Digital Signage TPC15 Presentation

Presented at: http://www.tpcvt.com/

We see those signs all over the place, and they seem easy to do, but how much do they cost?  What is the software like?

There are quite a few applications out there, but after playing around with many of them, there are only 2 that I think are worth mentioning.

The software

What I looked for when choosing a display software

• Free
• Integrated with Google Apps
• Easy to use
• Webbased (can be built while on a Chromebook)

Chrome Si gn Builder App:
Used best when: You have a single TV, and want to just play a Google Slide Show

• This is a very simple app, that allows you to schedule a webpage (which could be a calendar, or google slideshow), to show up at certain times.  Then you can use the built in Kiosk mode to display that site.
• Once you are finished, you can export the settings, then upload them to the Google Dashboard.
• Each TV would be managed individually.
• Schedule changes require a new config file to be uploaded.

RiseVision:
Used best when: You might have more than one TV eventually, and you want to display multiple pieces of content (Calendar, weather, bulletins, YouTube, slideshows), on the screen at once.

• RiseVision is a full featured digital signage solution.  Their platform is free, but will charge for some Gadgets or file storage. 
•  This can handle multiple TV's, schedules, and presentations under one interface.   You can have multiple users with different levels of rights.
• It can be set up to pull data from Google Documents, and calendars so that the end-users don't even need to log in.
• Gadgets can be added on to show weather, or highly customized displays that pull data directly from a Google Spreadsheet.
• Fair Haven Union High School chose to go with RiseVision, after testing several other solutions. 

The Hardware
In both of the apps, the signage is a Chrome App, which can be set to run as a kiosk in ChromeOS.

What hardware you need:

• TV display (with hdmi)
• ChromeOS device, (Chromebox, or ChromeBit)

What you need to do:

• Set up Kiosk mode on a Chromebook: https://support.google.com/chromebook/answer/3134673?hl=en