TL;DR - Quick Summary
Looking for quick advice? Then here is our list of common selection criteria and the digital signage players that best meet those criteria in our oppinion:
Tight budget, simple content, single or few screens
Raspberry Pi
Best performance for marginally higher price
Asus NUC with free Linux-based kiosk
Standard HD/4K content, need for stability and low maintenance
Chromebox
Ubiquiti Display Cast Pro (when on a Ubiquiti network)
Demanding, always-on, enterprise environments
Chromebox
Professional display with remote update functionality
Ubiquiti Display Cast Pro (when on a Ubiquiti network)
Complex, multi-zone, or video-wall content
mini PC with Windows
Public, unsupervised, or high-security locations:
Professional display
Chromebox (when in enclosure)
Read our full article for the detailed justification.
What is a Digital Signage Player?
A digital signage player is a computer that connects your online content management system to your screen. It runs the digital signage software that pulls down your playlists, layouts, and schedules and then displays that on the screen, exactly like you intended it. Without one, a screen is just a screen. With one, it becomes a live, manageable communication tool.
So the basic setup looks like this:
Separate or built-in player?
Immediately there is one important variant of the setup illustrated above that we should mention: the one where the little computer is not a separate device, but built into the screen itself. Since this computer is oftentimes integrated into one single chip, it's also often referred to as a "system on a chip" or SoC. Then the setup looks even simpler:
Chances are that you're very familiar with such a setup. A modern Smart TV is exactly that: a screen with a computer that connects to the internet and lets you stream your favorite videos from services like Netflix, HBO and YouTube.
The 10 most important factors when choosing a signage player
The 10 most important factors to take into account when choosing a signage player are:
Compatibility with your CMS
Price
Performance
Stability
Usability
Environment fit
Installation & operation
Manageability
Security
Extendability
Compatibility with your CMS
There are brands that really want you to use their proprietary CMS with their hardware. That's why all efforts go towards optimizing their platform for their CMS. That's great if that's exactly what you want. But if you like to use a different CMS that better suits your needs, then you'll quickly find that their hardware platform has serious limitations and there is little to no incentive for the manufacturer to improve this. You see this, for instance, with brands like Samsung and LG, that are primarily focused on pushing Tizen and WebOS and where you see serious limitations in support for web-based content.
Price
Long gone are the days that you needed a so called enterprise-grade highly specialized computer to play signage content. Especially when your CMS does not rely on very specific hardware but can run in a generic web browser. But do note that going too cheap is often not a very wise choice either, because you're likely to run into limitations on other aspects mentioned below.
Performance
Differences in device performance are most notable in the smoothness of the playback. That applies primarily to moving content, like videos and animated elements (e.g. news tickers). An important factor in this is also the screen resolution. Quite a few players will play content in full HD resolution (1920x1080) quite smoothly. But crank up the resolution to 4K and many of them will struggle.
The two main questions are:
What is your use case? For static menu boards you don't need a very performant player.
How particular are you about the quality of the playback? Are you sensitive to even the slightest glitch in a news ticker? And do you absolutely want to make sure everything runs smoothly at 4K resolution, or is Full HD enough?
Generally, a higher priced device will perform better, which shows mostly when playing moving content, like videos and animated elements. So if you want to display mostly static content, this is irrelevant and you can select a cheaper option.
Stability
Contrary to what you might think, not all players are equally stable when running 24/7 or even 18/7. A very good example of this are consumer-grade Android TV boxes. These work well for watching some streaming video on the couch for a night. Since these all run customized versions of Android, they are primarily optimized for those home use scenarios. But many have not optimized the browser component, for instance, meaning that you are likely to see web-based playback coming to an unexpected halt after some time.
On the other end of the spectrum you have devices like a Chromebox, running Chrome OS. Chrome OS is a browser-based operating system, meaning that running web content is all it's meant to do and therefore it is highly optimized for that use case.
Another stability-factor is how well the device handles environmental conditions. E.g. will it not overheat in cramped environments or will it withstand moist conditions. For more challenging environmental conditions, you might want to turn to professional, more rugged devices that are -for instance- optimized for heat disspation.
Usability
The main usability factor is the degree to which you can set your player to run autonomously. Take a consumer-grade smart TV, for instance. You cannot configure that to automatically start with an app of your choice, e.g. a web browser. That means that every time you turn on the TV, you need to find the remote control and open the web browser manually. If you have to do that every day, it becomes a really tedious chore that you'll probably end up skipping in the long run.
Also, using a separate player and screen requires you to carefully configure both to turn on and off in unison. A professional all-in-one device is the solution that is easiest to configure for autonomous operation.
