Read on to learn about our very cool digital signage solution that didn’t break the bank…

Although this post is a bit nerdy I’m hoping it helps somebody else design their own digital signage solution. I wanted to design a solution that would display information about the clinic alongside weather forecasts and a news feed from the BBC. The solution that you see photographed involves quite a few moving parts working together. However, it delivers a polished, professional product for a very reasonable price.

Items required:

• Raspberry Pi – read here to configure your RPI correctly to use Rise Vision. Purchased this version of the kit. I didn’t overclock the unit at all. However, I did have to tweak the display offset to show up correctly on the LED TV selected. You will need some Linux skillz (or a friend with them) in order to make this work. Cost: $65
• Rise Vision Digital Signage platform – This solution is currently free. Designing the signage with their Google Apps interface was easy. The RSS ticker was configured to use the BBC RSS Feed. I used their weather gadget as well. Cost: FREE
• LED TV – I wanted a unit that would fit between the columns of the window. This LED TV from Amazon did the trick. It’s bright enough to be seen in daylight provided you can get an anti-glare film onto the window. Cost: $280
• HDMI broadcasting – there are two ways to go about this. 1) Configure an RPI for each TV monitor or 2) Use a single RPI and blast the signal to each TV. For ease of rebooting I went with the latter. Actiontec makes a great unit that will cover our entire clinic. Eventually we’ll have 8 TVs all showing the same signal. Cost: $210 for one transmitter and receiver; $106 for each additional receiver. Both include HDMI cables.
• TV mount – this was the toughest part. It’s going to depend on your application, but if you have aluminum frame windows in a retail setting then this mount will do the trick. There are ceiling mounts, floor mounts and stand mounts you could all consider. Cost: $25

Total cost: $580

Best of all is the Rise Vision platform is easy to update and tweak. When we have a new product/service I simply lay out a slide in Powerpoint and export into a JPEG that goes into the photo gallery.

-Neil