Signage devices & power

[synaesthesia]

We're struggling with our digital signage (Trilby TV) - the software works well, but whatever player we use just falls over after a day or two. I'd like to keep things a) simple and b) cheap.

Previously, and apparently on Trilby's recommendation the school bought a batch of Apple TVs. Not bad for home, awful for this scenario. Some of them are manageable via MDM (the few we have with ethernet ports anyway), the others were E-Waste the moment they came out of their box (the wifi models).

Tested some E-Waste laptops (found a use for the DfE Whinerbooks!) - again work, would be managable over Impero etc, but a bit bulky to hide.

 

I'd prefer to go down the route of something that is smaller, such as FireTV sticks. Bought one for testing, works well - falls over after a couple of days. Modern ones can't be powered by the TV, not enough current.

Simplest solution appears to be plug in timers. Digital ones are all well and good but anything that can handle DST is stupidly expensive. "Smart" switches however might be workable, but I don't have experience of this in a school/business environment.

 

Anyone have any thoughts or recommendations please?

[Sephiroth]

We have a load of refurb optiplex 3060 SFF machines, one attached behind each of our signage screens. It does depend on what you define as cheap though. These PCs will probably outlast the screens that they are attached to, but are (not by much) more expensive than a Fire stick, and probably significantly cheaper than an Apple TV.

 

Not sure how Trilby is installed (we use Xibo - highly recommended as an aside), but I'm assuming this would be viable for that?

[JRA]

Not for everyone admittedly but I have a plug timer on during weekday opening times powering a TV and Raspberry Pi with rpisurv on it. Plays a video on loop, the video being a powerpoint we update with fresh content when we have/want it and then export and copy to it. Been working fine that way over a year now.

 

Have enjoyed Xibo in the past though and DEFINITELY another vote for that.

[synaesthesia]

Yeah, unfortunately the signage solution isn't up for discussion - I'm happy with Trilby as it means I can stay entirely hands off It's more the hardware. I'm loathed to go down the route of PC's/laptops as it means securely mounting them somewhere, and behind the screens isn't an option. The ATVs are generally thrown on top of the TV or in the ceiling tiles, which H&S aren't happy about.

The Pi's aren't a bad shout though as they can definitely be powered by 500ma (the older ones at least).

Still interested if anyone is using any smart plugs for timing though. Worst case I can just add a couple of hours either side to discount DST, the screens are already on a schedule.

[synaesthesia]

*please* stop recommending other signage solutions, this isn't asking about that.

[andy_b]

Currently using Tapo P110 (about £7.5 each) to power signage TV's and some old laptop Trolleys.

 

Work well and a lot easier to manage than a bunch of timers.

 

The P100 are slightly cheaper but without the energy monitoring.

 

Possibly some custom firmware plugs and Home Assistant would be "better", but too complicated for what I am doing tbh.

[TechMonkey]

We use VeryPC D039 Android players. Downside is they aren't very manageable, setup is manual. Upside is not a lot of setup needed, just run and they are dirt cheap. Talking less than £150. Talk to them about what is available as they were silly cheap when we bought them but I think that was an offer.

[dhicks]

The Pi's aren't a bad shout though as they can definitely be powered by 500ma (the older ones at least).

 

I found the Pi 3 could be powered from the USB port of a typical smart TV, so if your TV / screen has a built-in on/off timer (and most do) you can have the TV turn on and boot up the Pi in the morning, then turn off at night.

 

Newer Pi 4s need more power, so couldn't be set up the same - I haven't tried with a Pi 5 yet. Our current solution, as we needed something managable and that could output 4K, was a cheap NUC-alike PC with ChromeOS installed, which can be managed along with other ChromeOS devices.

 

Still interested if anyone is using any smart plugs for timing though.

 

We're currently using the ChromeOS-installed NUC-alikes on digital timer switches, tuning on at 7am(ish) and turning off at 7pm (ish, varying with daylight savings time). ChromeOS seems to handle sudden, daily power-offs with no problem - the Pis would occasionally bring up an error message on reboot, and I didn't try a Windows machine.

 

We tried mechnical timer switches, the cheap ones with a dial in the middle that you set the on/off times on. They all stopped working, I'm not sure if they're sensitive to power surges or something.

 

A snazzy, site-wide smart/timer plug management system would be nice, if anyone has any suggestions - we have some lit display cabinets and similar that we could hook up, too.

[synaesthesia]

Aye, one of the stumbling blocks for me was getting a restart scheduled. In Mosyle, Google Manager etc this is easy enough but in case they need physically turning on, without WoL we're at a bit of a loss.

Got a TP110 on order to trial - it might be we have a workable mix of Crapple TVs and Firesticks with schedules set up. I did think about using many of the Chromebooks we have with broken screens, but typically they don't have HDMI out!

[DGardiner]

has anyone used firetv sticks with these?

 

if im going android atleast theyre decently specced, lacks the management of course but as long as the software works and is auto updated i should have to touch them after setup

[synaesthesia]

Our testing one is fine - after researching the specs found that the current FireTV Stick Lite is more than man enough, and if it'll do Trilby it'll certainly do Xibo and the likes too. I originally tested with one of my fire TV sticks from home, but it couldn't cope - it was one of the originals from around 2013 though

[Sephiroth]

Aye, one of the stumbling blocks for me was getting a restart scheduled. In Mosyle, Google Manager etc this is easy enough but in case they need physically turning on, without WoL we're at a bit of a loss.

 

That's one of the reasons we went with SFF PCs. The Signage server can issue a shutdown command on it's schedule, and the PC is scheduled in BIOS to startup at 7am weekdays. Not yet been an issue. Also simplifies setup. We have an MDT task sequence that installs and configures the player as a DS endpoint; All I do is image then install it.