Environment fit
Another important thing to consider is whether or not a certain setup is appropriate for a specific deployment environment. Three common things to consider are:
Vulnerability to theft. If your player and screen are mounted in a public and unsupervised location, then it would be ill-advised to use a separate player connected to a screen. Unless the whole setup can be safely built into a secure enclosure.
Vulnerability to vandalism. This is actually an extension of the previous point of consideration. When there is a chance that your setup is prone to vandalism, then, on top of the previous point, it is also recommended to either select a vandal-proof screen or an appropriate enclosure.
Screen brightness. Screen brightness is irrelevant for the digital signage player itself, but it is very relevant for the screen. So when choosing an all-in-one solution, this is a factor to consider. Especially when your setup is "competing with" direct sunlight or very bright indoor lighting. In those cases it's wise to consider so called "high brightness" screens that keep your content legible in even the brightest of circumstances. Read our article about screen brightness here.
Installation and operation
Ease of installation is actually only important at the beginning of the lifecycle of a player. You could argue that it is less important than the subsequent ongoing operation during its lifetime. But both are worth taking into account, especially if you have to roll out a lot of players and/or the people installing the devices are not all that tech savvy.
Ongoing operation and support is a more important factor when the player is a more “general purpose” computer than a single-task device. In the former case, a variety of unrelated processes can run on the device that can all potentially break the system. In such a scenario it’s best to choose a system with which your support people have experience. E.g. for a company that runs all Windows machines, a Windows-based player is a better fit than a Linux-based player.
Operating a single-task device, like a professional signage display with a built-in signage player, is a lot simpler and requires less specific system knowledge.
Manageability
When everything is running smoothly, manageability generally isn't on your mind. When things are not running as expected, then this becomes a factor. Especially if the signage players are deployed remotely, then it can be convenient to remotely:
see the current status of the player
see what the player is currently displaying
retrieve log messages
be able to reboot a player
be able to change the player configuration
be able to update a player
Security
Since a digital signage player is just a small computer, the security of this computer is an aspect to consider. There are two ways of looking at this:
The player does nothing more than play content from a known provider in an isolated mode. It is virtually impossible for something insecure to happen on this device, like a user accidentally clicking on a malicious link, which infects the system with malware. So this is a very low risk device with a very small security risk.
The player can still be reached through the network and can therefore be infected from within the network in case that network is compromised. So even though the risk is small, there still is a risk.
Organizations running a very tight security ship are likely to approach this the second way. Think hospitals, financial institutions, government or other large corporations. For those, it is worth considering a platform that automatically stays updated with the latest security patches. A step down from that are devices that can remotely be updated manually. Another step down are devices that can only be updated manually with a connected keyboard and mouse.
Note that automatic updates can also introduce problems, as they might contain a bug or a breaking change that stops your content from displaying properly. From that perspective a mandatory manual step in the update process can also be a blessing instead of a curse. And in that light the mantra "if it ain't broke, then don't fix it" has its merits too.
Extendability
Generally this is only a factor in very specific setups, but it is worth mentioning: the degree to which your digital signage player can be extended with peripherals, like presence sensors, RFID readers or lidar. Some players have a greater variety of connection options than others.
Types of players and their pros and cons
Consumer grade playback devices
At the “cheapest side” of the scale there are the consumer-grade playback devices, like Android TV boxes and consumer smart TVs.
