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Resources for IT and Digital Signage | ScreenCloud

ScreenCloud OS 3.0 has been rebuilt from the ground up to be more performant, up-to-date, and secure.

With ScreenCloud OS now based on more up-to-date versions of upstream Linux and Chromium, we’ve unlocked the ability to support additional hardware features and devices in the future, as well as ensuring we can continue to provide the best web experience possible to our customers.


ScreenCloud OS 3.0 Pre-Release Available Now

We understand the importance of being able to test major new versions of ScreenCloud OS before they are fully released and rolled out. As such, we’ve added new options to both ScreenCloud OS and our Remote Device Management (RDM) Console that allow our customers to test pre-release versions of ScreenCloud OS.

And we’re happy to announce that the first pre-release version of ScreenCloud OS 3.0 is available now.

We encourage you to test this new pre-release version of ScreenCloud OS with your content, network setup, and other aspects of your environment to ensure it does not introduce any new issues for you.

It’s really easy to test this first pre-release version of ScreenCloud OS 3.0 using our Canary OTA update channel. To find out how to do this, see this help article.

Besides improvements across the board, ScreenCloud OS 3.0 has some great new features as well.

With Display Settings Control, you can now set your display’s resolution, refresh rate, and scaling either on-device or remotely via our RDM Console.

And we’ve also added HDMI CEC support that enables you to remotely control your display, with the ability to turn your display on/off, as well as lock/unlock your display’s input source to the one being used by your ScreenCloud OS device.

To test these new features, see this help article on how to do so.

And if you do spot issues, please report them to us by responding to this email or contacting our support team at support@screencloud.com.

The first pre-release version of ScreenCloud OS 3.0 is available to test now, and we encourage you to test it with your content, network setup, and other aspects of your environment to ensure it does not introduce any new issues for you.

The first pre-release version of ScreenCloud OS 3.0 is available to test now, and we encourage you to test it with your content, network setup, and other aspects of your environment to ensure it does not introduce any new issues for you

ScreenCloud OS 3.0 Pre-Release Available Now

Try ScreenCloud free for 14 days to turn your TVs into a digital signage system for your company.

Ready to roll out your first digital signage?

Everything you need to know before buying screens for your company’s digital signage

Displays 101: What to Know When Buying Business TVs

Learn every important term you’ll encounter when purchasing displays, from Nits and IPS to VESA and IP5X.

Learn the baseline specs to look for in TVs for your office, along with the upgrade specs in professional displays.

The absolutely best display is not always the best for your business. Learn which features are not worth paying for, and which are better purchasing separately in standalone hardware.

How bright is your location? Will your screens be exposed to the elements? Will viewers see your display at an angle? Find the questions and answers that will give you the best displays for your needs.

Once you’ve purchased screens, learn how to build them together into a digital signage system with software and professional media player devices.

Learn the display specs that matter most for digital signage

Find what additional display features could make a difference for your company

Build a cohesive digital signage system from commercial TVs and professional screens

There are hundreds of TVs for sale today to pick from, in dozens of sizes, powered by at least six different display technologies with five common resolutions ranging from under a hundred dollars to low six figures.

Which TV is the best display for your digital signage rollout?

We’ve done the homework for you. With over a decade of experience in rolling out digital signage for enterprises of all sizes, we’ve learned the specs that matter most for workplace displays. In this eBook, you’ll learn the display terms, specs, and considerations that matter most when buying TVs for your office, to optimize your budget while buying screens that will be crisp, bright, readable, and easy to maintain over their estimated lifespan.

It’s no wonder organizations are keen on adopting digital signage. Within frontline sectors, such as retail, manufacturing or transportation, digital signage can transform operations and communication. 84% of corporate leaders, 78% of frontline managers and 69% of frontline workers believe that smart investment in digital technologies leads to organizational success.

Yet, we see it too often: organizations choosing technology that not only isn’t the right fit for their scale, but also their team. When enterprises seek out scalable digital signage technology, many of the options currently on the market are too complex for their own good. 

