How to turn any TV into a digital sign

You don't need special signage hardware to get started. Most TVs from the last few years can already show your menus and offers, and the ones that can't only need a small box plugged into them. Here's how to work out which route is yours, and then how to set it up.

First, find out what your TV can do

Pick up the remote and look around the TV's home screen and settings. You're looking for one of three things:

• It says Android TV or Google TV. It can run Android apps. Check the Android version in the settings (usually under "About"); it needs to be Android 7 or later. That's route 1.
• It has a web browser. Most smart TVs do. That's route 2, and it works straight away.
• Neither, but it has an HDMI port. Almost every TV does. That's route 3: plug a small player into it.

Route 1: an Android TV or display

Install the VizzBox player app on the TV. When you open it, it shows a pairing screen with space for a six-character code, which you'll get in a minute.

This is the sturdiest route for a screen that stays on all day. The Android player starts by itself whenever the TV powers up, keeps its pictures and videos on the device, and carries on playing through Wi-Fi drops. When the connection comes back, it fetches only what changed.

Route 2: a TV with a web browser

Open the TV's browser and go to vizzbox.com/screen. That page is the VizzBox player, so there's nothing to install. Tap or click once and it goes full screen.

TV browsers vary. Some are happy to stay open all day; others go to sleep or close the page after a while. If yours does, route 3 is the more dependable choice.

Route 3: plug something into the HDMI port

You have two options:

• A small Android player box or stick on Android 7 or later. Plug it in, install the VizzBox player app, and it behaves just like route 1.
• A mini-PC or an old laptop. Connect it to the TV, open vizzbox.com/screen in the browser and go full screen. Set the computer never to sleep, and to open the browser when it starts, so it recovers from a power cut without help.

Pair the screen

The steps are the same whichever route you took:

1. Sign in to your VizzBox portal, open Screens and add a screen. Name it after where it hangs, like "Counter" or "Window", so you'll recognise it later. Choose whether it's landscape (wider than tall) or portrait.
2. Generate a pairing code. It's six characters, it works for ten minutes, and one code pairs one screen. Do this when you're standing in front of the TV.
3. Type the code into the player on the TV. Letters aren't case-sensitive. The screen claims itself, downloads its content and starts playing, usually within a few seconds.

If the computer you're using right now is the one connected to the display, you can skip the typing: the pairing window has an Open in a browser button that does it in one click.

Put something on it

The quickest first step is a single picture, or one of the ready-made designs: a café menu board, a reception welcome, a portrait window offer and a waiting-area screen. Each one already plays, so you only swap in your own photos and words. Then schedule it on the screen. Screens check for changes every minute, so it'll be up almost straight away.

A few things that save headaches later

• Turn off the TV's own power-saving. Many TVs switch themselves off after a few hours with no remote pressed. Look for "auto power off" or "eco" settings and turn them off.
• Use a cable where you can. Wired internet is steadier than Wi-Fi. That said, the Android player keeps playing what it has stored if the Wi-Fi drops.
• Name screens by place, not by model. "Andheri counter" means something to your team; "TV 2" doesn't.
• Keep an eye on them from your desk. The portal shows which screens are online and what each one is playing, and for an Android player it can take a screenshot of the screen right now.

Where to go from here

If your screen is going to be a menu board, our guide to digital menu boards for cafés covers prices from a Google Sheet and menus that change with the time of day.

And if you'd like to see a finished one before you start, the live demo is a real VizzBox screen from our demo café, playing right now.