Aspect | How the device performs in this regard | Rating |
|---|---|---|
Compatibility with your CMS | Android is a generic enough platform for your CMS to work on that. On a consumer smart TV, you’re very likely stuck with whatever runs in the built-in web browser. | 🔴 Poor / 🟡 Fair |
Price | These are the cheapest devices you can generally find, as they are targeted at a wide consumer audience. | 🟢 Good |
Performance | This is the area where it quickly falls apart: these consumer-grade systems are mostly equipped to barely play video smoothly. Almost no effort is put into optimizing for different usage scenarios, like playing web-based signage content. We would recommend sticking with simple content, like static images and text these devices. | 🔴 Poor |
Stability | These devices are primarily meant for watching video on the couch for a couple of hours. No effort has been put into keeping them running stable for 24/7 or even 18/7. So even though many devices might run just fine, it’s always a gamble. | 🔴 Poor |
Usability | This too is one of the biggest drawbacks of using these living room devices: they need to be controlled with a remote control everytime you turn them on. There is generally not an easy way to have them start playing autonomously. | 🔴 Poor |
Environment fit | A smart TV could run well in an unsupervised area. But a separate TV box still has the same limitations as any separate device. | 🔴 Poor / 🟡 Fair |
Installation & operation | These types of devices generally don’t have a lot of installation options. At most you would install an app for the specific platform. This also makes operation very easy. | 🟢 Good |
Manageability | Since these devices are intended for use in the living room, don't expect any management options. | 🔴 Poor |
Security | Since these are highly trimmed down platforms, they are a far less likely target for security breaches. From that perspective they are great. At the same time, these types of devices almost never get any security updates so from that perspective security can be an issue. | 🟡 Fair |
Extendability | As a living room device, you shouldn’t expect this to be extendable in any way. | 🔴 Poor |
General purpose computer
A general purpose computer is a regular computer, running a regular computer operating system like Windows or Linux, that you setup to function as a dedicated digital signage player. Common choices are:
Raspberry Pi
Asus NUC (kit or pre-assembled)
Generic mini PC (small box or a small HDMI stick)
Aspect | How the device performs in this regard | Rating |
|---|---|---|
Compatibility with your CMS | As a generic computer, chances are that many CMS’s will work on this. | 🟢 Good |
Price | Since there is a lot of competition in generic computers, price/performance is usually very good. Ranging from a simple Raspberry Pi 5, to different types of Asus NUCs. | 🟢 Good |
Performance | You can choose the performance level that suits your needs best. If it’s mainly static images and text, then a Raspberry Pi 5 is a great solution. You can take this up to powerful computers playing content on large 8K videowalls. | 🟡 Fair / 🟢 Good |
Stability | Software on generic computers is generally well optimized. E.g. for web-based content, you’d be using a standard web browser, which has been greatly optimized to run on Windows and Linux. | 🟢 Good |
Usability | Once setup correctly, the usability is good: the device runs fine by itself. | 🟢 Good |
Environment fit | A generic computer almost always comes in a separate box, detached from the screen. This makes it less ideal for usage in unsupervised areas, unless you put it in a secure enclosure. | 🔴 Poor / 🟡 Fair |
Installation & operation | The ease of installation and operation depends greatly on the chosen device and operation system. Here are factors to consider:
| 🔴 Poor / 🟡 Fair |
Manageability | Systems for general purpose computers generally don’t come with signage management capabilities out-of-the-box. It’s mostly up to the end user to install custom (remote) management tools to troubleshoot any unexpected behaviour. | 🔴 Poor |
Security | Virtually all general purpose systems require user interaction to receive software updates. Since this is unwanted in a signage context, automatic updates are oftentimes disabled. Also, since these system can run many different types of processes, they are more vulnerable for security breaches. | 🔴 Poor |
Extendability | Since there are numerous general purpose computers available, you can choose the level of extendability that you need. Also, most specific software needed to drive external devices is available for generic operating systems like Windows and Linux. | 🟢 Good |
ChromeOS-based players
This is a bit of an odd category, but worth mentioning separately, since these devices have their own specific pros and cons. ChromeOS is Google’s web-based operating system. Because the whole operating system is web-based, it is highly optimized to render web content.
There are two variants of ChromeOS-based players that are relevant in the context of digital signage:
Chromebox: a Google-certified small form factor computer with ChromeOS pre-installed. Well known brands that supply these are AOpen, Lenovo, Asus and Acer.
Computer with ChromeOS Flex: Google also offers a variant of ChromeOS that can be installed on virtually any general purpose computer. This is called ChromeOS Flex. Installing ChromeOS Flex essentially turns that computer into a Chromebox. An Asus NUC is often a good choice to run ChromeOS Flex on.
To setup ChromeOS as an autonomously running digital signage player, you need to run it in kiosk mode. For this, you need a ChromeOS kiosk license from Google, which also provides access to Google’s remote management platform.
