What is digital signage? A plain-English guide
What digital signage actually is, what you need to run it, what it costs to keep going, and how to tell whether it's worth it for your shop, café or office.
If you've ever stood in a café and watched the menu behind the counter switch from breakfast to lunch on its own, you've seen digital signage. Strip away the jargon and it's just this: a screen showing your own content, which you change from a computer instead of printing something new and taping it to the wall.
That really is all it is. The rest of this guide covers what you need to make it work, what it costs to keep running, and how to tell whether it's worth doing for your business.
The three pieces every setup has
Big or small, every digital signage setup is made of the same three parts.
A screen. Any TV or display will do. Commercial displays are built to run long hours, but a regular TV is fine to start with, and you may already have one on the wall.
Something to play your content. Some TVs can run apps themselves. Others need a small helper: an Android box or stick plugged into the HDMI port, or any computer with a web browser. With VizzBox, any Android device on Android 7 or later works, and so does a modern web browser opened at vizzbox.com/screen.
Software to manage it. This is the part people forget. The software is where you upload pictures and videos, arrange them on the screen, and decide what plays where and when. It's also what lets you change every screen at once without walking to each one.
What people actually put on their screens
- Menus and prices, behind the counter or in the window
- Offers and new products, especially ones that run for a set time
- A welcome, directions and the day's events in a hotel lobby
- Opening hours, health tips and notices in a waiting room
- Dashboards, safety notices and announcements in offices and factories
- Exam countdowns and event notices in schools
- An urgent message on every screen at once, when something goes wrong
A good rule of thumb: if you've ever printed it and stuck it on a wall, it probably belongs on a screen.
What makes it more than a TV playing a video
A TV looping one video is a start. What makes signage worth the effort is what happens after the first week.
It changes on a schedule. The breakfast menu until eleven, lunch after that. A weekend offer that goes up on Friday and comes down on Sunday night without anyone remembering to take it off.
You change it from one place. Fix a price once and every screen showing it updates. VizzBox screens check for changes every minute, so an edit is usually on the wall within a minute or so.
You can split the screen. The menu on one side, today's offer on the other, and a line of news along the bottom, each changing at its own pace.
You know it's working. You can see from your desk which screens are online and what each one is showing, instead of finding out from a customer that the menu board has been black since Tuesday.
What it costs to run
The honest answer is that it depends on how many screens you have and what you already own. The cost has four parts:
- The screen. You may already have it.
- A player. Nothing extra if your TV runs Android 7 or later or has a decent web browser. Otherwise, a small Android box or a spare computer.
- The software. Usually a monthly fee per screen. With VizzBox, the Starter plan covers one screen and Business covers three, with more screens at a fixed price each, and paying yearly costs the same as ten months. Today's prices in your currency are in the pricing section.
- Your time. The most underestimated part. Good software should take minutes a week, not an afternoon.
Is it worth it for you?
It's probably worth it if:
- You change what's on your walls more than once a month
- You have more than one branch, or more than one screen
- You want different things at different times of day
- You spend real money on printing
It's probably not worth it yet if you have one screen playing the same video for months. A USB stick is fine for that, and we've written an honest comparison that goes into when it stops being enough.
How to try it without spending anything
Start with the TV you already have. Create a VizzBox account (the trial is 15 days on up to three screens, and there's no card to enter), open vizzbox.com/screen on the TV's browser or on a laptop plugged into it, pair it with the code the portal gives you, and put a picture up. Our guide to turning any TV into a digital sign walks through each step.
If it doesn't make your week easier, you've lost nothing. When a trial ends, the screens pause until you choose a plan, and nothing you uploaded is deleted.
Would you rather see one working first? Our live demo is a real screen from our made-up demo café, playing right now in your browser.