5 Reasons why Raspberry Pi makes an ideal digital signage player
Raspberry Pi makes an excellent platform for a digital signage player given its footprint, cost, reliability, availability and performance.
1. Cost effective hardware
Various studies point that digital screens result in increased consumer engagement compared to conventional display boards. Hence digital signages are becoming a smart investment even for small shops and retailers. Raspberry Pi kits typically cost under $70 and make a compelling proposition to switch to digital networked screens.
2. Credit card sized super performer
Raspberry Pi is a credit-card sized mini-computer which is very reliable and completely solid state (no moving parts like hard-disk) and can run without fan. Our piSignage Digital Signage players have been running for months without rebooting and practically not seen any board failures(the only failures we have seen are the occasional SD card corruption and power supply failures).
3. Available off-the-shelf across the world
Our customers across the world purchase Raspberry Pi kits locally, download our software from the Internet and assemble the player. This enables them to purchase what they need in a cost-effective manner. piSignage provides both player-only option with local server and managed-player option at pisignage.com. This way customers are able to mix-and-match hardware and software components to build what they need.You can find more details on piSignage pricing details here.
4. Negligible ongoing cost
Raspberry Pi devices come in standard configurations and all models are available even today. All the models have pretty much same dimensions and interfaces. This avoids need for changing hardware periodically. Also the hardware can be "forgotten" after putting it behind the TV since there are no periodic maintenance needs. At piSignage we strive hard to make sure software updates are seamless and software works in most of the models.
5. Full HD and ability to play HTML5 content
Raspberry Pi can play Full HD videos in hardware accelerated mode. With the availability of chromium browser it is able to play majority of HTML5 content including PDF. piSignage supports live video streaming based on livestreamer, RTSP, RTMP and many more streaming formats. Thus you can create displays comparable in quality to some of the more expensive players available in market at fraction of the cost.
To conclude, if you are looking for a digital signage player which is efficient, robust yet at the same time cost effective, Raspberry Pi should be on the top of your list.
*piSignage is a cloud based complete Digital Signage solution powered by Raspberry Pi. Read more to know How piSignage is an Ideal digital signage solution for all your needs. We also provide Open Source version of our server software for local implementation.