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Digital signage on the TVs your school already has

Quick answer: DigitalSignage.com runs on the TVs a school already owns: any TV with an HDMI input becomes a signage screen with a $30 to $60 Android TV stick, a retired Chromebox or Chromebook, a Raspberry Pi from the lab or an old PC behind it, and Android TV sets run the free DigitalSignage.com SignPlayer directly. The first 3 screens are free forever with no credit card, and a 12-classroom school pays $36 a month, $432 a year, because every screen is billed once an account has 4 or more. Players need only outbound HTTPS on port 443, no student data goes on screen, and staff update content from a browser.

Key facts

  • Any TV with an HDMI input works as a signage screen, and a TV that runs Android TV or Google TV runs SignPlayer with no extra device.
  • Samsung Tizen, LG webOS and Fire OS TVs have no SignPlayer app and need a $30 to $60 Android TV stick, a Chromebox, a Raspberry Pi or a PC on a spare HDMI port.
  • An 8-screen school pays $288 a year, a 12-classroom school $432 a year, and a 5-school district with 40 screens $1,440 a year in 2026 software, with the first 3 screens on any account free forever.
  • Players make one outbound connection, TCP 443 to *.signage.me plus DNS 53 and NTP 123, with no inbound ports, no static IP and no port forwarding.
  • Electricity for a screen running 12 hours a day is about $75 a year, about $50 at 8 hours.
  • No student personal information belongs on a public screen, and DigitalSignage.com's website and SignStudio set no advertising trackers and show no third-party ads on any plan.
  • An Emergency-priority campaign overrides every other campaign with one click, and normal content resumes when it is deactivated.

Last updated October 23, 2026. Sources: the schools guide, education industry page, student data privacy page, system requirements, network requirements, user management and scheduling pages on this site.

Which school TVs work for digital signage?​

All of them that have an HDMI input, which includes every flat TV bought in the last 15 years and the interactive panels in most classrooms. The TV is only the picture; the device plugged into it runs the player, so an old 42-inch hallway TV and a new 75-inch panel are equally usable.

TV already in the buildingWhat to plug in2026 cost per screenNotes
Android TV or Google TV set, runs the DigitalSignage.com SignPlayer itselfNothing; install the SignPlayer and Watchdog APKs on the TV$0Sony BRAVIA is the set our documentation recommends; the TV's chip is slower than a $60 box, so keep scenes simple
Any TV with a spare HDMI input, including Samsung and LGAndroid TV or Google TV stick with 2 GB of RAM$30 to $60The default choice for hallways and the cafeteria
Classroom TV used by the teacher all dayA stick or Raspberry Pi on a second HDMI input$30 to $137The teacher switches inputs; signage plays before school and between lessons
Interactive flat panel with HDMI inputsSame stick or Pi on a spare input$30 to $137Treat it as a TV; do not rely on the panel's own apps
Old TV with only one HDMI inputA stick plus a 2-port HDMI switch, or a cheap box with an Ethernet port$45 to $80Avoid daily cable swapping
TV with no HDMI at allReplace it; a 43-inch consumer TV costs less than the labor of adaptersNew panelComposite and VGA adapters are not worth the support calls

Bottom line: the only TV that cannot be reused is one without HDMI, and the cost of reusing the rest is $0 to $60 per screen.

A SoC display is a screen with the player computer built into the panel, so nothing hangs off the back; most school TVs are not SoC displays, and an external stick does the same job. The SoC display versus external player guide explains when a built-in chip is enough.

What should I plug into each classroom TV?​

A $30 to $60 Android TV stick on a spare HDMI input is the default, a retired Chromebox is the default when the district is a Google Admin shop, and a Raspberry Pi is the default when the computer lab already has them. All three run the same free player and are managed from the same SignStudio account.

  • Android TV stick or box: cheapest, installs in 5 minutes, and the Watchdog app relaunches the player after a power cut. Choose at least 2 GB of RAM and a current Android version.
  • Chromebox or Chromebook, including old PCs converted with ChromeOS Flex: SignPlayer for Chrome OS installs from the Downloads page, and Google Admin can auto-launch it as a kiosk app, which needs a Chrome Enterprise Kiosk license per device. A Chromebox beats a Chromebook as a permanent fixture, because the lid and battery get in the way.
  • Raspberry Pi 4 or Pi 5: an $81 to $137 kit with case, cooler and the official supply, with the SignService watchdog installed by the setup script. Pi 5 is recommended; encode video as H.265 on it.
  • Old Windows PC: the free SignPlayer Desktop needs Windows 10 64-bit, a Core i3, 4 GB of RAM and a 64 GB SSD, with auto-login and start with Windows for an unattended screen.

