My first impulse would be to use the old hardware you've got. Is there a
reason the display needs ongoing network access or could everything be set
up to run locally? Perhaps ITS would be more amenable to keeping old
hardware around if you completely disable networking.

For ease of use, I would probably go with an ASUS Chromebox. With a managed
license, you can set everything up from the admin console, lock it down,
and basically forget about it. I have colleagues at other area libraries
that use various chrome products to manage their digital signage and they
have been very successful.

If you do go the whole PC route, there are many mini-pc options these days
that use either laptop or low-power chips that can be fully functional
machines at a fraction of the cost. (Just one example:
https://www.amazon.com/CHUWI-LarkBox-Pro-Computer-Streaming/dp/B08KCZPQ3P/ref=sr_1_5?keywords=arm+linux+mini+pc)
The quality can vary, so I'd just preface the normal caveat of sticking to
the bigger brands.

Lastly, while it is very easy, I don't love Porteus Kiosk for mid- or
long-term projects since the free option does not automatically update and
requires quite a bit of maintenance. Windows has a built-in kiosk mode (
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/configuration/kiosk-single-app)
and IMHO there are better options for Linux systems like Cage (
https://github.com/Hjdskes/cage/wiki.) I've done some work setting up our
OPACs using Cage and had success on Ubuntu Server and OpenSUSE. My (very
incomplete) notes on that process can be found here:
https://codeberg.org/Pribrariam/ModernIPAC

Andrew Ward

On Fri, Oct 7, 2022 at 12:22 PM Hammer, Erich F <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Deborah,
>
> If you only want to display a video and don't need any user input, most
> televisions these days will play media (pictures, video, audio) from a USB
> flash drive.  We have one set up to endlessly loop through a series of
> videos.  All it needs is power.
>
> If you want interactivity, you might consider an ipad.  Not cheap, but
> with an MDM you have a lot of power to easily lock it down and can minimize
> the cables.
>
> Erich
>
>
> On Thursday, October 6, 2022 at 21:07, Deborah Fitchett eloquently
> inscribed:
>
> > Kia ora koutou,
> >
> > We’ve got a sculpture in the library that we’d like to contextualise
> with a
> > video, and we’re looking for ways to set this up. It’s essentially a
> digital
> > plaque: something like a screen, probably some quietish speakers, video
> > player software, enough storage for the video, and a start button.
> >
> > Options we’ve considered:
> >
> >   *   We’ve eyed up Raspberry Pis for this kind of thing, but then
> you’ve got to
> > identify/source/assemble all the peripherals yourself and it’s probably
> very
> > simple and obvious to someone who likes that kind of thing but I’m not a
> > hardware person at all. Also I think at the time we wanted to display a
> > particular website, and it raised network security issues that made us
> tired
> > just thinking about them.
> >   *   We’ve tried to get away with using old netbooks/tablets but ITS
> doesn’t
> > like us keeping those things around past their best-by, also due to
> network
> > security issues.
> >   *   The local public library has some very cool interactive displays
> but they’re
> > also pricy to match. And we’ve got to consider not just the initial
> purchase
> > (which could conceivably come under a refurbishment project) but also
> > maintenance and replacement in due course (which would have to come out
> > of our normal strained budget).
> >   *   So we’ve always ended up either a) giving up or b) using a whole
> PC,
> > which is ridiculously overpowered for a single purpose and yet here we
> are.
> >
> > Any ideas for this use-case?
> >
> > And/or for our other occasional purpose of displaying/letting people
> browse
> > a specific website? (Ie click links and maybe input keywords for
> searching.)
> >
> > Deborah
> > ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
> > Deborah Fitchett (she/her) MLIS, RLIANZA
> > Associate University Librarian, Digital Scholarship
> >
> > –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Learning, Teaching and Library – Te
> > Whare Pūrākau PO Box 85064, Lincoln University Lincoln 7647,
> > Christchurch, New Zealand +64 3 423 0358
> > [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
> > ltl.lincoln.ac.nz
> >
> > ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
> > Lincoln University
> > Te Whare Wānaka o Aoraki
> > ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
> >
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>
>
>

-- 
Andrew Ward (he/him/his)
Digital Services Librarian
Troy Public Library