# What you need to run digital signage with ChannelOS > The complete list of what you need for digital signage with ChannelOS: a TV with a web browser, a phone or laptop to control it, and a free account. No media player, no designer, no AV team. Source: https://channelos.tv/blog/what-you-need-for-digital-signage Published: 2026-07-08 Updated: 2026-07-28 Category: How-to Author: The ChannelOS team **To run digital signage with ChannelOS you need three things: a TV (or any screen) with a modern web browser, a phone or laptop to pair and control it, and a free ChannelOS account. There's no media-player box, and no designer required — the first screen is free.** --- To run digital signage with ChannelOS you need exactly **three things**: a **screen with a modern web browser** (any TV, or a laptop), a **phone or laptop** to pair and control it, and a **free ChannelOS account**. Add ordinary Wi-Fi or internet and you're done. There's no media-player box to buy, no per-device license, and no designer on staff. The first screen is free, and pairing takes about two minutes. ## What do I actually need? Here's the whole list — nothing hidden below the fold: 1. **A screen with a modern browser.** A TV, a monitor, or even a laptop in kiosk mode. If it renders a web page, it can be a sign. 2. **A phone or laptop to control it.** You pair from your phone by scanning a code, then run everything from one board. 3. **A free account.** Sign up, and your **first screen is free**. 4. **Ordinary internet or Wi-Fi.** The same connection your TV already uses. That's it. To go live, you open `play.channelos.tv` in the TV's browser. The page mints a screen and shows a **6-character code** and a **QR code** — "Add this screen from your phone or computer." Scan it from your phone, the screen links to your account, and you're live in about **two minutes**. Take a corner café: the owner opens the browser on the TV already mounted behind the counter, scans the code with the phone in their apron, and the menu board is theirs — no purchase order, no install, no waiting on a technician. *Why it matters: the barrier to a first screen is a web page and a phone, not a hardware budget.* ## What do I NOT need? This is where signage usually gets expensive and slow. With ChannelOS, you can cross all of it off: - **No media-player box or stick.** The TV is the player. Nothing plugs in behind it. - **No installed app or APK.** Nothing to sideload on the TV, nothing to keep updated by hand. Screens **self-update** — they poll for new builds and reload themselves, and you can trigger a remote reload from the board. - **No per-device license.** Paid plans are **per screen, per month**, with no per-user seats — but the first screen costs nothing. - **No graphic designer.** Describe what the screen is for and AI drafts every slide on-brand in seconds, or design it yourself in a Canva-style editor with free Pexels photos and video built in. - **No AV team or integrator.** Pairing is a QR scan. There's no rack, no cabling job, no site visit. Because a screen doesn't go silently stale, you also don't need someone babysitting the fleet. Pairing is **reversible and honest**: a screen knows when it's been unpaired or taken over and says so on the glass. *Why it matters: the traditional signage "starter kit" — a player per screen, an install, a license, a designer — is mostly cost you can skip.* ## How is that different from Yodeck-style setups? Traditional platforms assume **one dedicated media player per screen** — typically a Raspberry Pi or an Android box — that you provision, license, and mount behind every TV. For a 10-screen rollout that's 10 devices to buy, image, and maintain before a single slide goes up. ChannelOS removes that layer entirely. The browser already on the TV is the player, so adding a screen is a scan, not a shipment. We walk through the removed hardware in [signage with no media player required](/blog/no-media-player-required) and the [no-Android-player approach](/blog/digital-signage-without-android-player). To be fair about where the old way still genuinely wins: a **hardened offline media player caches content locally**, so it can keep playing through an internet outage. A browser-based screen depends on its connection. If your site loses the network for hours and the screen *must* keep showing the last playlist no matter what, a dedicated offline player is the safer bet. For the vast majority of cafés, clinics, lobbies, and shops on normal Wi-Fi, that trade isn't worth the per-device cost and busywork — but it's a real difference, not a marketing footnote. *Why it matters: name the one place dedicated hardware still earns its keep — guaranteed cached playback through an outage — and skip it everywhere else.* ## Does my TV work? Almost certainly, if it can open a web page. ChannelOS runs on: - **Android TV** and **Google TV** - **LG webOS** - **Fire TV** (via the Silk browser) - A **Chromebox** or **mini-PC** wired to any display - A **laptop** in kiosk mode The test is simple: can the device open `play.channelos.tv` in a browser? If yes, it pairs. You're not buying compatible hardware — you're using the screen you already have. And because ChannelOS depends only on **100% MIT / OFL licensed dependencies**, there's no proprietary runtime to license underneath it. ## What does it cost to start? Nothing, for your first screen. The **first screen is free**, and there are **no per-user seats** — paid plans are **per screen, per month**, so cost scales with screens, not staff. The only other line is AI credits, and every plan gets a monthly pool: **50 a month on the free plan**, 150 on Solo, 400 on Pro. It refills every month. **Pexels stock imagery is free and draws none of it.** Only **AI-generated imagery** and **AI slide drafting** spend credits, and the create-show page shows your balance as you go. A menu board built from free photos costs no credits at all. So the honest sum for one screen is: a TV you already own, a phone, your wifi, and nothing else. Zero rupees, zero dollars, no card. **Here is the test worth running, because it is the one that decides whether any of this is worth your time.** Put your real prices on one real screen this week. Then change one of them from your phone on a Tuesday afternoon while you are standing behind the counter. If that takes you longer than about a minute, we have not earned the screen and you should close the tab. If it takes ten seconds, you already know what the other four screens are for. ## Ready in about two minutes You already own the hard part: the screen. To see it work, open **`play.channelos.tv`** on your TV, **scan** the code with your phone, and **describe** what the screen is for — the AI drafts an on-brand show in seconds. The **first screen is free**, so there's nothing to lose by pairing one. New here? Start with [how ChannelOS works](/blog/how-channelos-works), then walk the full [create a show, schedule a channel, pair a screen](/blog/create-show-schedule-channel-pair-screen) flow end to end. ## Frequently asked questions ### What do I need to start with digital signage? With ChannelOS you need four things: a screen with a modern web browser, a phone or laptop to control it, a free account, and ordinary internet or Wi-Fi. There's no media-player box, and no per-device license. ### Do I need a media player or Android box for ChannelOS? No. ChannelOS runs in the TV's own web browser, so there's no media-player stick, and no per-device license to track. Any device that renders a modern web page can be a screen. ### Will my existing TV work with ChannelOS? If it runs a modern web browser, yes. Android TV, Google TV, LG webOS, Fire TV via the Silk browser, a Chromebox, a mini-PC, or a laptop in kiosk mode all work — you open play.channelos.tv on the TV and pair it from your phone. ### How much does it cost to get started? The first screen is free. Paid plans are per screen, per month with no per-user seats, and Pexels stock imagery is free — only AI-generated images and AI slide drafting use credits.