That’s why we made ScreenCloud OS — a custom, Linux-based operating system tailored to digital signage. It’s designed specifically for enterprises, with remote device management and enough power to broadcast Ultra HD and 4K content. 

Keep reading to see how digital signage and ScreenCloud OS are the perfect pairing for enterprise IT teams, all at the low price of $95. 

You can’t take the IT out of digital signage: for seamless digital signage that meets your enterprise’s needs, all teams need to be involved. 

At ScreenCloud, we aim to take the responsibility of digital signage away from IT and in the hands of marketing and internal comms professionals, making daily processes more efficient and leaving more time to counter previously ignored business challenges.

IT departments are at the forefront of digital transformation and keeping their companies competitive. By recognizing their own objectives of digital signage, such as having a hands-off internal communication tool with improved hardware, IT can align digital signage strategies across HR, marketing and operations departments for a clearer estimate of the tool’s return on investment.

IT leaders don’t have to compromise on quality anymore. When searching for a user-friendly tool, IT managers need a device that keeps the process short, secure and simple.

ScreenCloud OS keeps the high functionality while also offering the following benefits:

Enterprise-grade security. Including logs and reporting, ScreenCloud OS also provides support for secure network configurations, proxies and custom root CAs.

Set up time. With fast USB provisioning and automatic provisioning via Ethernet, the set up time is quick and easy; ScreenCloud's plug-and-play approach shaves deployment time to just a few minutes.

Remote device management. ScreenCloud OS enables IT teams with the ability to remotely reboot devices, update network settings or credentials and more, all without needing to visit on-site locations.

Performance. We tested multiple hardware partners and ultimately chose Firefly’s Station P1 Pro media player due to its six-core CPU, a quad-core GPU and 4GB of RAM, which makes it capable of running demanding content from nearly any source. It also includes 32GB of storage so your cached content can continue to play.

ScreenCloud helps teams in 9,000+ organizations around the world communicate with those who matter most, using the screens on their walls and the content  in their systems. 

ScreenCloud’s digital signage can inform employees on corporate information like social media feeds, data visualizations, emergency alerts, and live broadcasts – or even simply the news, sports and weather. 

Sign up for a free demo and see what your organization can achieve with digital signage.

Scalable digital signage technology is hard to come by; that’s why ScreenCloud OS was custom-made for enterprise digital signage. See why organizations are all adopting digital signage and how IT leaders can benefit — all with the new ScreenCloud OS price of just $95.

ScreenCloud OS: The Essential Enterprise Tool for IT Leaders Driving Digital Transformation

Try ScreenCloud digital signage free for 14-days. No credit cards required. Or get a product demonstration.

Ready to get started with digital signage?

Why engaging hard-to-reach employees is critical to business success, and how digital signage can help.

eBook: Employee Engagement & the Deskless Workforce - ScreenCloud

Driving employee engagement by building a modern, connected workplace

Improving recall of your most important information

Increasing employee retention by celebrating achievements and building culture

Discover how and why digital signage is an appropriate and effective strategy for:

Employee Engagement & the Deskless Workforce

This eBook explores how content across various devices and display sizes is received by your eyes, and how your brain processes and remembers the things you see.

eBook: The Neuroscience of Visual Media - ScreenCloud

This eBook explores how content across various devices and display sizes is received by your eyes, and how your brain processes and remembers the things you see. We'll discuss:

How secure data-sharing inspires employees and helps companies grow.

White Paper: Unleashing the Hidden Dashboard - ScreenCloud

Employee engagement: What are we missing?

Download our free guide to see how leading organisations create eye-catching digital signage that drives customer engagement and generates revenue.

Free Ebook: Getting Started with Digital Signage - ScreenCloud

What is digital signage and why are leading businesses using it in customer and employee comms?

How to tailor the hardware, software and content to your organization.

How to use smarter methods of content creation to take control of your screens.