The honest limit of a classroom TV is the input. A teacher's laptop and the signage player share the screen, so an emergency message only reaches a classroom TV that is on the signage input at that moment. Hallway, office, cafeteria and gym screens are the ones that always show it, so put the emergency plan on those first.

How do I set up the first three screens for free?​

Create one account for the school, install the player on three devices, register each with its code, and publish one campaign, all in an afternoon and with no credit card. The three free screens make a good pilot: the main hallway, the front office and the cafeteria.

  1. Create the school's free account at galaxy.signage.me using a role mailbox such as signage@ your school's domain, not a teacher's personal login.
  2. On each TV, plug a stick into a spare HDMI input, connect it to the school network, and install the SignPlayer and Watchdog APKs from the Downloads page of the account. On a Chromebox, install SignPlayer for Chrome OS instead.
  3. Open SignPlayer on each device. It shows a registration code; in SignStudio, click Register SignPlayer and enter it. Name the screen by location, for example Main Hall East.
  4. Build one scene from an education template: today's date, the bell schedule, the lunch menu from a Google Sheet, and a photo loop. Add a second scene for announcements.
  5. Create a campaign for school hours, 07:00 to 16:00 on weekdays, and a Default-priority campaign with the logo and the school's name for everything else, so the screen is never blank.
  6. Prepare an Emergency-priority campaign now, with the lockdown, evacuation and weather-closure messages written in advance, so nobody designs a slide during an incident.
  7. Publish, confirm each screen on the Screens dashboard, take a screenshot of each, and pull the power on one stick to confirm the Watchdog brings it back.
  8. Turn off sleep, screen saver and power saving on each device and auto power off on each TV, and set the TVs' own timers to switch the panels off at night.

What does a 12-classroom school pay?​

$432 a year in 2026 software for 12 screens, plus about $45 per screen once for sticks, because every screen is billed from $3 per screen per month once an account has 4 or more screens. Hardware the school already owns, Chromeboxes, Pis and Android TVs, brings the hardware line to $0.

Setup2026 softwareOne-time hardware on existing TVsElectricity at 12 hours a day
DigitalSignage.com free plan: hallway, office, cafeteria, 3 screens$0 forever$90 to $180 for 3 sticks, or $0 on owned ChromeboxesAbout $225 a year
mediaCLOUD Plus+: 8 screens$24 per month, $288 per yearAbout $360About $600 a year
mediaCLOUD Plus+: 12 classrooms$36 per month, $432 per yearAbout $540About $900 a year
mediaCLOUD Plus+: 5 schools, 40 screens on one district account$120 per month, $1,440 per year; the public calculator may quote lower at volumeAbout $1,800About $3,000 a year
Enterprise: district with proof of play and kiosk screensPer screen in the public price calculatorCommercial players where neededSame

Bottom line: the electricity for a 12-classroom school costs about twice the software, and the TVs themselves cost nothing because the school already owns them.

mediaCLOUD Plus+ adds 3 GB of storage, the full template set, the Scheduler component and QR and touch components; the schools guide compares the yearly cost with the education-focused alternatives.

What will district IT ask, and what are the answers?​

IT will ask about ports, network isolation, student data and who can publish, and each has a short answer. The player connects outbound only, the content is what the school chooses to put on the wall, and SignStudio gives every person a role.

  • Ports: outbound TCP 443 to *.signage.me, DNS on 53 and NTP on 123. No inbound ports, no static IP, no port forwarding. If the firewall needs exact hostnames rather than a wildcard, support provides the current list.
  • Network: put the players on a signage VLAN or a dedicated SSID with outbound HTTPS only and no captive portal; a captive portal, the sign-in page on guest Wi-Fi, is the most common reason a school player never comes online.
  • Student data: a signage player shows content and reports its own status; it has no camera and identifies nobody. The school's rule is the one that matters: no student personal information on a public screen, and a student's name or photo only with consent. The student data privacy page names FERPA, CIPA and COPPA for district counsel.
  • Trackers and ads: DigitalSignage.com's website and SignStudio set no advertising trackers, and screens show no third-party ads on any plan, including the free one.
  • Access: SignStudio user management gives each person a role, Owner, Administrator, Content Manager, Editor, Operator or Viewer, with scopes that limit a user to specific screens, so the athletics office edits the gym screen and nothing else, and an approval workflow can hold student-made content for review.

