About
Turn your screens off when nobody needs them, for example at night or when your shop is closed. It saves power and wear on the TV panels.
There are three ways to do it: with Play’s own on/off schedule, with a smart plug, or with the black-out method. Each is described under Get Started.
Get Started
Turn your TV on and off using Play
This method allows you to turn on and off your TV in Play Digital Signage’s software.
Supported devices:
- Samsung Tizen SmartTV
- LG webOS SmartTV
- Linux Media Players (note: HDMI-CEC is required)
- Raspberry Pi Media Players
- Amazon Signage Stick (via HDMI-CEC)
How it works
Go to Screens, find your screen and click Settings. Scroll down to the section called Display on. You can toggle the feature on and off on the right. If you expand the section, you can set your display on and display off for each day of the week. When you’ve set up your display on and display off schedules, the TV will automatically turn on and off the display or LED panel according to your schedule.
Turn your TV on and off using a SmartPlug
This method allows you to turn on and off your TV using a SmartPlug
Supported devices: ALL
How it works
This method does not use our software. You will have to purchase a SmartPlug (for example, an Amazon Smart Plug), download its app (for example Alexa, depending on which SmartPlug you get), and set up when the SmartPlug should turn the TV on and off.
Using a SmartPlug means you’re turning the power on and off for both your TV (or smart TV) and the media player, so it’s important that the TV defaults to your preferred HDMI channel when turned on. Also, make sure to toggle on Launch Player on Startup.
Turn your TV on and off using the Black-Out method
This method allows you to turn on and off the LEDs on a TV
Supported devices: ANY device without a backlight
This method has been used for more than a decade on billboards and LED signs, and it will work on most TVs that don’t have a backlight. The general idea is to turn on and off the LEDs, or more specifically, ask the LEDs to go black, and since black is 0% light, they will not consume power. However, the TV and display will still be on, and standby power will be consumed.
First, add a new playlist, then add a slide to it and turn on Play this slide forever. Pick black as the slide background and publish. Then follow the steps in Scheduling to create a rule telling your TV or media player to use the blackout playlist when no content is desired.
FAQ
I have a Tizen display, can I turn the TV off from your software?
Yes and no. In the screen settings, you can tell the TV when to keep the display on and when to turn it off. But keep in mind that this method only turns off the display; the TV itself stays on.
