How to Play a Slideshow on a TV (and Keep It Running)

"Play a slideshow on the TV" is the first thing most businesses try before they've heard the phrase digital signage. It works, up to a point. Here are the three ways to do it, what each one breaks on, and when to move up a level.

1. A USB stick in the TV

Put your images on a USB stick, plug it into the TV, open the TV's media player and choose slideshow. Free, and fine for a one-off event.

• Breaks on: power cuts (the slideshow doesn't restart on its own on many TVs), updates (someone walks over with a new stick), and anything time-based (no breakfast-to-lunch switch).
• Use it for: a single day, a trade-show stand, a party.

2. Cast from a phone or laptop

Chromecast, AirPlay or a laptop on HDMI, with Google Slides or PowerPoint set to loop. Quick to set up and easy to change, because the slides live on your device.

• Breaks on: the device leaving the building, the screen saver kicking in, a notification popping up on the big screen, and the laptop rebooting overnight. The Google Slides and PowerPoint on a TV guide has the loop settings if you want this route anyway.
• Use it for: a meeting, a pitch, a few hours when you're in the room.

3. A player that runs the slideshow for you

A small device behind the TV (an Android TV box, a Raspberry Pi, or a spare computer) runs a player app that downloads your slides and loops them. You change the slides from your phone in a browser; the player updates within seconds. It restarts itself after a power cut, keeps playing if the internet drops, and switches content by time of day on a schedule you set once. This is what digital signage software is; CastWize is one, and the player is free.

• Breaks on: not much. The dashboard tells you if a screen goes offline.
• Use it for: a menu board, a window display, a waiting room, a lobby: anything that should be on every day.

Setting up option 3 in an afternoon

1. Install the CastWize player on the device behind the TV and enter its pairing code in Studio. Hardware list: Set Up a Screen for Under $200.
2. Upload your images (1920×1080 works best) or start from the free templates.
3. Add them to a playlist and set how long each shows.
4. Assign the playlist to the screen, preview, publish. Add a schedule rule if different slides should show at different times.

The first screen is free for 30 days with no credit card, and $5 per screen per month after that. What a screen does in different businesses: solutions by industry.

Frequently asked questions