[ScottyP13]

Hello,

First let me apologize for 2 things.

1. I am very Green with this type of thing so there may be some stupid questions here.

2. This may be covered somewhere I just can't find it. So if it is a duplicate just point me to the other and I'll research it there.


So here is the Synopsis:

I work for a company that has 2 buildings at one site and wants to put a TV in each lunchroom to stream announcements.

The quick idea I had is to have someone create a powerpoint slide and convert it to a JPEG and store that on a server, then use 2 content streamers to stream these 'slides' to each of the TVs using a jpeg viewer. One repository of slides for all TVs would be necessary.



Now for the questions:


1. Would this be the recommended way to do that? Is there a better way, easier, quicker way to accomplish this?


Streamer:

2. Which Content Streamer would be my best value. Internet content is not important at all. Would rather have a wired connection but that is just my opinion.

a. Was looking at ROKU 2 XD.

b. AppleTV?

c. Boxee Box?

d. ASUS O!Play?


3. I would need / want a tv and streamer to be able to lock out any panel buttons so that the employees can't mess with it.

a. Also would like to be able to set a default to start up in this mode so that we don't need to manually start it all the time.

a1. This may not be a big issue because I could see us leaving it on all the time since we are 7 days a week it would mostly just be power failures that we would be starting back up from. But the option would be great if it exists.


TV:

4. Do 'Smart' TVs (Internet Ready TVs) have this ability natively that I would not need an external streamer?

5. What TV would you recommend that might have the lockout features so employees don't mess with it?


Again Sorry if this has been asked elsewhere.


Thanks so much in advance for any direction you can point me in!!

 

[MarkHotchkiss]

Hi Scotty,


The first thought that popped into my deranged little brain was that this might be a good application for DLNA (there are few).


If you had TVs that supported DLNA and would remain in DLNA mode when powered-down and back up, then you would not need additional hardware, outside of the computer that controls it all.


Each TV would act as a DLNA "renderer". They would be networked to the controlling computer, which would act as the DLNA "server" and also as the DLNA "controller". The computer could then "push" the JPEG images to the TVs.


Sorry, I am not familiar enough with the different DLNA server software packages to advise on which to try.

 

[halfelite]

they actually sale boxes made for this. http://www.popcornhour.com/onlinestore/index.php?pluginoption=catalog&mainItemId=49 like that signage product by syabas. It has its own custom software and you can set it to do whatever you want.


Just google digital signage player and im sure you will find what you need. that will do everything you want and more if you ever need it.

 

[ScottyP13]

Thanks for the help and idea.

I have no idea what DLNA is so I googled it.


Sounds like a good idea, certainly.


I looked up where you can find certain TVs that are DLNA Certified, so that is good.

One site said sometimes the TV comes with PC software to make this work.


Would you or anyone else know if using the TV mfg's software is an 'ok' way to go?

Obviously if it isn't I could research more at that point but if anyone has any experience with this I would appreciate more input so I'm not just poking around in the dark...



Thanks Again, Mark

 

[MarkHotchkiss]



Quote:
Originally Posted by halfelite  /t/1416630/content-streamer-for-business-application#post_22151405


They actually sell boxes made for this.
http://www.popcornhour.com/onlinestore/index.php?pluginoption=catalog&mainItemId=49

I knew they existed, but I didn't know that they were so inexpensive.


Clearly, something like the Popcorn Hour S-300 would be the most flexible way to do it. And you wouldn't need to fight the nebulous capabilities of DLNA.

 

[halfelite]



Quote:
Originally Posted by MarkHotchkiss  /t/1416630/content-streamer-for-business-application#post_22151794


I knew they existed, but I didn't know that they were so inexpensive.

Clearly, something like the Popcorn Hour S-300 would be the most flexible way to do it. And you wouldn't need to fight the nebulous capabilities of DLNA.

There are cheaper ones then the syabas model also, they range anywhere from 100-1000$+ depending on that application you need. only reason i said teh S-300 cause the youtube video if it makes the software seem so simple

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcNioym8g-A

 

[ScottyP13]

Thanks to both of you.

I will check out this popcorn hour a little more. It sounds highly promising from what I saw so far.


Thanks again!

Sp