Aspect | How the device performs in this regard | Rating |
|---|---|---|
Compatibility with your CMS | Your CMS’s playback needs to be web-based and support ChromeOS. So those are quite specific requirements. | 🔴 Poor / 🟡 Fair |
Price | Off-the-shelf Chromeboxes are moderately priced. If price is very important, getting a general purpose PC and installing ChromeOS Flex on it is a good alternative. Compared to other signage hardware, ChromeOS is still very competitively priced. | 🟡 Fair / 🟢 Good |
Performance | For web-based playback there is almost no better platform than ChromeOS because that’s the core of the whole system. | 🟢 Good |
Stability | As with performance, stability of web-based playback is inherent to the ChromeOS system. That being said: the most stable are the native Chromeboxes themselves. If you use any other general purpose computer with ChromeOS Flex, maximum stability is not always guaranteed. | 🟡 Fair / 🟢 Good |
Usability | Once setup correctly, the usability is good: the device runs fine by itself. | 🟢 Good |
Environment fit | Just like general purpose computers, chromeboxes are separate boxes. This makes it less ideal for usage in unsupervised areas, unless you put it in a secure enclosure. | 🔴 Poor |
Installation & operation | The installation is nothing more than logging into the device once with the credentials associated with your ChromeOS kiosk license. From that point on it runs autonomously. It couldn’t really be easier. | 🟢 Good |
Manageability | The kiosk licenses come with access to the Google ChromeOS admin environment, which provides numerous options to remotely manage devices. | 🟢 Good |
Security | ChromeOS devices handle security very well. Security updates are released frequently and are installed automatically in the background. No user interaction needed. | 🟢 Good |
Extendability | Chromeboxes and ChromeOS are not particularly extendable. | 🔴 Poor |
Standalone single purpose signage player
Unlike general purpose computers, the single purpose signage players are often fully stripped down and optimized to do just perform one specific task: play specific digital signage content. Most of these devices are vendor-specific, meaning that they are primarily optimized to play content through that vendor’s CMS. Think vendors like Scala and Brightsign. They do often offer a way to play more generic web-based signage content, but that oftentimes comes with limitations, like poor performance (for the price).
Then there is the Amazon Signage Stick. This is a variant of Amazon’s consumer-facing Fire TV Stick. It only supports a limited set of content management systems preselected by Amazon.
Finally, worth mentioning is a device that takes a more generic approach: the Ubiquiti Display Cast Pro. This too is a single purpose signage player, but well optimized for web-based playback specifically, instead of their own CMS or a limited set of CMS’s. This device is particularly useful in a scenario where there is already Ubiquiti network gear operational, since it requires the presence of a local “controller”, like a Unifi router.
Aspect | How the device performs in this regard | Rating |
|---|---|---|
Compatibility with your CMS | As mentioned, many of these players are highly optimized for a particular CMS. There are only a few that are truly versatile, like the Ubiquiti Display Cast Pro. | 🔴 Poor / 🟡 Fair |
Price | Many of the single purpose players carry a higher price tag because of their proprietary software. So this is not the category to look for a good bargain. That being said: the price/performance of the Ubiquiti Display Cast Pro is great. | 🔴 Poor / 🟡 Fair |
Performance | These players are typically optimized for the CMS they often are advertised with. In that combination, performance will be predictable. Try to use it with anything else, like web-based playback, the performance is generally quite a bit worse. As long as you stick to their primary intended use, performance should be okay. | 🟡 Fair / 🟢 Good * |
Stability | Stability is one of the main selling points of single purpose players. By stripping out all unnecessary processes, stability is greatly increased. | 🟢 Good |
Usability | Because of its single focus on digital signage playback, the devices are great for autonomous playback. Hence the usability is great. | 🟢 Good |
Environment fit | Like with general purpose computers, a separate device connected to a screen is more prone to theft. Thus for deployment in unsupervised areas some kind of enclosured should be considered. To our knowledge, there are no single purpose signage players available that fit in an OPS slot. | 🔴 Poor / 🟡 Fair |
Installation & operation | This is also one of the areas that single purpose signage players excel in. Primarily if you stick to using them with their primary intended platform. If you try to use them with an alternative platform, they tend to be a bit less convenient to install and operate. | 🟡 Fair / 🟢 Good |
Manageability | Similar to the previous point, these single purpose signage players come with some sort of management platform. Certainly if you stick to their intended platform. But often this also works when running web content on them, for instance. | 🟢 Good |
Security | Since these are highly trimmed down platforms, they are a far less likely target for security breaches. From that perspective they are great. At the same time, these types of devices oftentimes don’t get frequent automatic security updates, so it’s not all sunshine and roses. | 🟡 Fair / 🟢 Good |
Extendability | There are manufacturers (like Brightsign) that have players that come with a variety of ports that are less common on modern day general purpose computers, but still very relevant in certain more elaborate signage setups. For those specific scenarios, the extendability is great. | 🟢 Good |
* Assuming you stick with the player’s targeted playback system
Professional signage displays
Professional signage displays are actually very similar to stand-alone single purpose signage players, the only difference being -in essence- that the players are fully built into the screen.
Like with single purpose digital signage players, some brands are highly optimized for their own CMS and perform rather poorly when you step outside of their eco-system. Most notably these are the displays from Samsung (with their Tizen system) and LG (with their WebOS) system.
Many other manufacturers run a version of Android, thereby allowing a far greater variety of CMS’s to run on their platform.
