Screen in a waiting room

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roryj78

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#316102 16-Sep-2024 19:27

I'm renovating a waiting room, and want to put in a wall mounted screen and have a few slides on there.

I don't think we need to do anything fancy to response to who is in the waiting room - so it just needs to be a slideshow.

I was initially thinking a small box PC (probably running linux) and a monitor. This would have the advantage that I could change the content remotely, and have it also turn the monitor on/off on a schedule.

Next thought is just a cheaper TV, with a USB stick containing a video (you can save from Powerpoint to MP4 and set on a loop). Disdvantage of this is is don't think most TVs will enable this as default - so would have to turn on and use remote to select/start the powerpoint.

Any ideas from the hive-mind?

jonherries

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#3282802 16-Sep-2024 20:03

I prefer the latter as it is simpler.

Also often they also come with web browsers now too so you could point the browser homepage to a page you control?

Jon

lxsw20

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#3282819 16-Sep-2024 20:21

YoDeck is free for one screen, just need a raspberrypi.

richms

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#3282833 16-Sep-2024 20:59

I have used https://www.ablesign.tv/ and some fire tv sticks to show slideshows of things. Webpage you can upload images and video to is infinitaly better than having to export a video and move it over.

Its free, but as with anything free they might go and do what posterbooking did and decide with no notice to not be free anymore.

Richard rich.ms

roryj78

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#3283100 17-Sep-2024 11:23

I don't want to add extra kit like firestick - maybe a dongle-adapter is my limit.

I think the USB stick in a TV is the way to go - just need to try these in the shop - this is a rarely documented feature of TVs in terms of whether you can set videos on a loop, and whether you can have it as a default to start. Like the web idea - will try that too.

allan

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#3283136 17-Sep-2024 13:00

Chromecast displaying Google Photos folder - well pre-made images in your case.

djtOtago

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#3283299 17-Sep-2024 16:56

Some TVs have a built in slide show function. With my older Sony you just plugin a USB stick, open a folder on the stick and it will "Play" all the images in the folder. From memory about 15 seconds per image with a 0.5 second transition between each.

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wellygary

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#3283301 17-Sep-2024 17:12

This thread from 2014 indicates that Veons and Konkas will loop USB presentations,

Not Sure if its still true, but it may make the haystack a bit smaller...

https://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=34&topicid=152273

MadEngineer

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#3283309 17-Sep-2024 17:54

Unless you want a pc that needs maintaining use a usb stick with a tv that can do image playback from external storage.

You're not on Atlantis anymore, Duncan Idaho.

roryj78

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#3286438 25-Sep-2024 23:16

Update -- (hopefully useful for someone with similar needs in the future)....

After quite a bit of work, the solution I have arrived at is…

1. Cheap TV & wall bracket from pbtech
2. The problems with the USB solution are…
a) if you turn off the TV (say at the end of the day/week or a power cut), and then turn it on again, it’s a complex hunt through the menus to restart it.
b) You generally have to save your powerpoint slides as a movie file (e.g .mp4) – which Powerpoint does very well (who knew??) – but a movie file does not repeat – this needs even more menu options when you start the TV

3. Solution is… even cheap TV’s now come with Android TV – add the (free) Fully Kiosk Browser app – point it to your webpage (which does the same as a powerpoint presentation if your coding is good enough). This also has the flexibility to add live stuff like clinic live stats etc. (don't really see the need / business case for this personally). On the webpage I am using Bootstrap Carousel / jQuery to cycle round a set of "slides". I have even done an initial page which gets the page height/width/orientation (JS) and passes that onto the main page (done in PHP).

4. (there is an alternative – for $30 from china/Aliexpress you can also get a box which plugs into the HDMI input and will play a move file from USB on repeat to the HDMI port. As the HDMI can be a “normal” TV input – this should start when the TV starts.)—still in the post at present!

wellygary

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#3286509 26-Sep-2024 10:05

roryj78:

4. (there is an alternative – for $30 from china/Aliexpress you can also get a box which plugs into the HDMI input and will play a move file from USB on repeat to the HDMI port. As the HDMI can be a “normal” TV input – this should start when the TV starts.)—still in the post at present!

Just check that with the model of TV you have,

Some will return to last used input, while others will default to the aerial "Live" TV input...

jordan8thepie1

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#3286606 26-Sep-2024 13:04

We use Yodeck and a raspberry PI. Which turns the TV on and off based on a schedule. I don't have to touch the TV mostly.

When a power cut occurs The Raspberry PI automatically turns on and starts up the TV onto the correct input.

It's free for 1 display and easy to operate.

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Groucho

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#3286638 26-Sep-2024 14:10

My details were given to a friend's client who was wanting a digital menu set up. Said client found another solution before contacting me but in doing some initial research I found Anthias. Supposedly displays images, web pages and 1080p full HD video content. As Yodeck, Anthias also runs on pretty much any Raspberry Pi including Zero - in fact Anthias is included in the official Raspberry Pi Imager app under 'Other specific purpose OS'.

I haven't found an excuse to try it out but looks good.

https://anthias.screenly.io

roryj78

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#3297031 13-Oct-2024 20:20

ok - I have now completed this project, and then so impressed I have just completed a 2nd larger screen, mounted at 90 degrees. What I have learnt is...

Basic setup:

I went for inexpensive TVs - in fact the cheapest 32 and then 40 inch TVs but WITH Android TV.

Apps: "Fully Kiosk Browser" (free)

Direct this to your website... I have implemented a basic "Carousel" (Bootstrap Carousel / jQuery) to progress through the slides. After much tinkering also got my page to rotate 90 degrees (right or left!) so the 2nd TV I installed is mounted in "portrait" mode (which most TV's no longer support). My page also includes cycling mp3 waiting room music option.

Pbtech wins on cheapest TV mounts. Have to check between pbtech / Harvey Norman / Mightape for cheapest TV deals.

More advanced:

I also installed tailscale app (free) on the TVs, and scrcpy (from github) on a PC - works on both linux and windows. This allows me to control the screens remotely.

Without tailscale you can only run this from a machine on the local network, with tailscale I can control them from home. This includes being able to remotely activate the TV, and remotely shut it off.

In Android TV you can set them up to wake on internet, and separately "wake on wireless" (wow) - this enables staff to turn off the TV with remote (easy) but I can activate and tinker (or perhaps turn on as part of an automated schedule).

Using ADB (part of the scrcpy package) you can also set tailscale to run automatically if the TV is restarted (this seems to be something lacking in the Tailscale app - but you can use adb developer options to force this).

Kyanar

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#3298135 16-Oct-2024 16:56

If you're looking for a less DIY approach, I've used Mvix in the past and found it pretty good. The player hardware is a bit exxy, but once you have it, the remote content management portal is free for life; you only pay for advanced features like Tableau/PowerBI integration and interactive (touchscreen) display support.