Digital signage systems used to be rare and expensive, there are now a plethora of options available far more than we can list in this article. Here are examples discussed on church technical forums as options some churches are using and pleased with.
For more on digital signage systems read Digital Signage Solved
Dakboard:
While not a digital signage application per se, Dakboard turns a display into a digital picture frame that can overlay photos with things like RSS feeds.
You could create a JPEG slide deck that contains the information you want to display, such as event room assignments or announcements, or set up an RSS news feed that Dakboard would overlay on top of pictures you provide.
This could be useful for a small church that doesn't need the scheduling capability of a full digital signage system.
URL: dakboard.com
Yodeck:
Yodeck is a digital signage system designed around the Raspberry Pi.
No, this isn't a desert or a misspelling. Raspberry Pi is a tiny computer that can cost as little as $30-40; a full Raspberry Pi kit with a case and power supply can be had for under $70.
The basic system for a single monitor is free; if you want multiple monitors you need to sign up for one of their paid plans. If you choose to pay annually instead of monthly, they will provide free media player hardware for each of your monitors.
Yodeck supports images, videos, text, and a variety of widgets that lets you display things like the weather forecast, web pages, and more.
It also supports creating a schedule for what presentations should be show on what monitors at what times. Management of your presentations and schedule is performed through their website.
URL: www.yodeck.com
BurningThumb Studios:
BurningThumb has an Android app for tablet computers that lets you create a basic digital signage packs on your tablet computers and manage their schedule through an Android calendar, google calendar or XML file.
It can play videos, show pictures, display websites, either in full-screen mode or in a four-zone screen.
It can also be used as an interactive kiosk.
URL: burningthumb.com
Xibo:
Xibo is a digital signage system available free of charge. This is an open source software package that is developed by the community of users. Support, if needed, is available through online forums, or if a greater level of support is needed, some third-party consulting companies offer Xibo support.
Management is done through a website-based content management system (CMS) that you download from the Xibo website and set up on a web server.
Displays are run through their Android- or Windows-based players that are also downloaded from their website.
As with other digital signage systems, you can create zones which display images, websites, play videos, etc. And the CMS system lets you set up a schedule of what presentations to play on what display at what times.
URL: xibo.org.uk
Rise Vision:
Rise Vision's digital signage system (used by Hope Community Church as mentioned earlier) is managed through an account on their website, and allows you to create presentations with zones that can show images, videos, websites, and many other items as well as manage displays and schedules.
The basic system is free of charge; if you make use of their more advanced widgets (such as a weather widget, news feed, etc) you pay per widget, per display.
You can set up the player software on your own hardware yourself, or purchased pre-configured players from Rise Vision. If you want to store media in their system, there is a per-month charge. They also offer design consulting services.
URL: www.risevision.com
BrightSign:
Mentioned above as Willow Creek's digital signage solution, this system does require you to purchase player hardware from BrightSign.
An advantage of this, however, is there won't be any question if your media players will work as there might be if you chose an option where you set up the players yourself. As with other systems, a full range of media is supported, as well as scheduling of the presentations.
URL: www.brightsign.biz
Scala:
Scala is one of the longest-established digital signage companies with over 30 years of history. It's also one of the higher-end professional digital signage systems that boasts integration with many other software systems such as the EMS facility management software system.
It's full-featured with far more options than a typical church would likely need. If your church is large enough to warrant using a facility management system like EMS, however, it is worth looking at.
URL: scala.com