What is digital signage software?
Digital signage software turns any screen into a display you control from a web portal: upload images and videos, arrange them into a playlist, pair the screen, and it plays. The screen might be a television in a reception area, a menu board above a counter, a notice board in a factory canteen, a window display in a shop or a monitor at a trade-show stand. The software decides what shows, in what order, for how long, and keeps playing when the internet drops.
AtashiTech's digital signage software, NextCms, is a cloud portal with a free plan and a player that runs as an Android TV and kiosk app, and as a web page in any browser. The Android player is on Google Play now as Full Screen App - Display Hub: install it on an Android TV, TV box, kiosk or tablet, pair it with the portal using the code it shows, and your playlist plays. The same app can still show any web page of your own full screen. The web portal and the web player are ready too: create a free account at cms.atashitech.com and start straight away, no card needed.
Need it made to your needs? We also build custom versions of NextCms for your organisation, with players for iPad, Android (TV, TV box, tablet and kiosk), the web and a Windows desktop application (.exe), your own branding, and content fed from your own systems. See custom versions below.
The screen that still shows last month's offer
How most small screens are run
A television on the wall plays a slideshow from a USB stick that somebody made in a presentation program. Changing it means finding the laptop with the file, re-exporting, walking to the screen, pulling the stick out and hoping the TV remembers the setting. So it is not changed. The lunch offer from last month is still up, the safety notice is from before the layout changed, and the screen in the second branch shows something different again. Signage products that solve this are usually priced for chains with hundreds of screens, and a café with one television cannot justify them.
How it works with NextCms
You upload the pictures and videos once from a browser, put them in a playlist and set how long each one shows. The television runs the player app, shows a six-character code, you type the code into the portal, and the playlist appears on the screen within seconds. Change the playlist from your phone on the train and every paired screen updates on its own. If the connection drops, the screen keeps playing what it already has. The free plan covers the café with one television; paid plans add videos, more images and more screens for the chain.
Four steps from sign-up to a playing screen
Create your free account
Sign up at cms.atashitech.com with your name, business and email, and you are in the portal straight away on the free plan: a set number of images, one screen, no card.
Upload and build a playlist
Upload images, and on a paid plan videos. Thumbnails are generated for you. Drag them into a playlist and set the seconds each image stays on screen; videos play to the end.
Pair the screen
Open the player page in any browser, or install the player app from Google Play on an Android TV, TV box, kiosk or tablet. It shows a six-character code and a QR code. Type the code into the portal, give the screen a name, choose landscape or portrait.
Play and update
Assign the playlist and the screen starts playing. Every change you make in the portal reaches the screen within a minute. The portal shows which screens are online and when each was last seen.
What the portal and player do
The free plan and the paid plans share one product. The plan only changes how many images, videos and screens you can use.
Images and videos
PNG, JPG, WebP and GIF images; MP4 and other common video formats on paid plans, converted to a size that plays smoothly on inexpensive TV boxes.
Playlists
Ordered lists with per-item duration. Several playlists per account, each assigned to one or more screens.
Code pairing
The screen shows a six-character code and a QR code; you claim it in the portal. No typing a password on a television remote.
Keeps playing offline
The player stores the last playlist and the media it has already fetched, so a dropped connection does not blank the screen.
Screen status
Online or offline, last seen, current playlist version, resolution and app version for every screen, in one list.
Landscape or portrait
Set per screen. Portrait menu boards and window displays are handled without rotating the content yourself.
Starts on boot
The Android player launches when the TV or box powers on and returns to full screen on its own, so nobody has to touch the remote in the morning.
Web player
The same playlist plays in a browser on any device with a screen: a smart TV's own browser, a PC behind a monitor, a tablet on a stand.
Custom web page mode
The player can also show any web page of your own full screen instead of a playlist. Screens that already used the app this way keep their page after updating, and you can switch between the two in Settings.
Free and paid plans
Start free with a small number of images and one screen. Upgrade in the portal when you need videos, more images or more screens; nothing is deleted if you downgrade.
Self-service
Sign up, upload, pair and request upgrades from the portal without speaking to anyone. Support email is there when you want it.
Your data, your account
Media belongs to your account and is visible to nobody else. Delete it and it is gone from the screens and the server.
Players for every kind of screen
One portal, one playlist, several ways to play it. The portal, the web player and the Android app on Google Play are available now on the free and paid plans. iPad and Windows players are built for you as part of a custom version.
The free plan and the paid plans are open. Create a free account at cms.atashitech.com and start straight away; upgrades are requested from the portal's Plan page.
Screens that should change more often than they do
Cafés and restaurants
Menu boards and today's specials, changed from a phone before the lunch rush.
Shops and showrooms
Window displays and in-store promotions that match the current stock, in portrait or landscape.
Reception areas
Welcome screens, visiting-company logos and company news, the same across every branch.
Factories and warehouses
Safety notices, shift information and KPI slides on the canteen and shop-floor screens, kept current by the people who own the content.
Schools and clinics
Timetables, waiting-room information and announcements on screens that staff can update without IT.
Events and exhibitions
A stand's screens paired on the morning of the show and controlled from a laptop in the hall.
What to do today
If you have a screen that needs to show one web page full screen right now, a dashboard, a menu you host elsewhere, a booking display, install Full Screen App - Display Hub from Google Play on an Android TV, TV box or tablet, type the address once in Settings and it stays on screen, starts on boot and returns to full screen if someone presses Home. When you want playlists instead, the same app pairs with your account; there is nothing new to install.
If you want the playlist, pairing and free plan described above, create a free account at cms.atashitech.com and pair a screen through the Android app or the web player straight away. Companies with several sites, iPads or Windows PCs to run, a signage network already in place or a content source such as an ERP or a queue system should use Contact sales below: those are the custom versions we build to your needs.
We make it to your needs: iPad, Android, web and Windows
The free portal covers the common journey. When your screens, content or systems are different, we build a custom version of NextCms for your organisation, on the platforms you choose.
Android
Android TV, TV boxes, commercial displays, tablets and kiosks: full screen, starts on boot, locked to the app, with touch screens for menus and catalogues where you want them.
iPad
An iPad player for showrooms, receptions and stands, running in a locked kiosk mode so visitors stay in the app, and distributed under your account if you prefer.
Web
A web player and a branded web portal on your own address, for smart-TV browsers, meeting rooms and any screen where nothing can be installed.
Windows (.exe)
A Windows desktop application for the signage PCs you already own: full screen on one or more monitors, launches with Windows, keeps playing offline.
Beyond the platforms, a custom version can add what a playlist alone does not: screens fed from a database or an ERP, layouts with live zones such as a queue-token board or a production counter, scheduling by time of day and day of week, content approval before it goes live, roles per branch, and white-labelled portals and apps for your own customers. It is scoped to your requirement and delivered by the team behind our custom TV and signage apps service and our kiosk management platform. Tell us what is different about your screens and we will come back with a scope, not a sales pitch.
Start free today
Create your account in the web portal, install the app on a screen, and your first playlist can be playing in minutes. No card, no commitment. Need iPad, Windows or your own branding? Talk to us about a custom version.