Does Xibo work on the samsung smart signage TV using the URL launcher?
We have tried Samsungs magic info and its pretty good but we dont want to have a server (client side) to update the TVs remotely!.. as far as I can work out you need to set up a VPN which I presume would mean either accessing clients PC or installing a server which is pointless… have also tried another company called signagelive but very limited with scheduling.
Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!
I don’t think you will be able to install Xibo for Android on it this way.
From what we heard, samsung is preventing from installing any .apk on it.
Perhaps it could serve as a screen if you can connect PC/android box to it, but I don’t think you will be able to install Xibo player on the tv itself.
For Xibo to work you do need Xibo CMS hosted on your own web server or hosting like the one Spring Signage offers, to create layouts, schedule them to displays etc.
Personally, if you are trying to help the OpenSource community promote a solution that is very inexpensive to operate and can sell more android client license this would be the way to go. Hell, I would pay another $10.00+ per license if that means I don’t need to purchase and install another box behind my display. I think more thought and attention should be given to this idea before you loose customers that want an easier solution to manage.
Sorry - I should mention that it would still use either the cloud CMS or on premise solution for this to work.
@Skidoo[quote=“Skidoo, post:3, topic:7582”]
I think more thought and attention should be given to this idea before you loose customers that want an easier solution to manage.
[/quote]
So the solution is not as simple as you would like, and it sounds like you are looking for a solution to work in a very specific manor on hardware built into TVs. Which is fine and all, but, I think you would get good feed back by asking why something functions a certain way, rather that criticizing the way something works, before knowing why it works that way.
To help answer why you need a [quote=“Skidoo, post:3, topic:7582”]
another box behind my display
[/quote]
It is not that Xibo will not run on a TV, in fact some people have done this. It comes down to mostly a few things when attempting to do so:
Most large TV manufactures have their own digital signage solution that is not open source that they want you to use so they make money. By allowing their TV to be used by other 3rd parties signage solutions, they feel this harms their aspirations for a larger share of the digital signage market.
Processing power - Just because a TV might be Android based doesn’t mean you will get quality playback on the device just because the app installs. The Android operating system is still very young and designed to run on not so powerful hardware.(although this is changing) With the many overlays that can be done with Xibo, the TV’s hardware may not keep up when processing multiple items that it needs to display on the screen. (We see this alot with less powerful Android boxes) Doing the processing at the server isn’t really an option either. A server serving 20+ screens would easily get bogged down. Not only that but you would then need to live stream the content for each screen. That would then require video cabling and with it bring additional problems and cost. So again not practical.
Security - A manufacture cannot guarantee the security of the TV if non-authorized 3rd party apps are install. Problems from 3rd party apps can cause a TV to malfunction and then a warranty claim to the manufacture that would not otherwise had a claim. This increases their cost and also lowers brand reputation of a company, even though they were in no way responsible.
Storage capacity - Most TVs and not going to have much storage space. Therefore using them for a signage solution does not make much since unless storage is easily expanded, or a TV comes with adequate storage space.
Root Access - Xibo works best with root access on a Android device. Obtaining root access on a TV will surely void it’s warranty, if in fact you can obtain root at all.
I hope this helps to explain why you normally need a box behind your screen. If you have any other concerns, please feel free to ask and I am sure someone will be willing to shred light on whatever it might be.
It should also be said that Xibo is not a one solution fits all, and never will be. As with any industry, there are different solutions for different problems, and no one solution will be a soution to all.
Nope, I think you pretty well summed it all up quite nicely.
Thanks
It seems to be possible to ‘hack’ your Samsung and get root access, it is based on Linux after all. Samsung’s TV’s don’t run Android either but some proprietary crapware. So it is technically possible to hack Android on them, they have a common ARMv7 processor so they might actually run Xibo but it will require quite a technical talent to actually get it to load Android.
If you can get Linux to work, you can try to get the old 1.6 player to work.