Improve and keep track of your top digital content easily.

Learn how other companies are using digital signage effectively.

How leading organizations create digital signage that makes teams and customers "look up"

Actionable tips for creating more effective content

Digital signage use cases within organizations

Download the definitive digital signage guide for free.

About 72% of companies have already established a digital workplace strategy - and this is according to 2020 stats that’s yet to be updated. But, that’s already a large number and encouraging to see that companies have been keeping pace as the working world continues to change.

However, with employee disengagement rates that are continuously on the rise and companies suffering high turnover churns - how many of these strategies are actually effective?

Could this perhaps be because only an estimated 1% of software funding goes to the development of deskless technology and tools? Meaning that 80% of the global workforce has the least access to technology.

Is this reflecting another gap that effective communication in the workplace can easily fill?  Yes, indeed it does.

HR and IT teams have thus become encouraged to create, implement and continuously adjust their digital workplace strategies as it’s become essential for companies to amplify their communication efforts - to better reach deskbound- and deskless employees in the workplace.

Digital workplace strategy adds to the employee experience

A digital workplace strategy is an extension of digital transformation that aims to create a meaningful impact on the employee experience and employee engagement in the workplace.

With the help of tech, companies can cultivate positive working environments for their employees, which in turn makes their people more productive, engaged, and satisfied. 

Moreso, companies experience a boost in revenue, become more competitive and consequently, increase their employee retention rates.

If you’ve been keeping up with ScreenCloud’s blog pieces, you’ll know that there is a multitude of reasons why employees are disengaged and/or unhappy in the workplace - but you’ll also know that digital signage solutions offer a myriad of remedies to these problems.

So, to the behind-the-scenes curators and engineers of the digital canvases around the workplace - we’re here to share some tips on digital workplace strategies and how ScreenCloud’s digital signage solutions and their prominent features can help boost employee engagement, productivity, and satisfaction.

Between HR and IT teams, they must clarify who is responsible for certain aspects of the digital workplace strategy.

HR teams might focus more on creating the internal comms, whereas the IT team is responsible for ensuring that the digital content is correctly implemented around the workplace – or it can be the other way around or something in between.

It might seem like a small piece to the puzzle, but it’s an important element to clarify as the effectiveness of the digital workplace strategy depends on the makers and the executioners.

Assess your current platforms and tech-stacks

Majority of companies already have screens around the workplace.  That’s a call for innovation right at the fingertips - and just by getting these screens set up to display engaging content, means that HR teams are already halfway there in reaching the company’s entire workforce.

No screens yet? ScreenCloud’s got their hardware solutions for that.

As employees are more likely to focus on customers than on another wide-spread internal comms email, creating a more effective method of communication is crucial.

It’s no secret that HR teams struggle to get their communications and messaging across – especially to employees that are spread across various locations. But ticking the box of getting the comms out there, whether it be via widespread email, or even manual paper creation – doesn’t necessarily constitute an impact and nor less the assurance of employee engagement.

ScreenCloud’s digital signage solutions enable companies to set up and connect to screens in various locations – even globally. Creating centralized and streamlined communication – reaching every employee in every corner.

Continuously looping internal comms, safety protocols or even just news channels, can make employees disengaged and not pay attention to important digital communications around the workplace.

With ScreenCloud’s multi-layout channels, IT (or even HR) teams can easily add a dash of entertainment elements that’ll instantly spark interest and engagement alongside the message that they need to get across.

When curating content, HR teams must put themselves in their employees’ shoes and think about what they would like to see displayed around the workplace. Giving it a more personal feel can instantly make employees engaged as they would be able to relate to the content being displayed.

Request feedback from employees on how they feel about the content that they see and what they’d like to see more of.

And no – it doesn’t have to be laborious. ScreenCloud’s smart playlist features allow a series of content to be published. So, create a playlist of content that addresses employees’ feedback.  Giving employees a voice even in the smallest of areas with integrated communication app channels will help them feel valued, heard and included.

