Hardware: mini PC, smart TV or a cloud service
| Option | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|
| Mini PC and a browser in kiosk mode | Full control, the same page on every screen, easy device replacement | An extra device and power next to the TV |
| A smart TV app | No extra hardware | Every manufacturer works differently, and a TV update can break something |
| A ready-made cloud service | A quick start | A subscription per screen, content and schedules in someone else's cloud |
With a mini PC, the TV simply shows a page from the panel, opened in a browser in kiosk mode: full screen, no toolbars and no way to close it. Edge and Chrome have this mode built in.
What the panel should do
An alert that works under stress
- Ready cards
Evacuation, fire, outage: prepared in advance, with instructions on what to do. Clicking a card sends the alert straight away.
- Where
All screens or chosen floors. Nothing selected means all, because under stress nobody will tick them one by one.
- Level
Critical takes the whole screen, a warning too but in a different colour, and information appears as a bar above the content.
- Sound
A signal that draws attention even when nobody is looking at the screen.
- The end
By hand or after a set time, so an alert doesn't stay up because someone forgot it.
Screens don't replace the building's alarm system. They're an additional channel, and the content of the alert cards should match the company's evacuation procedure.
PDF and PowerPoint on screen
The simplest way is to turn the document's pages into images at upload, for example with the PyMuPDF library for PDF. The screen then shows ordinary images and doesn't need an office suite. A PowerPoint presentation is saved as PDF first.
For presentations on a big screen a split helps: the slides go to the TV, the presenter notes are on the laptop, and you can move through the slides with a phone. Nothing needs plugging in.
Screen security
- The device next to the TV has its own identity, given when it's paired with a code, not an employee's account.
- The screen only displays. It has no access to the panel or to any other data.
- A lost or replaced device is unpaired with one click.
- Content with an expiry date disappears by itself, so outdated messages don't hang for months.
Terms from this guide
- Digital signage
Information screens managed from one panel: content, schedules, urgent messages and alerts.
- Kiosk mode
A browser mode in which it shows one page full screen, without toolbars and without a way to close it.
Questions and answers
Is a special TV needed?
No. An ordinary TV with an HDMI input and a small computer next to it is enough. Dedicated displays for continuous operation make sense for screens that are on around the clock.
Can you show YouTube or a web page?
Yes, video from a link and web pages, as long as the company network allows it. Screens without internet access show content from the library.
What happens when the network goes down?
A well-designed player keeps the last playlist in memory and keeps showing it, and the panel shows that the screen has lost its connection.
Sources and documentation
- Microsoft Edge: kiosk modelearn.microsoft.com
- PyMuPDF: documentation (PDF to images)pymupdf.readthedocs.io