display but the minute you started adding a few graphics or a video they started to get stressed.

 

There is also no way to schedule a shutdown or a reboot. I know they are low power but having them on 24/7 didnt sit well with me and we had no way to reboot them regularly to clear any issues.

 

Thank you for the heads up, i personally didn't try the asus chromebit (a friend of mine used it before for a small business), with the scheduling process i use the viewneo hardware digital signage player, they have many plugins with the same functions. I think they still offer a 30 days free trial.

cheers

[theeggmaster]

You can check Google's Update Policy (i.e. when they are supported until) here.

[TechMonkey]

You can check Google's Update Policy (i.e. when they are supported until) here.

So Nov next year. 18 months support. It will still work after that but how happy are you to have unsupported devices as part of tour infrastructure?

[theeggmaster]

That's why I'm replacing a laptop trolley of Acer C720 Chromebooks that went out of support in June of this year. I'm going to give them out to staff so they aren't on my infrastructure.

[dmj]

That's why I'm replacing a laptop trolley of Acer C720 Chromebooks that went out of support in June of this year. I'm going to give them out to staff so they aren't on my infrastructure.

... will you be blocking them from accessing their work accounts with these unsupported devices? A compromised account would leave you liable. /devilsadvocate

 

On the other hand, using an unsupported device for a single function - to go to a single website isn't a particularly high risk. I suspect the bigger danger is that the google presentation may stop supporting the browser version is the years to come.

[MartinT]

We're still using Xibo very happily here, with ten real and one virtual screen (for the intranet).

[mavhc]

Which is why you pick open hardware (eg raspberry pi), open source software (linux), and open data (html), so it's easy to fix/pay someone to fix/switch to a different system. No lock in. No enforced EOL.

[theeggmaster]

... will you be blocking them from accessing their work accounts with these unsupported devices? A compromised account would leave you liable. /devilsadvocate

 

On the other hand, using an unsupported device for a single function - to go to a single website isn't a particularly high risk. I suspect the bigger danger is that the google presentation may stop supporting the browser version is the years to come.

 

Do you block staff from accessing their work accounts from their own personal devices which may be compromised? I'm sure a Chromebook has a much smaller attack vector than a Windows PC/Laptop.

[dmj]

Do you block staff from accessing their work accounts from their own personal devices which may be compromised? I'm sure a Chromebook has a much smaller attack vector than a Windows PC/Laptop.

 

No we dont'. I was inviting comment with the /devilsadvocate. I think this is a real problem though, we constantly try and make sure 'our' systems are updated but increasingly the attack vector is elsewhere.