Best Digital Signage Hardware: Players and Screens

Digital signage hardware is two things: a screen, and a player (the box behind the TV) that runs the signage app. For most businesses the best pair is a TV or commercial display with a small streaming-size player plugged into HDMI:

• Screens nobody can walk up to (other sites, high walls): the Amazon Signage Stick, $99.99. It opens the signage app in kiosk mode, and signage software can restart it and turn the TV off and on remotely.
• A few screens you can reach: a Walmart onn box ($29.98 to $59.98) or a TV with Google TV built in. Cheapest, but nobody can restart it from a desk.
• Video walls, several screens from one box, heavy dashboards: a Windows PC, or a BrightSign player ($380 to $1,335).
• The screen: a commercial display rated for 16 or 24 hours a day if the screen runs all day. A consumer TV works for shorter hours, but its warranty usually excludes business use.

The rest of this page compares each player, then screens, mounts, and what to buy for 1, 10 or 50 screens.

Which player to buy: quick picks

Digital signage players compared

"Restart it remotely" and "turns the TV off" mean from the signage software, without someone at the screen. On Android and Google TV devices a Play Store app cannot restart the box or switch the TV off; Amazon gives that control to the signage app only on the Signage Stick.

Amazon Signage Stick: best for screens you cannot reach

Amazon builds the Signage Stick for business signage only. During setup you pick one signage app, and the Stick opens it in kiosk mode: no home screen, no other apps, nothing for staff to change. Amazon's Remote Management API lets the signage software turn the TV on and off, take screenshots, restart or factory reset the Stick, and check its health.

• Price: $99.99. Amazon's quantity price is $94.99 each from 10 units and $92.99 from 50. See Amazon Signage Stick price.
• Inside: quad-core processor, 2 GB of memory, Wi-Fi 6E, 4K over HDMI. A Stick reports about 12 GB of usable storage.
• Network: no Ethernet port. Amazon's micro-USB Ethernet Adapter costs $14.99. See network requirements.
• Not for: a video wall. Each Stick drives one screen and plays on its own clock (details).

Read the full Amazon Signage Stick review.

Fire TV Stick: fine for a trial

A Fire TV Stick is a home streaming player. Only models on Fire OS run Android signage apps. Models on Vega OS (Fire TV Stick HD 2026, 4K Select, 4K 3rd Gen) cannot run one at all. The Fire TV Stick 4K Plus ($69.99 list) runs Fire OS.

It has no kiosk mode, so after a power cut it can stop on the Fire TV home screen. Signage software usually cannot restart it or turn the TV off. Use one you already own to try signage on one screen. See Fire Stick digital signage.

Walmart onn and Google TV: the lowest price

The onn boxes run Google TV and install signage apps from Google Play: Full HD $29.98, 4K $39.98, 4K Pro $59.98 on walmart.com. A TV with Google TV built in skips the box: install the app on the TV itself.

Set it up so it survives a power cut:

1. Power the box from the wall adapter, not the TV's USB port (that port often turns off with the TV).
2. Allow "Display over other apps" for the signage app (Settings > Apps > Special app access). Without it, Android 10 and later will not bring the app back to the front after a restart.
3. Set Energy saver and sleep timers to their longest setting.

The limits: no app can restart the box or switch the TV off remotely, and anyone with the remote can open YouTube. At closing time the screen goes black but the TV stays on. Buy it for screens someone can walk up to. See digital signage on the Walmart onn and Signage Stick vs Walmart onn.

NVIDIA SHIELD TV: Ethernet, same limits

The SHIELD TV ($149.99) has 2 GB of memory, 8 GB of storage and Gigabit Ethernet; the SHIELD TV Pro costs $199.99. It is an Android TV box, so it has the same remote-control limits as the onn. Buy it only if you need a wired port on an Android box. See NVIDIA Shield vs Amazon Signage Stick.

Windows PC: for walls, several screens and dashboards

A small Windows PC is the player to choose when one box must drive two or more screens, when a screen shows a heavy web dashboard, or when IT already manages Windows devices. Ask the software vendor whether its Windows app can restart the PC and take a screenshot remotely; that varies by app.

What to set up:

• A local account that signs in by itself, so the player starts after a power cut.
• Sleep and screen timers set to Never.
• Windows Update active hours that cover opening hours.

A PC cannot turn the TV on and off: set the TV's own timer. See free digital signage software for Windows.

BrightSign: built for signage, priced for it

BrightSign players are built only for signage, from the LS425 at $380 to the XC2055 at $1,335 on BrightSign's store. They run BrightSign's own operating system, so you need signage software that supports BrightSign. They suit video walls and sites that already standardise on them.

Raspberry Pi: for people who like to build

A Raspberry Pi 4 board starts at $35, before the case, power supply and memory card. Free open-source players run on it. You install and maintain the operating system yourself. See free Raspberry Pi digital signage.