Anything digital comes with some sort of a design element – and often HR teams can become induced with procrastination because they’re people’s people – not designers, right? They don’t know what they don’t know and less how to curate engaging and eye-catching content.

But, it doesn’t have to be so daunting - ScreenCloud’s built-in Canvas design tool has over a hundred ready-to-use templates that can be used and adjusted according to the company’s brand.

Get a demo and see how you can elevate your company’s digital workplace strategy with ScreenCloud’s intuitive, flexible and affordable solutions. 

Boost employee engagement by improving the employee experience with an effective digital workplace strategy. Here we share personalized ScreenCloud tips.

Companies have been outgrowing their traditional ways of working due to the emergence of digital transformation in the workplace. Creating an effective and agile digital workplace strategy is an important extension to make an impact on the employee experience and cultivate employee engagement.

Why and How IT Teams Need to Elevate Their Digital Workplace Strategy

Try ScreenCloud free for 14-days. No credit cards required. Or get a product demonstration.

Ready to start communicating through screens?

A comparison guide to 20 of the top corporate communication tools for 2019, such as Slack, Yammer, Bonusly and Kissflow. Helping you to invest in the tools you truly need.

Corporate Communication Tools Comparison Guide - ScreenCloud

How to determine what a "successful" tool looks like and whether it's needed.

Comparison of BambooHR, Charlie, Kissflow, Gusto & Namely HR tools.

Comparing Slack, Yammer, Workplace, Jostle and Basecamp for communication.

Differences between Slido, 15Five, Bonusly, Just3Things & Kudos.

5 tools that help surface data and information.

Your checklist of which tools fit, where.

Review HR and central communication tools

Understand tools that surface information

Discover what your tool map should look like

A comparison of 20 market-leading communication tools for organizations.

With so many options available, it can be difficult to know which purpose certain tools serve, and how they fit alongside side each other. This guide is designed to help you make sense of different categories of tools including: HR tools, corporate communication tools, employee engagement tools and tools that surface information. Comparing the cost, use and benefit of 20 different tools like Slack, BambooHR, Kissflow, Bonusly and more. 

How do you know which communication tools your organization really needs?

Download our free guide on digital signage best practices, learned from working on the digital signage strategies of over 10,000 customers. From hardware, to setup and content strategy.

Free Ebook: Digital Signage Best Practice Guideline - ScreenCloud

Why digital signage is important for gaining

Key considerations prior to creating your digital signage network.

How to solve key business problems using digital signage.

Considerations to create a network that will support you for years to come.

How to deliver content your audience will want to engage with.

What the information radiator is and why you might need one

A checklist of best practices for planning & deploying a digital signage network

How to scale automated content & measure return

Download best practice insights, learned from the strategies of 8,500+ customers.

Download best practices, tools, and insights you need to roll out a top-notch digital signage pilot program with ScreenCloud

Free Ebook: Successful Digital Signage Pilot - ScreenCloud

Everything you need to know about our trial process to get a taste of digital signage and its potential.

How to get access to best practice guides, and full support from our Professional Services team. 

How to choose the most accessible and cost-effective hardware options for your business.

Learn about opportunities to quickly build custom applications tailored to your specific needs.

How to evaluate the effectiveness of your digital signage pilot program and plan for the future.

Access to a free 14-day trial with no credit card required & full support and extended trial when needed

Learn about access to training, hardware recommendations and how to scope out custom-built apps

Help gathering feedback, measuring success & rolling out the next step of your digital signage journey

Download the tips, tools and steps you need to roll out a top-notch digital signage pilot program with ScreenCloud.

Ready to start creating your employee channel?

Your handbook with new world methods on engaging employees and making them love the way you work.

Guide to Employee Engagement in 2020 - ScreenCloud

You already have the data, here's how to use it to engage your employees.

How to develop public recognition to make employees feel valued.

How to raise visibility of learning materials and programs.