[DGardiner]

Our testing one is fine - after researching the specs found that the current FireTV Stick Lite is more than man enough, and if it'll do Trilby it'll certainly do Xibo and the likes too. I originally tested with one of my fire TV sticks from home, but it couldn't cope - it was one of the originals from around 2013 though

 

ive tried xibo in the past, and a few others the editors always so complext it ends up a me job so im wanting to see how the trilby backend works. id probably have a bash at the firetv then, im not paying 100+ for a dodgy chinese android pc when i can get a trusted, and probably more performant firestick for £30

[NegativeKillDeath]

We have trilby, our displays are android based so they run the Tribly client natively, keeps power mangement nice and simple. The TVs launch the client on power on.

[dhicks]

Got a TP110 on order to trial

 

Ah! You mean the Tappo P110?:

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tapo-Monitoring-Control-Required-P110/dp/B0CMGDJX2W/ref=sr_1_2

 

£10 each sort of price, not bad. Do please let us all know how you get on - I'd prefer something with more of an "enterprise" setup, with a central (web based) control panel I could delegate access to for the site staff and so on, not sure if that's an option with these devices or if they're mobile-app only.

 

If it's any help, if you have any sort of budget for new devices, we're using cheap (for PCs, £160-ish) NUC-alikes from Amazon for our displays:

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Windows-3750H-TRIGKEY-S3-Graphics/dp/B0CQKXMJS1/ref=sr_1_17

 

Cheap as far as PCs go, but not as cheap as a £30 Firestick or similar.

[andy_b]

Ah! You mean the Tappo P110?:

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tapo-Monitoring-Control-Required-P110/dp/B0CMGDJX2W/ref=sr_1_2

 

£10 each sort of price, not bad. Do please let us all know how you get on - I'd prefer something with more of an "enterprise" setup, with a central (web based) control panel I could delegate access to for the site staff and so on, not sure if that's an option with these devices or if they're mobile-app only.

 

 

 

Mobile Only - but you can share devices between accounts. Like I said before HA with some Tasmota devices (or even just some Tasmota devices) would be a better option, but not a rabbit hole I have time for at

[synaesthesia]

Yeah, I couldn't find anything enteprise based unfortunately. The sort of thing UniFi might conjure up one day though!

It's definitely mobile app based but that's workable to a point even if it means running bluestacks on something. Will see how it works later today hopefully.

If starting from scratch I'd have just made sure the displays had Android built in as @NegativeKillDeath has, but just making the most of what's in place. Lovely Iiyama screens, unfortunately dumb

 

** Edit - just on the offchance googled Unifi smart plug. They do them, US only

Edited June 20, 2024 by synaesthesia

[TechMonkey]

For future planning we are looking at the potential of NewLine display screens. Non-interactive panels that can be controlled by their MDM, so allow updates, pushing apps and power control. If it works as I think it will, it will mean no need for an external device as it runs Android.

Potentially not available until September though.

[dhicks]

Edit - just on the offchance googled Unifi smart plug. They do them, US only

 

Darn! They do seem to do their dedicated signage device in the UK, and not a bad price (£200) for that sort of thing.

[synaesthesia]

Darn! They do seem to do their dedicated signage device in the UK, and not a bad price (£200) for that sort of thing.

 

Well, that I wasn't expecting! That's an interesting prospect!

[dhicks]

For future planning we are looking at the potential of NewLine display screens.

 

If you're looking at new screens, then possibly something that can take an OPS slot PC / Android device might be an option.

[dhicks]

Well, that I wasn't expecting! That's an interesting prospect!

 

I don't remember seeing them looking at Ubiquiti's site a few months ago, I'm guessing they're quite new. I was just thinking we might give them a go, but then I realised the three display screens we have have no wired network connection points nearby, so I think we'll stick with our wireless-capable ChromeOS devices for now.

[VeryPC_Nicole]

We use VeryPC D039 Android players. Downside is they aren't very manageable, setup is manual. Upside is not a lot of setup needed, just run and they are dirt cheap. Talking less than £150. Talk to them about what is available as they were silly cheap when we bought them but I think that was an offer.

 

Hey @synaesthesia

 

Just noticed @VeryPC has been mentioned in this thread.

 

If you would like to get in touch please feel free to use the below contact details and ask to speak to Mr Jack Whitfield.

 

Tel: 0114 321 8609

Email: [email protected]

 

Thanks,

 

Nicole

[Jamman960]

I've just had a couple of Lenovo Chromebox Micro's delivered, they're just over £300 inc vat but are fanless and about the size of a large smart phone, just slightly thicker. currently running the Trilby PWA

 

They've come with a 45w usbc charger but I'm hoping to sort out a Y cable to power both.

 

James

Edited June 20, 2024 by Jamman960

[dhicks]

I've just had a couple of Lenovo Chromebox Micro's delivered, they're just over £300 inc vat but are fanless and about the size of a large smart phone, just slightly thicker.

 

Ah, neat. Do they include as Google Workspace management license with them, or do you have to get that separatly? I've used a couple of our standard Education licenses for our kiosk ChromeOS devices, but seemingly there is a kiosk-specific license available, I'm not sure if there's any practical / price difference.

 

currently running the Trilby PWA

 

Does that handle content refreshes the same day? We have our ChromeOS kiosk devices simply loading up a basic web page that embeds the image / video content we want to show. The script that generates that page gives a new name to the content each time it runs, but the ChromeOS devices seem to keep the old, cached version, even after a reboot.