What does not work well

• Roku: most signage vendors have no Roku app. See Roku digital signage.
• Older Chromecasts without a remote: they only show what a phone casts, and stop when the phone sleeps. See Chromecast digital signage.
• Fire TV models on Vega OS: no Android signage app installs.
• Apple TV: Kitcast, OptiSigns and Rise Vision have apps, but the Apple TV boots to its home screen after a power cut unless you supervise it with Apple's tools. See Apple TV digital signage.
• The built-in apps on consumer Samsung and LG TVs: few signage apps support them, and features vary by model. Plug a player into HDMI instead. See Samsung smart TV signage and LG webOS signage.

Commercial display or consumer TV?

Buy a commercial display when the screen runs more than about 8 hours a day, faces a window, or must be covered by warranty. A consumer TV is fine for a few hours a day on a screen you can replace.

• Hours: Samsung writes that consumer TVs are designed for "perhaps eight hours a day", while professional displays can run around the clock (Samsung Insights). The Samsung QM55C is rated 24/7 at 500 nits (spec).
• Warranty: LG's US TV warranty excludes "commercial or industrial use, offices" (LG warranty). Samsung's excludes issues "caused by commercial or non-normal consumer use" (Samsung warranty). If a consumer TV fails in a shop, expect to pay for it.
• Auto power off: many consumer TVs switch themselves off after hours with no remote press. On Samsung TVs, Auto Power Off is on by default (Samsung). Turn it off, or the screen goes dark mid-afternoon.
• HDMI-CEC: if you want the player to turn the TV off at night, switch HDMI-CEC on in the TV's settings. Every brand gives it a different name.

Already have TVs? See use your existing TVs for digital signage.

Mounts and installation

• Match the VESA pattern. The hole spacing on the back of the screen (for example 200 x 200 mm on the Samsung QM55C) must match the mount, and the mount must be rated for the screen's weight.
• Portrait needs a screen that supports it. Check the display's manual before you turn it sideways. Commercial lines such as the Samsung QBC list portrait mounting.
• Put a power outlet behind the screen. Power the player from its own adapter, not the TV's USB port.
• Leave room for the player. A stick or box needs space and airflow behind the screen. Do not wedge it against a hot panel.
• Run a network cable where you can. Wired beats Wi-Fi for a screen on a wall. Plan the adapter or port before you mount.
• Hide the remote. On any device with a home screen, the remote is how staff end up on YouTube.

What to buy for 1, 10 or 50 screens

Player cost only, on TVs you already own:

Add $14.99 per Stick for a wired connection. Software is on top of this: see the best digital signage software and how much digital signage costs.

• 1 screen in your own shop: an onn 4K or a Google TV on a TV you own. Spend the difference on a better screen.
• 2 to 10 screens at one site: onn boxes work if a manager is always there. If you want TVs off at night without anyone pressing a button, buy Signage Sticks.
• 10 or more screens across sites: Signage Sticks. One trip to restart a frozen box costs more than the price gap.
• 50 or more screens: Signage Sticks at the 50-unit price, and commercial displays for anything that runs over 8 hours a day.
• A video wall: a Windows PC with a multi-output graphics card, a wall controller, or synced BrightSign players. See Amazon Signage Stick for a video wall.

Where Brix fits

Brix is signage software (the CMS), not hardware. It runs on:

• Amazon Signage Stick: pick "Brix Signage" during the Stick's setup. Brix restarts the Stick, turns the TV off and on over HDMI-CEC on a schedule, sets Wi-Fi and the time zone, takes screenshots, and rotates the whole display for portrait, video included. Setup takes about 10 minutes; pairing takes a median of 2.6 minutes across the Signage Sticks running Brix.
• Android boxes such as the Walmart onn, and TVs with Google TV built in: install "Brix Digital Signage" from Google Play (Android 6.0 or later). Brix plays, schedules and updates content, restarts its own app, sets the volume and reports the box's health. It cannot restart the box or switch the TV off. On the onn, allow "Display over other apps" by hand.
• Fire TV Stick on Fire OS: fine for a trial. Reboot and TV power do not work on it; use the TV's own timer. Players for every device are on Brix downloads.
• Windows 10 and 11 (64-bit): Brix restarts the PC, takes screenshots and rotates the screen from the CMS. It cannot turn the TV off.

Brix has no app for Samsung or LG TVs, BrightSign, Apple TV, Roku or Raspberry Pi. If you want to keep those players, or need a synced video wall, pick software that supports them.

• Price: $6 per screen per month billed annually, or $8 billed monthly. See pricing.
• Free Sticks for 30 or more screens: Amazon provides Signage Sticks free for rollouts of 30 or more screens, and Brix arranges it with Amazon. Talk to us.
• Free migration, usually in a day: moving from another system, we move your content, playlists and screens for you.
• Support: US-based, in Los Angeles, 7 days a week.

Start a free 7-day Brix trial. No card needed.