Guides for running screens in a venue
Practical advice on digital signage for pubs, cafes, gyms, shops, hotels and offices: what to buy, what to put on the screens and how to keep them running.
Getting started
What signage is, what it costs, and the screens, players and connections you'll need before the first layout goes up.
-
Budgeting for digital signage: every cost to plan for
Every cost behind digital signage in a venue: screens, players, brackets and installation, power and network points, the software, content and running costs.
Getting started · 7 min read
-
Digital signage or a USB stick in the TV: what's the difference
A USB stick plays one loop until someone swaps it. Signage lets you change screens from a browser, schedule them by time of day and check they're working.
Getting started · 6 min read
-
What is digital signage? A plain guide for venue owners
What digital signage is and how it works in a pub, cafe, gym or shop: the screen, the player behind it and the website you use to change what it shows.
Getting started · 6 min read
-
Where to put screens in a venue so people look at them
Where to hang screens in a pub, cafe, gym or shop so people read them: the spots where they wait, the right height, avoiding glare, and power at each spot.
Getting started · 6 min read
-
Your first week with digital signage: a setup checklist
A day-by-day checklist for your first week with digital signage, from logging in and connecting screens to default layouts, schedules and checking it all works.
Getting started · 6 min read
Hospitality
Menus, fixtures, events and offers for pubs, cafes and restaurants, and keeping them right through a busy day.
-
Allergen information and digital menus: getting it right
What UK allergen rules mean for a digital menu board, how to show allergy information clearly on screen, and why the screen shouldn't be the only source.
Hospitality · 6 min read
-
Dayparting: switching breakfast, lunch and evening menus automatically
Set your breakfast, lunch and evening menus up once and let the screens change over on time every day, with different hours at weekends and nothing to remember.
Hospitality · 5 min read
-
Digital menu boards: a practical guide for cafes and restaurants
How a digital menu board works in a cafe or restaurant, what to put on it, and how to change a price or take a dish off without touching the design.
Hospitality · 6 min read
-
Marking dishes as sold out on screen without redesigning anything
How to take a sold-out dish off your digital menu board in a few taps, who should do it, and how to design the board so a missing dish doesn't leave a gap.
Hospitality · 5 min read
-
Outdoor and beer garden screens: what to know before you buy
What to check before putting a screen in a beer garden or outside a venue: weather, brightness, power, connection, security, sound and planning rules.
Hospitality · 5 min read
-
Promoting live sport and fixtures on pub screens
Keep a fixtures board current in a minute a week, put match days on every screen at kick-off, and hand the screens back to food and drink at full time.
Hospitality · 5 min read
-
Promoting quiz nights, live music and events on screen
How to promote quiz nights, gigs and other events on your venue's screens: a what's-on list, a slide for each big night, and when to show them.
Hospitality · 5 min read
-
Running happy hours and time-limited offers on screen
How to schedule happy hours and limited offers so they start and stop on time on every screen, plus the licensing rules on drinks promotions to check first.
Hospitality · 6 min read
-
Using a window screen to bring people into a cafe
What to show on a cafe window screen so passers-by come in, how to match it to the time of day, and what to check about brightness, sun and placement.
Hospitality · 5 min read
-
What pubs put on their screens (and what works)
What pubs show on their screens, from fixtures and food to quiz nights and guest ales, which screen suits which job, and the content customers ignore.
Hospitality · 5 min read
Retail
Window screens, weekly offers and the screens by the till.
-
Scheduling weekly offers in a shop so they change on time
How to schedule a shop's weekly offers so they start and stop on time without anyone at the screen: start and end dates, templates, priority and checking it.
Retail · 6 min read
-
Screens at the till: what to show while people queue
What to put on a screen by the till while people queue, from counter add-ons to QR codes, plus where to mount it and how long the loop should run.
Retail · 6 min read
-
Shop window display screens that make people stop
How to get passers-by to stop at your shop window screen: choosing a screen that copes with daylight, what to show on it and when to change it.
Retail · 6 min read
Gyms and leisure
Class timetables, reception screens and what members want to see.
-
Showing gym class timetables on screen
How to put your gym's class timetable on a screen and keep it right all day, with a simple table the front desk can update and classes marked full as they fill.
Gyms and leisure · 6 min read
-
What to show on gym reception screens
Ideas for gym reception screens that members will read: today's classes, closures, offers, coach profiles and house rules, and when to show each.
Gyms and leisure · 5 min read
Hotels and offices
Lobby welcomes, event signs and internal communications.
-
Digital event and meeting room signs for hotels
How hotels use screens by event and meeting rooms: what each sign should say, pulling bookings from a calendar, client logos and changing over between events.
Hotels and offices · 5 min read
-
Hotel lobby screens: welcome messages, events and directions
What to put on a hotel lobby screen: group welcomes, today's events and rooms, restaurant and bar times, directions, and scheduling it through the day.
Hotels and offices · 5 min read
-
Office screens for internal communications
Using office screens to share news, safety notices, figures and events with staff: what to show, where screens go, who updates them and keeping them fresh.
Hotels and offices · 6 min read
Content and design
Making screens people can read from across the room, and building content that's quick to change.
-
Designing for screens: text size, contrast and viewing distance
How big to make text on a venue screen, which colour pairs stay readable across a room, and how to check a design from where customers stand.
Content and design · 6 min read
-
How long should each slide stay on screen?
