Checklist for selecting media player and CMS

It’s a vast industry; for each of the devices, pricing, functions, software/hardware spec all vary a lot. These are things I would take note of when inspecting a new product.

For those who are new to this, I’ve included some simple info and goals I look at in Things to look at when employing a digital signage solution.

I would be glad to see others’ checklist and learn too.

Windows is widely-used and powerful, but it could be expensive and hard to handle. Android, on the other hand, is competitive in pricing and is rising up over the past few years. Linux is stable and less likely to be mass attacked.

You could choose to host your system or acquire a cloud solution. Hosting your system is definitely more cost-effective and gives you more control. It is also safer as all files and data are managed through your own network and device. But IT people need to learn and get accustomed to the system.

The service of cloud system providers differs. Some just offer a platform, and some managers and even design the contents for their clients. IT won’t have to learn and maintain the system, and instead, you pay a service charge each month for the system provider.

Also note that, if all data are stored in the cloud, issues will occur when the connection fails.

Now, get to my checklist for Content Management System.

Remote management and easy update procedure save a lot of time and effort. Send the information at the right time also boost the effectiveness of the advertisement. Cayin has a nicely-written article for this.

For now, I was just exploring the basics. Some advanced functions could be:

These are things I could think of for standalone operation. Of course, if you’re working on a large-scale project, you might need those functions for your CMS as well:

That’s pretty much what I would like to share! You may integrate the media player hardware and the software on your own, or purchase simply a bundled one to avoid compatibility issues.

Thanks for reading! Good luck with your business and project.