How to create incentives that will make employees feel great.

Everything you need to get off the ground.

Easy ways to lift data from HR systems you already use

Methods for employee reward & gamification

How to use screens to engage teams with important notices

Your handbook on new world employee engagement methods.

Employee engagement is still a big challenge for companies in 2020. Engaged employees stay put for longer and feel more empowered to perform their best work. Creating a network of communication, incentives and recognition helps employees feel more engaged. In this ebook we'll help you develop an employee engagement strategy that works.

How can you help employees fall back in love with your company?

ScreenCloud is a great tool for sending any content to any screen. And if you want to send content to multiple screens, across multiple locations that’s easy too. But what if you want to send content to a video wall setup, where more than one screen makes up a single display?

In this guide we’ll talk you through how to use ScreenCloud with video wall displays and everything you need to know.

A video wall is a digital display using either individual smaller screens to make up the display area, or one single large display screen. Video walls are often seen in high end retail environments, at events such as conferences or trade shows, and often also in stadiums or any other public venue.

When multiple screens make up the video wall display, content can be played either separately across each monitor, or as one big picture, by splitting content across individual screens.

One of the main benefits of using video walls is that they are very eye-catching and engaging. With the larger aspect ratio, longer viewing distance, brightness and action occurring on the screen, they naturally draw the eye and can be visually striking in the right place.

As such, a video wall can be a useful addition for when you either need to draw an audience, or if you want to deliver a specific message or ensure your content is seen.

It can be a fun way to encourage your audience to interact with the screen (as shown in the Lenovo use case below), or to allow more room for content displays such as streaming video, bold messages or striking images.

Due to their large display area, video walls are often used in relatively open indoor spaces. Because the viewing distance is longer, video walls can be used to draw the attention to a specific area within the space, or create a bold impression.

Some of the most common locations for video walls are:

Retail venues such as shopping malls or flagship stores

Basically, video walls can be set up anywhere you might want more impact than a small screen.

While video walls and billboards might appear the same, they often serve different purposes and use slightly different technologies.

Digital billboards are often designed specifically for promotional content, such as adverts.

However, video walls can be used for different types of customized content, from your own video or promos, to announcements or live streaming/narrowcasting a local event.

Another difference with video walls vs billboards is that video walls can be temporary structures. You can hire people to setup a video or display wall for events, or move your video wall to a different location.

Billboards tend to be fixed in a specific place, and their environment is usually chosen for the visual impact it might have with local traffic.

So, although you can use a video wall as a billboard, chances are that you won't use a billboard as a video wall.

Can you use a regular TV for a video wall?

Setting up video wall solutions doesn't have to mean specific made for purpose monitors. You can use readily available consumer grade TVs and monitors.

However with the ubiquity of large screen TVs in our homes, a single TV in your lobby won’t be that impressive anymore.

The largest single TV you can purchase is around 98”—a screen around 86” wide (218 cm) and 48” tall (122 cm). That’s plenty large enough for many office, factory, and other work digital signage use-cases, but not large enough even for menu signage at an average fast food restaurant today. Theaters have far larger screens—only they’re powered by projectors, and require near-darkness to be clearly visible.

For the largest digital signage, you need a video wall made up of multiple screens. And there are multiple ways to build one

Using LCD screens or LED panels for video walls

LCD screens, including TVs, computer monitors, and signage-focused professional displays, are the screens that are easiest to buy and install. You see them used as quick-service restaurant menu boards and airport arrival boards, and somewhat less commonly as storefront signage in retail displays.

They’re detailed enough to read from a close distance, with 4K or higher resolution per screen. And they can be powered by standard PCs, much like standard digital signage. They’re backlit by LEDs, so you may sometimes see them called “LED TVs,” but the actual picture is shown on an LCD screen.

LED panels, used for full-wall displays, digital billboards, and the Vegas Sphere among other use cases, can power the largest displays you can dream up.

