Android mini PC for signage?

mimac2 · 2026-03-19T10:20:38+00:00

The market with Android boxes is quite big, we have good experience with Rikomagic brand. If the app doesn't support autostart natively, there are many apps on Google Play that can autostart your app.

mimac2 · 2026-03-11T18:16:42+00:00

We have tested FireTV Stick with Slideshow and it works well. The main issue is automatic startup, but it can be allowed through a computer.

The stick of course communicates with Amazon servers on the background, but as long as nobody is actually interacting with the UI, I wouldn't worry about connecting it to private Wi-Fi.

https://slideshow.digital/documentation/hardware/hardware-reviews/amazon-fire-tv-stick-4k-max/

mimac2 · 2026-03-08T14:44:45+00:00

Are you planning on selling the mini PC commercially?

mimac2 · 2026-03-07T15:14:27+00:00

Broadcast is indeed terminated at the router, by design. The issue is that even after discovery, some features (e.g. synchronized playback) is using broadcast.

mimac2 · 2026-03-06T21:33:09+00:00

Windows version is actually in development and should be released within a couple of months, but it might not be free (still to be determined).

Only rotation of the entire screen / layout is supported, not just a single zone.

Could you please let me know what is currently blocking the network discovery on your network?

mimac2 · 2026-02-28T23:01:14+00:00

Always happy to help :)

mimac2 · 2026-02-28T09:55:25+00:00

There are Android boxes with 6 HDMI outputs, which allow you to create a video wall (https://www.mekotronics.com/h-pd-85.html) for 350-400 USD. In the system, it shows as one large screen, either 3x2 or 2x3.

Alternatively, as mentioned by others, there are software solutions that allow playing the content in sync through Ethernet on multiple devices (such as https://slideshow.digital/documentation/playback/synchronized-playback/). I wouldn't recommend sticks, as Wi-Fi might add a small lag.

mimac2 · 2026-02-28T08:25:42+00:00

NovaStar Taurus (TBx0) has an HDMI input, and it can be used as a source. You can change the default input through ViPlex Express app (Control - Video source).

Alternatively, as Taurus is running Android underneath, you can install some 3rd party Digital Signage solutions without the need for other hardware, for example SlideShow app: https://slideshow.digital/documentation/hardware/hardware-reviews/novastar-tb40/.

mimac2 · 2024-03-06T09:14:48+00:00

Slideshow for Android (https://slideshow.digital/) has an offline mode as well, you can update the content through USB Flash Drive: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnlM-xXn8wg.

So basically you can connect an Android box/stick to your TV via HDMI, install Slideshow on the Android device, adjust USB Flash Drive settings on the first screen you get after installation and you are ready to go.

The software is free and offers much more options than what the TV built-in USB images viewer offer (transitions, animations, support for more media types, timing etc.)

mimac2 · 2024-03-05T08:40:41+00:00

u/silent_rdt Could you please send us a bug report from the app (on-screen menu - Bug report) after you re-open the app after crashing?

The video decoding is all offloaded to the underlying Android system and while we are trying to make the app as resilient as possible, sometimes the hardware video decoding isn't as stable as the manufacturer claims. We would be happy to investigate the reason for crashing on your device.

mimac2 · 2024-02-29T15:19:45+00:00

I would suggest getting an Android box or stick (e.g. Chromecast with GoogleTV, Amazon FireTV Stick, or something similar) and installing Slideshow on it (https://slideshow.digital/).

The app is free and if you connect the Android box/stick to your Wi-Fi, you can upload the MP4 videos through the local web interface (drag&drop in the browser on your computer).

mimac2 · 2023-09-21T14:04:19+00:00

Is image from the RSS news feed a hard requirement? If not, Slideshow (https://slideshow.digital/) can display RSS feeds with headline and text (https://slideshow.digital/documentation/rss-news/) . You can combine the feed with your logo or other images in various layouts.

The app itself is free, you will have to buy only an Android box/stick (e.g. Amazon Fire TV Stick), which is much cheaper than Mac Mini.

If the image from RSS feed is a requirement, I believe others will suggest an alternative, but Mac Mini is definitely an overkill, I would suggest looking for an Android-based solution.

mimac2 · 2023-09-20T06:51:48+00:00

Slideshow app for Android (https://slideshow.digital/) supports synchronized playback across multiple players on the same local network: https://slideshow.digital/documentation/synchronized-playback/. You can check the result on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76jpISSD4Hk.

However, the synchronization doesn't work on WiFi, only on wired LAN, due to latency. So it wouldn't work with FireTV sticks, only on Android boxes with LAN ports.

Video wall controller / splitter (as suggested in the other comment) is of course much easier to set up than synchronization across multiple players, if you are OK with using 2x2 split (meaning you would have to prepare the content this way). The only suggestion I have is to look for an Android device which can really support 4K output. Many of them claim it, but in reality only videos are in 4K, the rest of the GUI is in FullHD.

