Digital signage is everywhere you go. Go to McDonald's and you see the menus have been replaced with TV screens. You go to a convention center you might see TV screens that show upcoming events as well as stationery slides advertising local hotel accommodations and maybe videos of nearby attractions. Wouldn't it be handy to have one of those at your organization, reminding people to follow you on social media and to show upcoming events and schedules? I recently successfully set up one of these digital signs at the store I worked at using VERY CHEAP hardware. Useing a Raspberry Pi zero ($10) I put screely https://www.screenly.io/ose/ on a sd card and put it in my Pi Zero and booted it up after configering my WiFi settings I was able to use my computer to send files to the Pi Zero and set up the presentation how I wanted. This interface is very handey because you don't need to physically access the Raspberry Pi to modify what's playing.

Yep, easier than you might think. For sure. Clear as mud!

What he's saying is that there are very inexpensive ways of driving large digital displays, the sort of thing that would require a fairly complex computer system or proprietary device.

He is using a small device called a Raspberry Pi (like an Arduino) which he then specially programs with a downloaded copy of Screenly OSE into which you then load the image(s) you want to display on the sign. No tape, no hard drives, no complicated network attachment ... but, as he notes, you need WiFi available to load the images.

Older museum people will find the whole discussion of how to do this almost incredibly convoluted with new tech. If you are computer-hostile you will like it even less. Best bet is to find someone connected with the organization who is tech-savvy and is willing to take the time to learn some of the tools and conventions and then set up and configure the signs for you.

In my opinion, "normal" people will prefer to load the Screenly OSE onto the Raspberry Pi using NOOBS:

https://www.raspberrypi.org/downloads/noobs/

which is a bit more straightforward, and documented, than 'rolling your own' from the Screenly pages. Note that some of the ways you will load images will seem a bit strange to people familiar only with desktop-publishing programs on PCs and the like.

I would add that this kind of installation does lend itself to interactive content, with additional devices and hardware hacking, and some of you may want to propose either options or solutions for effective use of such capability in your organizations.

A number of transit agencies in the San Francisco Bay Area are using various sizes of video displays for outdoor signage (especially transit departure times) with Windows PC's on USB thumb drive driving a browser for web pages.

It's quick and efficient and can be changed as needed remotely.

Adapting the same thinking for museum displays of information seems a good practice.

As with traditional signs and banners, digital signs can look very nice and professional, or they can look cheap and tacky. Many railroad museums could benefit from having a designer look over the appearance of signs, displays, etc.

As usual I suggest you look to Disney for ideas on how you can frame a digital screen and make it look like it’s from the proper era, and also how you can customize the background and appearance of the display to make it look like it “belongs.”

Some maintenance is still required, but digital screens are affordable and small ones can be cheap. Easy updates and inexpensive replacement avoid the worn-out half-readable look some traditional museum signage gets. There’s still a place for traditional signs, but where possible, why not run with the easier option?