Who updates the content, and how?​

The front office, from a browser, in a few minutes a day, because the parts that change daily come from sources staff already maintain. A Google Sheets component shows the lunch menu and the bell schedule in the scene's own fonts; whoever edits the sheet updates every screen. Announcements come from a Google Slides deck published to the web, or from a scene an editor changes.

The emergency plan belongs to the administration: one Administrator activates the Emergency campaign, it overrides every screen, and deactivating it brings normal content back. The emergency alerts guide covers feeds, priority levels and the fire panel.

Frequently asked questions​

Digital signage on the TVs your school already has

Any TV with an HDMI input works: plug in a $30 to $60 Android TV stick, a retired Chromebox, a Raspberry Pi or an old PC, install the free DigitalSignage.com SignPlayer, type its registration code into SignStudio under Register SignPlayer and publish. Android TV sets need no device at all. The first 3 screens are free forever and 12 classrooms cost $432 a year in 2026.

Does free digital signage software work on existing school TVs?

Yes. DigitalSignage.com's free plan covers 3 screens forever with no credit card, no ads and no watermark, and the free SignPlayer runs on a stick, Chromebox, Raspberry Pi or PC plugged into any HDMI TV, or directly on an Android TV set. The TV's brand does not matter; only Samsung Tizen, LG webOS and Fire OS sets need the external device.

Which one is free?

DigitalSignage.com: the first 3 screens are free forever, with about 90 percent of the features, scheduling and 1 GB of storage, and no credit card. After that every screen is billed from $3 per screen per month once an account has 4 or more screens. The schools guide compares the yearly cost with the education-focused alternatives at 8 and 40 screens.

How much does digital signage cost for a 12-classroom school?

$36 a month or $432 a year in 2026 software on mediaCLOUD Plus+, since every screen is billed once an account has 4 or more, plus about $45 per screen once for Android TV sticks on the TVs the school already owns, or $0 with owned Chromeboxes and Pis. Electricity adds about $75 per screen per year at 12 hours a day.

Can we use old Chromebooks and Chromeboxes as signage players?

Yes. SignPlayer for Chrome OS installs from the Downloads page on Chromebooks, Chromeboxes and PCs converted with ChromeOS Flex, and Google Admin can auto-launch it as a kiosk app with a Chrome Enterprise Kiosk license per device. A Chromebox makes the better permanent fixture; a Chromebook's lid and battery get in the way.

Is digital signage safe for student data?

Yes, when the school follows one rule: no student personal information on a public screen, and a student's name or photo only with consent. The player shows content and reports its own status, has no camera and identifies nobody, and DigitalSignage.com sets no advertising trackers and shows no third-party ads on any plan. Check FERPA, CIPA and COPPA with district counsel.

Does it work on the TV I have?

If the TV has an HDMI input, yes, with a stick, Chromebox, Raspberry Pi or PC plugged in; Android TV and Google TV sets run the player directly. Samsung Tizen, LG webOS and Fire OS TVs have no SignPlayer app and need the external device. A TV with no HDMI at all is cheaper to replace than to adapt.

Try it on your own screens, free​

DigitalSignage.com, which publishes this guide, runs a permanent free plan: the first 3 screens are free forever (no credit card, no ads, no watermark, no time limit), then from $3 per screen per month on Plus+. Once an account has 4 or more screens, every screen is billed, so 10 screens cost $360 a year; Enterprise is priced per screen in the public price calculator. The free DigitalSignage.com SignPlayer runs on Windows, Mac, Android and Android TV, Chrome OS, Raspberry Pi, iPad or any modern web browser, so the hardware you already own usually works. Start free · 2026 pricing · How 11 vendors compare on price

Maintained by MediaSignage Inc., operator of DigitalSignage.com since 2006. Product behavior on this page comes from our own SignStudio and SignPlayer documentation; where we do not document a step, this page says so instead of guessing. Last reviewed October 23, 2026.

Try it on your own screens
First 3 screens free forever, no credit card, no ads. Works on the TV you already own with a $30 player, Raspberry Pi, Chrome OS, Windows or iPad. About two minutes to your first screen.
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