Many customers ask us if we have digital signage player software we can throw on an old PC they have lying around.  They may only want to show simple slides or video clips looped on a single display.  Their intentions are obvious and understandable: to make their budget dollars stretch further.

While PCs are powerful and flexible, many people don’t realize they need proper preparation to be used for signage.  All the non-essential software must be stripped out, virus scanners removed, auto updaters killed, etc.  The process of making an old PC reliable for use as a digital signage PC usually takes a couple of hours.  Further, in the long run, using a PC for simple signage needs is not economical or “green”.  PCs can eat 50W-100W when running presentations and a couple generation old PCs (such as Pentium 4 based units) tend to be less power efficient than modern units.  Add up the kilowatt hours used and your bargain, “free” PC is no longer making your budget stretch.

A similar solution is to use a DVD player running a disc that loops to accomplish a simple presentation.  This has its own drawbacks including mechanical failure of the DVD player, but more importantly is that quality of DVD is limited to a resolution of only 480p.

In the past year or two several dedicated media players have emerged at price points below PCs and while they are not a great choice for real time data, they might just do the trick for simple presentations that don’t need to be updated too frequently.

• Software is very easy to learn and use.  If you’ve made a playlist for your iPod, you can make a signage playlist in not time.
• Power usage is minimal, typically under 10W.
• Runs at the full resolution of the LCD Panel such as 1080p as opposed to a DVD at 480p.
• Reliable and purpose built.
• No software updates or pop-ups to interfere with your presentation.

Our favorite budget unit has:

• 2GB of storage, enough to store hours of pictures and video clips if properly compressed
• Supports nearly every video format under the sun
• HDMI output at 1080p
• Can have playlists uploaded via the LAN
• Can have playlists uploaded using a USB Stick

Once you see these benefits, it’s really a no brainer on selecting a dedicated media player.  Donate that old PC to a good cause and use a purpose-built hardware player.