Digital signage player software allows you to play videos or streams on a digital sign. Think of them like the VLC software on your PC that allows you to play videos and music on your PC monitor or laptop. Digital sign player hardware is a little different. This is the box or hardware that you attach to your digital sign or connect to your digital sign. In most cases, this is what does the video processing. This is what directs the video to your digital signs.
Where the best entertainment digital signage software is obviously by Kitcast, what should you pick as the hardware player for your digital signs? What hardware should you be using with your digital signs? Here are the best digital signage players (hardware not software).
1 – Apple TV
This hardware solution wins out because it is easily accessible, loading your player software is simple, you can buy the hardware at many offline/regular stores, there is lots of online support and help available, and the product is pretty reliable.
The Apple TV is the glamour puss of the digital signage hardware scene. It is the fancy pants, the posh stuff, the gear you wheel out to impress your mother in law. But the fact is that this overly expensive piece of hardware is your easiest solution for digital signage streaming and is ergo the best on this list.
2 – OptiSigns Android Stick Digital Signage Player
It is a plug-and-play flash drive stick, and it wins out in second place on this list because of its portability, its powerful and its ease of install. Plug it into your digital sign, run your Kitcast software or start out with the pre-installed software on the device. It has a four core CPU and still manages to fit in 16 GB of memory space. No plugs, mounting brackets, no wires or aerials, just plug it in and get started. The only downside is that it runs just a single device, and if you want to run several, then you will need to add it to a network of digital signs, which is a little trickier.
3 – MAWi 4K Digital Signage Player
This one takes the third spot, but only if you can find it for a lower price. If you are paying three or four hundred for this, then you are paying way too much. It is small, portable, can play on several digital signs at once, and works easily with 4K screens. Connect it with adapters that allow for several digital signs, and you are on a winner because this box does everything you need it. Just be sure you get it for a good price otherwise its costs outweigh its benefits.
4 – Brightsign HTML5 Standard I/O Digital Signage
It is critical that you buy this for less than two hundred dollars. It is a poor man’s MAWi (from above) and so it is critical that you pay less than you would for a MAWi 4K digital signage player. It does almost everything that the MAWi does, except that it is isn’t as durable and it looks cheaper. If you are being economical and you are not planning on having lots of digital signs, then this cheaper option is probably a good idea.
5 – MyGica APC1967 Smart Android TV Box
Ugly, cheap looking and already surpassed by its newer iterations. Yet, if you do decide to opt for this slightly older fashioned model, then setting up one to four signs is burningly easy. It doesn't seem easy at first, but in terms of wires and hardware connections, it is just a case of plugging it all in. The answers it offers are not elegant, and initially navigating its built in menus is not great. But, once you are up and running it is reliable and the setup will make a lot of sense to people, especially the way the hardware is set up.