Digital Signage Software Made Simple

What is digital signage?

Digital signage is using digital screens like TVs, monitors, digital menu boards, kiosks, and commercial displays—to communicate information through visual content. Businesses and organizations use digital signage to display advertisements, menus, promotions, announcements, schedules, wayfinding information, videos, dashboards, and other messages to customers, employees, students, visitors, and guests.

Unlike traditional printed signs, digital signage doesn't require a new sign to be printed every time information changes. Content can be created and updated digitally, then sent to one or many screens using digital signage software. This makes it possible to update a display in a single location or manage hundreds of screens across multiple locations from one place.

How does digital signage work?

You need three things to get started: A display, a CMS (like HipDeck), and a compatible player.

The display is the screen people see. This can be an existing television, a computer monitor, a commercial-grade display, or a specialized screen such as a digital menu board. You don't necessarily need specialized hardware to get started—many businesses can turn an existing TV into digital signage.

A player connects the display to the signage platform and loads the content that should appear on the screen. Depending on the system, the player might be a dedicated media player, an Android TV device, a smart TV application, or just a web browser running on compatible hardware.

The CMS (Content Management System) is where content is created, organized, scheduled, and managed. Instead of manually updating every television or display, users can make changes from a computer and remotely publish them to connected screens.

For example, many of our clients use our built in CMS to update their restaurant menu pricing without having to order new signs or redraw their menus by hand. Retail locations use it to update and schedule future promos both on-the-fly and in advance using our built in scheduling tool. Product showrooms use it to show feature highlights, newly released products, and information about their businesses. Dentists & clinics use HipDeck to share information about procedures, inform new clients about their offerings, and manage wait times.

What can digital signage display?

Digital signage can be used for much more than static images. Screens can display combinations of text, images, videos, menus, QR codes, promotions, weather information, news, schedules, branded graphics, presentations, and other dynamic content.

Content is organized into playlists, allowing multiple pieces of content to rotate throughout the day. With digital signage scheduling, different content can automatically appear at specific times, on certain days, or on selected screens.

This flexibility allows the same platform to serve very different purposes. Restaurants can create digital menu boards, retailers can promote products and special offers, schools can share announcements and upcoming events, and businesses can use digital signage for internal communications.

Why use digital signage instead of printed signs?

The screen itself doesn't have to change when the message does.

Traditional signage has to be designed, printed, shipped, installed, and eventually replaced. Digital signage allows the content displayed on an existing screen to change whenever needed.

That makes digital signage particularly useful for information that changes frequently. Prices can be updated, promotions can start and end, announcements can be replaced, seasonal content can be scheduled in advance, and important information can be published across multiple screens without someone physically visiting each display.

Digital signage also gives organizations greater control over how their brand appears across locations. Instead of individual locations creating their own signs, approved designs, logos, colors, images, and messaging can be managed through a centralized digital signage content management system.

Managing digital signage remotely

One of the defining features of modern digital signage is remote management.

With cloud-based digital signage software such as HipDeck, screens can be connected to an online account and managed from virtually anywhere. Content can be created or uploaded, organized into playlists, scheduled, and published to selected displays without needing direct access to the television.

For organizations operating multiple screens or locations, this creates a centralized system for managing what appears across their entire digital signage network.

A local business may only need one or two displays. A larger organization might have screens spread across offices, stores, schools, restaurants, or other facilities. The underlying idea is the same: create the content once, decide where and when it should appear, and publish it to the appropriate screens. HipDeck further allows splitting access to content management. This means you can have standard company-wide content mixed in with more localized content for locations who need more flexibility.

Digital signage with HipDeck

HipDeck brings these pieces together into a digital signage platform designed to make creating and managing professional displays simple.

You can create content using a visual editor, organize it into playlists, connect compatible displays, schedule when content should appear, and remotely publish updates to your screens. Multiple displays and locations can be managed from the same platform, allowing your signage to grow alongside your organization.

Whether you're setting up your first screen or managing digital signage across multiple locations, HipDeck provides the tools to keep the information people see current, useful, and consistent.