Typically built from 50cm square LED panels, an LED video wall may contain dozens or hundreds of individual panels that, together, make up a single display that appears seamless from a distance. Their brightness and color come from the same individual bulbs.

They’re lower resolution, though, and the individual LED lights—instead of your content—will be visible at close distance. They also require dedicated cabling, power suppliers, and controller hardware—things a TV includes built-in.

But, they’re individually replaceable; if one panel breaks, you can swap in another easily without replacing the whole display setup.

Each option is better for different purposes. LCD screens are best for a quick rollout, and for screens that may be viewed at close distances. LED panels are best for planned rollouts and larger budgets, for the largest screens that will be viewed from further away.

Start first with your location’s needs. Think about your facilities and the location where you want to build a video wall.

Consider the size of your wall area and how close the average viewer will be to your screens. Those give you clues to which type of screens are best for your needs.

TVs and monitors, with 4k or higher resolutions, are far more readable up-close than an LED video wall. A 55” TV is clear and readable at a 7.7’ (or 2.35m) distance, according to Rtings, with the distance increasing for larger sized TVs (an 85” TV is best viewed from at least 11.9’ or 3.63 meters away).

An 8K TV might be clearly readable at closer distances; an HD TV might be clearest further away.

LED video walls need far more distance to be clearly visible. The average LED video wall panel has 2-4mm gaps between the LED bulbs (known as pixel pitch). Stand close enough and you’ll see individual lights instead of the intended picture.

The further away you stand, the better the picture will look. That works well for visual effects, like the animated Los Vegas Dome, while text will need to be proportionally larger the farther away viewers are from your screen. Use the 150:1 rule, recommended by Level 3: 1 inch tall text on an LED video wall is readable by people 150 inches away.

Perfect for promotions viewed from across a store, but too tall for a menu viewed a few feet away.

It’s all a tradeoff. Larger screens, best viewed further away, with the illusion of a seamless display. Smaller screens, best viewed up-close, with bezels visible to those who notice but that can be minimized with smart design.

LED video walls can also be used in more unique ways. TVs only come in rectangles. LED panels do too, but they’re small enough that they could be staggered, angled, and covered with framing for an illusion of a round or curved display. That’s why the most unique signage in public buildings are all powered by LEDs, as often are stage backdrop signage in concert venues and church video walls.

What to consider when choosing your video wall display

There are a few more considerations to keep in mind when deciding between LCD screens and LED panels for your video wall:

Brightness: Consumer TVs typically support only 300-500 in standard mode, while professional displays or HRD mode can support 1000 nits of brightness (as a comparison, the Apple Watch has a 1000 nit display, while the Apple Watch Ultra has a 3,000 nit display for outdoor use). TVs are also often glossy and reflective. LED panels support 3,500 nits or higher, and are often built for outside use. That makes LCDs best indoors in environments with little glare, and LEDs better for bright and outdoor environments.

Viewing angles: The best LCD TVs tend to have around 70° viewing angles—meaning you can stand as much as 35° from the center of the TV and still clearly view content. LED video panels have far wider viewing angles, up to 120-180°, meaning you can be almost 90° from the center of the panel and still see the image, perhaps at slightly lower brightness and clarity than dead-on. LCD screens work great when viewed directly—such as at a checkout counter—while LED panels are better for being viewed in a large room or outdoors from any direction.

Budget: Individual consumer-grade TVs may only cost around $1,000. Professional-grade TVs, such as the 75” Samsung QBB, might cost $2,300 or so. Individual LED panels are reasonably cheap, starting at $600 per 1.5’ square pane, but you’d need to spend $4,800 for eight panels in 2x4 arrangement to match a 75” TV size—plus controllers, power supplies, and additional mounting hardware.

A guide to using video walls with ScreenCloud so that content displays across many screens without requiring multiple licenses or digital signage systems.

How to get content to play across multiple screens in one video wall display.

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How To Set Up a Digital Signage Video Wall with ScreenCloud

3 Cool ScreenCloud Hacks