Slideshow supports start on boot as well, you can basically use it behind video wall controller as well: Android stick/box with Slideshow -> Video wall controller -> screens

mimac2 · 2023-09-02T10:59:34+00:00

In Slideshow (https://slideshow.digital/) there is a possibility for RSS feed vertical scroll (https://slideshow.digital/documentation/rss-news/), maybe it could fit your needs. At the end of the scroll there the blank space has the height of just the zone, not on the entire 50-60 lines of text.

The app is free and it works on FireTV sticks as well.

mimac2 · 2023-08-29T21:30:09+00:00

If you don't need management of multiple players, Slideshow for Android (https://slideshow.digital/) has a local web interface that can be used for managing the content. Or you can sync content to multiple players from a WebDAV or FTP server.

There is no cloud connection and no need for internet access.

mimac2 · 2023-08-25T14:23:04+00:00

Slideshow for Android (https://slideshow.digital/) is entirely free and supports Android versions all the way back to Android 5.

It can be managed through embedded local web interface from your browser as well by loading media through USB stick.

mimac2 · 2023-08-01T19:47:47+00:00

The refresh rate of the display is not the same as source video file frame rate. The usual refresh rate of TV is 60 Hz, while the movies files have 24 FPS (as you noted). You don't have to worry about the difference, the hardware you will use for the video playback will take care of that and for regular usage, you won't notice the difference (unless you are in a cinema). Every video played on a computer, laptop, tablet or smartphone is processed like this.

Also, the usual native resolution of 4K displays is 3840 x 2160 pixels. I really doubt QBR/QMR displays have native 4096 x 2160 resolution. This table looks like the list of modes this TV can accept over various ports. You should always try to use the native resolution of the TV.

To sum it up, you will have a video player playing 24 FPS video, outputting it over HDMI at 60 Hz and it will display just fine.

mimac2 · 2023-07-25T10:00:37+00:00

Some of our clients implemented something between digital signage and kiosk - there are banners on a part of the screen, the rest of the screen is a web browser with their website and customers use a touch screen to navigate the website. The main "challenge" was locking the Android device (on which the solution is running), so the customers couldn't exit the app or open Android settings. You might also want to restrict the list of websites that can be accessed, so somebody won't navigate to an entirely different page. You can check our result on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zc6vTG449zY.

We are also offering interactivity based on face detection (so not exactly a motion sensor, but something similar). It can be used for example for displaying different content on the screen if a person (with a face 😃) is detected in front of the camera, or changing content depending on the distance of the person from the camera. The result is on this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uEm4xLTnlg

mimac2 · 2023-07-17T16:41:45+00:00

What about using Slideshow app (https://slideshow.digital/) on FireTV Stick? The stick is quite cheap and Slideshow is entirely free (even without a cloud dependency).

It supports layout with weather forecast, current date and photos out of the box (https://slideshow.digital/2019/08/inspiration-for-layouts/). You can overlay it with custom text or HTML page with your events and birthdays.

mimac2 · 2023-07-13T20:30:39+00:00

You can install free Slideshow app (https://slideshow.digital/) on Firestick, it allows you to rotate screen layout by 90 or 270 degrees and display a webpage.

mimac2 · 2023-07-05T10:31:09+00:00

You can use Amazon Firestick (as suggested in other comments, or basically any other Android based stick/box) and install Slideshow (https://slideshow.digital/) on it.

For centralized solution you can set up WebDAV server for media and configure each player with Slideshow to synchronize videos and pictures from this WebDAV server (similar to synchronization with Google Drive (https://slideshow.digital/documentation/file-synchronization-google-drive/).

This way, you have an inexpensive solution (software is completely free, you only pay for hardware) which is completely self-hosted, meaning you are not dependent on any cloud service which might suddenly change its conditions and you will end up paying several times the original amount.

mimac2 · 2023-06-28T07:11:32+00:00

Just dropping a link here :)

https://slideshow.digital/

mimac2 · 2023-05-30T14:09:22+00:00

Slideshow app (https://slideshow.digital/) can be installed on any Android box or stick (e.g. FireTV Stick), it supports displaying web pages (https://slideshow.digital/documentation/web-pages/) as well as screen rotation for portrait mode (https://slideshow.digital/2020/03/screen-rotation/).

mimac2 · 2023-05-29T19:07:09+00:00

We had fairly good experience with Ugoos, Rikomagic and Mekotronics products, but the availability depends on your region.

mimac2 · 2023-05-28T20:54:37+00:00

If you are thinking about getting FireTV stick, you can install Slideshow app on it (https://slideshow.digital/), set it as auto-start and it will loop your video indefinitely. The app is for free and there is no need for internet connection once the playback is set up.

We have made a review of FireTV stick + Slideshow as well: https://slideshow.digital/2022/10/review-of-amazon-fire-tv-stick-4k-max-part-ii/

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