Finding the best media player or smart TV, for your project, depends on a handful of things. In this article we’re going to take a look at what you should pay attention to when picking your media player or smart TV. If you already know what you need, use the link below and check out some of the media players and smart TV’s we’ve verified works with Digital Signage.
Let’s take a look at the major differences of media player and smart tv’s.
It’s true, TV manufactures are introducing more and more Smart TV’s. A smart tv is a consumer or professional TV with a media player built-in to the TV.
Smart TV’s are great for running basic content and even though they are built for running Netflix, they do offer a decent amount of resources to handle digital signage content also. If you’re looking to buy a TV and your content is basic, we’d recommend you go for the smart TV.
You should pick a media player if you want to separate the TV and the media player or if your content is going to be heavy, meaning you’re going to be running animations, multiple zones, websites with script injection or a bunch of photos or videos (Storage is usually limited on Smart TV’s).
Let us dig in to why and when you should choose a entry level media player and a high-end media player
An entry level media player is for those who have basic content, like images and video. The price range is low, the ease of use is high and as long as your project isn’t to crazy, the entry level media player will do just fine for many years.
Entry-level media players are not build for 24/7, so you should expect some interruptions. Most entry level media players are running operating systems that can not be fully controlled, for example, when Amazon publish an update for a FireTV Stick, the FireTV Stick will automatically update, and you will experience an short interruption of your digital signage content. You can not run advanced content on entry level media playes. Zones, animations, playlist-in-playlist or a heavy playlist can crash your media player. You should not be using these under extreme conditions. They are usually rated for room temperatures, so they will not do well in hot, cold or humid environments.
High-end media players comes in hundreds of configurations, and they offer performance that can run any type of content. The price range starts at around $150. They are usually running Windows, MacOS, Android, Linux or BrightSign. They can be rated for extreme environments, so if you’re looking for a media player for an outdoor LED display or perhaps a super hot production environment these are the players to look for. They are fully customizable, meaning the operating system will not take over and you will not have any type of interruption on your digital signage content.
Finding the right media player for your project can be challenging, so if you have any doubt or questions feel free to reach out so that we can send you in the right direction. In the sections below we’ve added a couple of examples.
These are media players on a budget, also referred to as entry-level media players. They will run images and video, but any advanced stuff like zones, transitions, and animations can be challenging as they all have limited resources.
Google Chromecast with Google TV Raspberry PI4 Amazon FireTV StickAll of these media players will run images, video, transitions, a single zone, and animations, check each media player for limitations if you are going to run 4K content.
Google Chromecast with Google TV Nvidia SHIELD TV .Onn Android TVThese players are more similar to computers than anything, they have powerful CPUs, GPUs, plenty of RAM, and plenty of storage. These can usually handle anything you throw at them, but be aware that in the category you find a lot of different configurations, so you may have to do a little more research.
Intel NUC Microsoft Windows Apple Mac OSRunning Digital Signage with the highest reliability means you have to take even more factors in to consideration. When used indoors you almost never have to consider the elements, unless you're installing your player in a freezer area or in a cabinet that may get super hot. We recommend you look at professional media players from Brightsign, iBase, or similar as they are purpose-built.
We do not have media players in this category we'd recommend, but we've listed the most reliable operating systems below.
Running Digital Signage with the highest reliability means you have to take even more factors in to consideration. When used outdoor there are a bunch of questions you need answered before you can start looking for reliable media player. Is it going to reach temperatures below 20 or above 90 degrees? High moisture and dust also have a say in this.
We recommend you look at professional media players from Brightsign, iBase, or similar as they are purpose-built.
We do not have media players in this category we'd recommend, but we've listed the most reliable operating systems below.
Don’t worry, we support every major operating system on the market, so it doesn’t matter if you’re looking for an entry-level digital signage player at $20 or a Windows-based player to build your ecosystem, we’ve got you covered! We’ve listed our most recommended systems, but don’t let that stop you from using your favorite system.
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