Aspect | How the device performs in this regard | Rating |
|---|---|---|
Compatibility with your CMS | As mentioned in the intro, be careful with vendor specific platforms like Tizen (Samsung) and WebOS (LG). If you’ll be using the vendor-specific CMS for such a platform, then great. Otherwise, you’re better off with one of the many more generic platforms. | 🔴 Poor / 🟡 Fair |
Price | Prices vary widely. If we leave out the speciality displays (like high-brightness, or color graded displays) then these displays are generally the most affordable options, where manufacturers like Iiyama offer great bang for the buck. | 🟡 Fair |
Performance | At the time of writing, a large number of manufacturers still consistently choose to equip their displays with the most basic (i.e., cheapest) SoC possible. So we always recommend carefully testing the display of your choice to see if it plays your content smoothly. Brands that we’ve tested that stand out for not cheaping out are Iiyama and BenQ. | 🔴 Poor / 🟡 Fair |
Stability | Just as with single purpose players, stability is one of the main selling points of professional signage displays. By stripping out all unnecessary processes, stability is greatly increased. The only drawback is that on really limited SoC’s there is a higher chance that the system halts. | 🟡 Fair / 🟢 Good |
Usability | Usability is one of the biggest advantages of a professional display. Since it’s a whole integrated system, it’s very easy to setup and have it run autonomously without ever looking back. | 🟢 Good |
Environment fit | Since the actual player is enclosed in the display, a professional display is a great option for any environment. Most notably for unsupervised areas too. | 🟢 Good |
Installation & operation | As a single purpose device, the installation and operation are great as long as you stick to the intended platform. It can be a bit more cumbersome when trying to bypass Samsung’s or LG’s own CMS, for instance. | 🟡 Fair / 🟢 Good |
Manageability | Many manufacturers also have a cloud-based platform that lets you monitor and configure the displays remotely. Some even allow you to perform firmware updates remotely, but not all of them. Also, some manufacturers charge an additional subscription fee to get (all of the) remote management functionality. But in general professional display score great on the aspect of manageability. | 🟢 Good |
Security | Like single purpose players, the professional displays are highly trimmed down platforms. As such, they are a far less likely target for security breaches. From that perspective they are great. At the same time, these types of devices oftentimes don’t get frequent automatic security updates, so it’s not all sunshine and roses. And especially if you cannot update firmware remotely, this might be another obstacle for keeping things as secure as possible. | 🟡 Fair / 🟢 Good |
Extendability | Most professional displays are not intended to be extended in any way. So this is not an area in which they shine. | 🔴 Poor |
Why consumer streaming devices aren’t suited
It's tempting to lump Chromecast, Apple TV, and a consumer Fire TV Stick in with the signage sticks discussed above, since they look and connect the same way. But they're built for a different job, which shows up across the same factors we've used to judge signage players.
Usability and autonomy. These devices are built around a remote and a home screen for picking what to watch, not booting straight into a fixed app or URL. Chromecast has no interface of its own; it's designed to be cast to, so there's no session to persist once the source disconnects. Apple TV and a Fire TV Stick have home screens, but neither is meant to run locked into one app indefinitely.
Stability and manageability. Consumer boxes and sticks run software built for evening streaming, not 24/7 uptime, so unexplained freezes are more likely. There's also no serious remote management layer for configuring, monitoring, or rebooting them at scale, unlike the purpose-built Amazon Signage Stick, which offers proper device management and a public API.
CMS compatibility. Most professional CMS platforms don't support these devices as signage targets, since they can't guarantee persistent, autonomous operation.
Recommendations: What digital signage player should you choose?
None of the devices mentioned is objectively "best." The right player is simply the one that satisfies the factors that matter most for your specific deployment. We’ve created a short summary of the most common combination of selection criteria and the most obvious players to look at first.
Tight budget, simple content, single or few screens
Raspberry Pi
Best performance for marginally higher price
Asus NUC with free Linux-based kiosk
Standard HD/4K content, need for stability and low maintenance
Chromebox
Ubiquiti Display Cast Pro (when on a Ubiquiti network)
Demanding, always-on, enterprise environments
Chromebox
Professional display with remote update functionality
Ubiquiti Display Cast Pro (when on a Ubiquiti network)
Complex, multi-zone, or video-wall content
mini PC with Windows
Public, unsupervised, or high-security locations:
Professional display
Chromebox (when in enclosure)
Get your content on your screens in minutes
Create your own content, add it to a playlist and publish it to your screens. No hardware required.
What's the cheapest digital signage player?
Can I use a smart TV as a digital signage player?
Is a Raspberry Pi good for digital signage?
Can I manage multiple digital signage players remotely?
Do I need internet access for my digital signage player to keep working?
What's the difference between a media player and a digital signage box?
SHARE ON SOCIAL MEDIA
