Cast/ screenshare options for digital signage

[Mark Thiesfeldt]

Hello!

I want my Google Slides for events/ announcements to go from one computer to TVs in two different lobbies while also being able to continue using that computer for other work. Basically the slideshow would be running in the background. This works very well using Chromecast from one computer to one TV, but I can't cast to multiple TVs. I know I could do a wired connection using HDMI/ Cat 5/6 cables and a splitter, but in that case I think whatever shows on the computer screen would also be shown on the TV screen (which I don't want). Any suggestions? Are there other digital signage solutions that I should consider?

Thanks,

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Mark G. Thiesfeldt

912-677-3507

[Robert Martens]

I’d probably recommend a wired solution for the actual splitting and then something like ChromeOS Flex (https://chromeos.google/products/chromeos-flex/) to turn almost any computer into a ChromeOS device and then run the slideshow off of there. Trying to run digital signage off of a machine that is still in active use is often times just asking for trouble so this can be a situation where a dedicated machine can just run on its own and you can possibly use an old device to run the slideshow.

Sincerely,
Bob Martens, PhD

Martin Luther College
Director of Information Technology
mlc-wels.edu

Learner - Achiever - Input - Competition - Responsibility

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[Joshua Schoeneck]

Mark -

It sounds like you are at the point where going to a dedicated device to play your content would be a good idea. One of the considerations that helps me to decide how to handle multiple digital displays is the distance between them. HDMI splitters and cables can approach the cost of another display device if there is a long run between them.

One thing you might want to consider if you aren't ready to go to a standalone device is that you should be able to get an additional video output from your computer either from a built-in output or by plugging in an additional device, like a USB dongle. If you would do this with your current computer, you wouldn't need to cast and would have a wired output that you could split to your TVs.

 

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	Joshua Schoeneck Director of Student Services, Director of Technology, Technology Instructor Kettle Moraine Lutheran High School 262-677-4051 x4045 mobile: 262-225-7308 joshua.s...@kmlhs.org
My Strengths: Learner - Achiever - Intellection - Ideation - Deliberative

[Pastor Guenther]

Or maybe something like mangodisplay.com (That's "Mango Display" by the way, not "Man God is Play.") :)

https://mangodisplay.com/digital-calendar-display/?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=21288104396&gbraid=0AAAAADJ5sTj-h56lT2G1aB79yvkZ8W35d&gclid=Cj0KCQjw_L_FBhDmARIsAItqgt6LV5ILS_oTmtJVZinx-Rpnwzo7IfAJM6n6WCeFjxZQfS_n1mO3bYoaAttLEALw_wcB

...and some cheap $20 Amazon Firesticks? 

You can edit the slides from anywhere, even your phone. There is a monthly cost... and they're under development, so it can be glitchy, but I've loved having the family calendars on an old monitor and Firestick on top of the kitchen fridge keeping us all same page. What one person puts on his/her Google calendar shows up for everyone to see each morning. Same team! :) And we can leave messages for each other ("Happy Friday!" or "Good luck at your XC meet today!" or "Happy National Sasquatch Day!" ... the college kids do it remotely... so fun surprises show up at home...) Well worth the $3/mo. we pay for the basic plan. 

In Christ,

Pastor Rob Guenther

(507) 240-2433 (Call or Text)

(507) 354-6744 (Office)

St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church, New Ulm, MN

627 S Washington St., New Ulm, MN 56073-2178

www.StJohnsNewUlm.com 

On Thu, Aug 28, 2025 at 8:35 AM Robert Martens <mart...@mlc-wels.edu> wrote:

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[Paul Steinbach]

All:

I have done something like this.  For us the solution was an Android stick computer plugged into a TV mounted on the wall.  The stick used its browser to display a web page hosted on a local
computer's mini web server.  The page, in our case, was set to refresh periodically.

--Paul Steinbach

"What you do not understand, you cannot possess."  Goethe

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[Ethan Mallow]

At WLA, we have Amazon Fire Signage sticks (~$100 each) plugged into the displays and utilize Rise Vision for managing what shows up on the screens. Rise has specific pricing for schools that you can find on their website, where you pay depending on the # of devices. They offer a lot of templates, and you can customize the displays so that each shows something different, all the same, or some combination. Since they work with schools, a fair amount of those templates are specifically school-related, such as a welcome back, countdown to Summer break, etc.

They do try and push you to run the displays off of Chromeboxes/NUCs and the like, but that would mean paying >$300 just to have a digital sign that you still have to pay a license for, so I would advise ignoring their recommendations on hardware.

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[Michael Vlieger]

I’ve used Yodeck.com for the past several years at basketball tournaments and at conferences I’ve helped with. It works really well for digital signage. There’s an Android app available—I’ve run it on a Walmart Onn Box for a simple Google Slides presentation, and it worked smoothly.
For more demanding setups, I’ve used a Raspberry Pi. Yodeck provides a ready-made image in the Raspberry Pi Imager, which makes setup straightforward. With that, I was able to display four YouTube livestreams of a basketball tournament on a jumbo screen, plus an auto-updating tournament bracket and several widgets alongside it—all on the same display.
The service gives you one player/screen for free. Adding more players/devices starts at around $8 per month. If you don’t want to set up your own hardware, you can also purchase a dedicated Yodeck player that comes pre-configured and ready to go.

In His service, 

Michael Vlieger 5/6 Classroom Teacher Technology Coordinator | Risen Savior 507-388-6624 vli...@rslsmn.com risensaviorlutheranschool.com 516 West 7th St. “Educating Minds, Nourishing Souls”

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[Mark Meyer]

At Immanuel Greenville we use Spinetix digital signage box ( about $700) to a video splitter then Cat 6 hdmi over cat6 receivers at each tv. The Spinetix box has a local ewe. Page you can put anything you want on and schedule what you want to play and when. You can play a funeral video from 1- 2 and then it can automatically jump to your other pre done slides. Works great we had it four 4 years now and nothing more to spend. No subscriptions. Etc. you cane set some up already to play at Thanksgiving and then something else at Christmas right now? For those of you who like to get things done for the year or so. They have templates but what we do so everyone can create what they want is use PowerPoint to create a slide and export it as a jpg and then there’s no messing with having the right font etc. if student council wants something put up just have them make a PowerPoint slide and send it to you. You decide how long each slide stays up until it advances. It’s the perfect solution. Total cost: $700 for 1 box then the video splitter? Then wire to each tv . Cat6 to hdmi adapter at each tv about $100 per tv( might be a bit more. But not much. No messing with fire sticks.

Sent from my iPhone 16

On Aug 28, 2025, at 3:31 PM, Michael Vlieger <vli...@rslsmn.com> wrote:



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