The Hardware You Need for Setting Up Digital Signage

Getting started with digital signage has never been easier, and all the hardware you require can be found right at your fingertips. In this article, we'll guide you through the essential elements you'll need: a screen, a player, and a computer, tablet or phone to manage your content.

Whether you're a business owner, an event organizer, or simply a creative individual with a message to share, we've got you covered. Get ready to unleash your imagination and bring your ideas to life as we provide you with expert advice and all the necessary tools to embark on your digital signage journey.

Why Digital Signage?

Digital signage is no longer the way of the future; it’s happening today. Bright, moving displays catch attention. With digital signage, you wield the power of real-time content management, enabling you to effortlessly update and customize your message at any moment. Gone are the days of printing and distributing static signs. Embrace the dynamic nature of digital signage, where you can seamlessly adapt your content to suit changing needs, promotions, or events.

Digital signage also offers flexibility, allowing you to target specific audiences, locations, and times of day with personalized messages. It can help businesses build brand awareness, engage customers and increase sales.

What Hardware Do I Need for a Digital Signage Display?

Getting started with digital signage is very easy. It’s a cost-wise venture, and you don’t need to be a computer programmer to understand.

Below, we will list all of the hardware, screens, players, and other items a person will need to get started with digital advertising.

Screen

Nearly any smart TV with an HDMI port can become a digital signage display, so if you already have one, you're off to a good start. Google TV and Amazon Fire TV devices can run the Display NOW Digital Signage Player app directly.

If your display isn't a Google TV or Amazon Fire TV, plug a Google TV or Amazon Fire TV stick into its HDMI port and install the Display NOW player app on the stick. Other smart TVs can run the Display NOW web player instead. For commercial spaces, the Display NOW Edge Player is also available. You then manage every screen from one place in the Display NOW manager.

1. Smart Television

As previously stated, any smart TV will work as a digital display as long as it has an HDMI port. You can turn a tv into digital signage. Ideally, use a Google TV or Amazon Fire TV, since you can install the Display NOW player app on it directly.

If it is a smart TV with an HDMI port but not a Google TV or Amazon Fire TV, it will still work. You can use the Display NOW web player, or use a Google TV Stick or an Amazon Fire Stick, which plugs into an HDMI port. From there, download the Display NOW Digital Signage Player app onto the stick, and you’re nearly there.

As for quality, any quality will be okay for a television. It does not need an extremely high refresh rate. A wall mount may also be needed. Sizing is entirely up to you, depending on your needs.

2. Computer Monitor

If you don’t have a smart TV and instead would rather use a computer monitor, that is absolutely fine. The computer monitor will need at least one HDMI port so that it can have the Google TV Stick or Amazon Fire Stick. Install the Display NOW Digital Signage Player app on the stick, and the monitor will play whatever you schedule in the manager.

The sizes of computer monitors will vary, and so will the quality. Size is entirely up to you, depending on your needs. As for quality, you don’t need a very high refresh rate as this will be playing signage, not a 4K video game. But, again, a wall mount will likely be needed.

Computer, Tablet, or Smartphone

The last piece of digital signage hardware is a computer, tablet, or smartphone. You use it to manage your content, not to play it. The player on each screen does the playing.

Open the Display NOW manager at manager.displaynow.io on your computer, tablet or phone and pair each player with your account. From there you can upload media, build playlists and schedule what each screen shows from anywhere.

Need to make updates? Change your content in the manager from any device and your screens pick up the changes. The Digital Signage Manager works on both desktop and mobile devices, so you can manage your screens wherever you are.

Need Digital Signage for Your Business? Use Display NOW

Display NOW includes a range of easy-to-use templates for your screens, and the Display NOW manager gives you control over all your digital displays in one place.

To see what it costs, visit our plans page.

Reach out to our team at Display NOW for a consultation on the best setup for your needs, or start your free trial today.

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