How many seconds to give each slide on a venue screen, how long the whole loop should run, and where to set the timings in Casty playlists and layouts.
Content and design · 5 min read
-
Image and video sizes for HD and 4K screens
The pixel sizes to use for images and video on HD and 4K screens, wide or portrait, plus the file types to choose and how to stop pictures looking soft.
Content and design · 5 min read
-
Keeping your brand consistent across sites with shared playlists
How to keep screens on brand across several sites with shared playlists, templates, your own fonts and locked spots, while each venue adds local content.
Content and design · 5 min read
-
Layouts, playlists and campaigns: how screen content fits together
What layouts, playlists and campaigns are in Casty, how they fit together with the media library and the schedule, and when to use each one.
Content and design · 5 min read
-
Making screen content accessible to more people
How to make venue screens easier for more people to read: bigger text, strong contrast, enough time per slide, captions on video and sensible screen heights.
Content and design · 5 min read
-
Showing live data on screens with datasets
How Casty datasets keep fixtures, class times, events and price lists up to date on screen, typed in, imported from a CSV file or fetched from a web address.
Content and design · 5 min read
-
Starting from templates: good screens without a designer
How to get good-looking venue screens from templates: choosing a starting point, adding your own photos, fonts and colours, and saving your own templates.
Content and design · 5 min read
-
Tickers, news and RSS feeds on screens
How to add a scrolling ticker or news headlines to venue screens with RSS feeds, run it over other content as an overlay and keep it easy to read.
Content and design · 4 min read
-
Video or still images: what works on venue screens
When to use video and when still images work better on venue screens, how to mix the two, and the formats, sound and file sizes to watch.
Content and design · 5 min read
-
Writing words for screens: say less, say it bigger
How to write words for venue screens that people read at a glance: one message per slide, the important fact first, and plain wording cut right down.
Content and design · 5 min read
Screens and hardware
Displays, players, video walls and touch screens.
-
Choosing a signage media player: sticks, boxes or built in
Which player to use for each screen: Amazon Signage Stick, Android players, a display with the player built in, Windows or ChromeOS, and what each is good for.
Screens and hardware · 6 min read
-
Consumer TV or commercial display: which screen to buy for a venue
When a normal TV is fine for signage in a venue and when a commercial display is worth paying for: running hours, brightness, portrait mounting and control.
Screens and hardware · 6 min read
-
Portrait or landscape: choosing the orientation for each screen
When to hang a signage screen in portrait and when to keep it wide, what changes on the hardware and in your layouts, and how to run both kinds in one venue.
Screens and hardware · 5 min read
-
Wi-Fi or wired: getting your screens a reliable connection
Whether to connect signage screens by Wi-Fi or a network cable, how much connection a screen needs, and how to avoid the usual network problems in a venue.
Screens and hardware · 6 min read
Running your screens
Scheduling, monitoring, reports, permissions and keeping it all secure.
-
Giving staff access to the screens without giving them everything
How to give managers and staff their own Casty logins with access to one venue, the schedule or a single playlist, and nothing they shouldn't touch.
Running your screens · 6 min read
-
How to tell whether your screens are paying their way
Simple ways to judge whether venue screens earn their keep: one job per screen, till comparisons, screen-only offers and proof of play to check what ran.
Running your screens · 5 min read
-
Keeping your signage secure: logins, two-factor and players
How to keep venue screens safe: a long password, two-factor authentication with an app, a login for each person, and players kept out of reach.
Running your screens · 6 min read
-
Managing screens remotely: status, screenshots and commands
Check every venue screen from a browser: which ones are online, what each is showing, a fresh screenshot, and commands to make one check in or restart.
Running your screens · 7 min read
-
Proof of play: knowing what played on your screens and when
How proof of play works in Casty: switching it on for a layout or media item, running the report, and showing a supplier that their promotion ran.
Running your screens · 6 min read
-
Running screens across several venues from one account
How to run screens in several venues from one Casty account: naming, folders, display groups, scheduling to every site at once and checking every screen.
Running your screens · 5 min read
-
Saving energy with screen operating hours
Switch venue screens off when nobody's there to see them, with operating hours, power commands on commercial displays, TV timers and lower brightness.
Running your screens · 6 min read
-
Scheduling screen content: repeats, priority and overlays
How scheduling works on venue screens, from events, dayparts and repeats to priority, interrupts and overlays for when two things want one screen.
Running your screens · 7 min read
-
Touch screens and interactive kiosks in venues
What a touch screen or kiosk can do in a hotel, gym, shop or pub, the hardware it needs, and how to design touch layouts people can use without help.
Running your screens · 5 min read
-
Video walls and synced screens for smaller venues
How synced screens and video walls work, what hardware they need, and when a small pub, gym or shop is better off with mirrored screens or one big one.
Running your screens · 5 min read
-
What happens to your screens when the internet drops
Casty screens keep playing when the internet goes down. What carries on, what stops, how long a screen can manage offline and how to plan content around it.
Running your screens · 5 min read
-
Why is my screen offline? A troubleshooting checklist
What to check, in order, when a Casty screen shows as offline: the power, the TV input, the internet and recent changes, and when to email us.
Running your screens · 6 min read
Try Casty free for 14 days
Pick a plan, connect a screen and put your first layout on it. Nothing is charged until the trial ends, and you can cancel before then.