Three things: a display to show your content on, something to run Screenly on, and an internet connection.
You do not need a server, anything installed on your own computers, or anything opened up on your network.
A screen
Whatever you already have. A smart TV, an ordinary television, a computer monitor, a commercial display made for signage, or the laptop on your desk. The brand does not matter, and there is no special signage screen you have to buy.
Most displays need a small device plugged into them, which connects with an HDMI cable in the same way as a streaming stick or a games console.
Some do not need anything plugged in at all, because they have a computer inside them already. That covers many commercial displays and smart TVs, and it also covers a laptop or an office PC, which runs Screenly in its browser. Supported platforms lists the ones we support.
Something to run Screenly on
Something has to run the Screenly software and drive the display. On many business displays that is the display itself, because it has a computer built in. Otherwise it is a small device you connect to it.
You have three routes. Existing Scala players can be converted too: see Scala players. ScreenlyOS or Screenly Anywhere covers the difference in full.
Our own hardware, which arrives ready to use. Plug it into the display and the network, turn it on, and it shows a pairing code. There is nothing to install and nothing to set up.
The Screenly Player shows content at up to 1080p. The Screenly Player Max is the more powerful model and goes up to 4K.
This is the most capable route, because we look after the whole device.
A Raspberry Pi can run ScreenlyOS, the same software our own hardware uses. You download the image and copy it onto an SD card.
A Raspberry Pi shows content at up to 1080p, and behaves the same as a Screenly Player in almost every way.
Screenly Anywhere is an app you add to a device that already has its own system: an Android device or Android TV, an Amazon Fire TV, a Samsung commercial display running Tizen, an LG webOS television, an Amazon Signage Stick, a ChromeOS Flex device, or a browser tab on any computer, Windows included.
Managing content works exactly the same way. What you give up is depth, because the device’s own system is still running alongside ours.
A browser tab is the fastest way to try Screenly without buying anything.
An internet connection
Screens need internet access, the same as a phone or a computer. Wi-Fi or a network cable both work.
Screens only ever connect out to us. Nothing connects in to them, so there is nothing to open up, forward, or expose on your network.
If someone tells you Screenly needs a port forwarded, a fixed public address, or a screen placed outside your firewall, that is not something we need.
One thing worth passing on: screens need to be able to check the time automatically. Scheduling runs on each screen’s own local time, so a screen with the wrong clock shows the wrong thing at the wrong hour.
If your network is restricted, IT requirements has what your IT team will ask for: the hostnames and ports to allow, and the fact that screens only ever connect outbound.
How much data it uses
Not much. Content downloads once and then plays from the device itself, so a screen looping the same playlist all day is not downloading it over and over.
The one thing to expect is a burst the first time you send new content out, particularly video. If you are bringing a dozen screens online at one site at once, they will each pull down their first playlist together.
A web browser
The dashboard runs in any current version of Chrome, Edge, Firefox, or Safari. There is nothing to install and nothing to keep updated.
You do not need to be on the same network as your screens. Managing a screen in another building works exactly like managing one in the next room.
A Screenly account
Signing up takes an email address and starts a free trial with no card required.
There is no password to choose. Sign up and create your workspace lists the sign-in options.
Next
Create your workspace and connect your first screen.