What is digital signage and do you really need it?

A plain-English guide to digital signage — what it is, who uses it, what it costs, and how to decide if you actually need it. No jargon, no hard sell.

You have probably seen digital signage without knowing what it was called. The menu board at a coffee shop. The departures screen at a train station. The schedule display in the lobby of a hotel or care home. That is all digital signage.

But when you search for it, you land in a world of video walls, media players, content management systems and enterprise sales teams. It can feel like the answer to a simple question — "Can I put useful information on a screen?" — has been made far more complicated than it needs to be.

This guide cuts through that. We will explain what digital signage actually is, who uses it, what it typically costs, and — honestly — when you do and do not need it.

What is digital signage?

Digital signage is any screen that displays information for an audience. That is the simplest definition, and it covers everything from a 50-inch TV on a reception wall to a tablet outside a meeting room.

The "digital" part means the content is managed electronically — usually through software — rather than being printed, handwritten, or pinned to a noticeboard. The "signage" part means it is there to inform, direct, or communicate with people in a physical space.

A digital signage setup typically has three parts:

1. A screen. This can be a TV, a monitor, a tablet, a kiosk, or even a browser window on a laptop. You do not need a special "digital signage display" unless you are putting it outdoors or in a harsh environment.
2. A media player or device. Something needs to tell the screen what to show. This might be a small box plugged into the HDMI port (like a Raspberry Pi, an Android TV box, or a dedicated player), or the screen itself if it has a built-in browser or app.
3. Software. This is where you create and manage what appears on screen. Most digital signage software is cloud-based, meaning you log in from a browser, make your changes, and the screens update automatically.

Some setups are simple — a single TV showing today's schedule. Others are complex — hundreds of screens across multiple locations showing different content to different audiences at different times. The technology is the same. The difference is scale.

Who uses digital signage?

The short answer: more organisations than you might think. Here are the most common uses, grouped by what people actually display rather than by industry.

Schedules and timetables

Care homes showing daily activities. Schools displaying lesson timetables. Gyms listing class schedules. Hotels showing conference agendas. If people walk into a building and ask "What's on today?", a digital schedule board answers that question before they need to ask it.

Announcements and notices

Offices sharing company updates. Churches displaying service times. Community centres posting event details. Anywhere that currently relies on a paper noticeboard, email chain, or WhatsApp group to keep people informed.

Wayfinding and directions

Hospitals guiding visitors to the right ward. Conference centres directing attendees to the right room. Large buildings with multiple floors, wings, or entrances where people regularly get lost.

Menus and pricing

Restaurants, cafes, pubs, and canteens displaying what is available and what it costs. Digital menu boards are one of the most visible forms of digital signage because nearly everyone has seen them.

Promotions and advertising

Retail shops highlighting offers. Estate agents showing property listings. This is the use case that dominates most digital signage marketing — but it is not the only one, and for many organisations, it is not the relevant one.

Dashboards and live data

Warehouses showing order volumes. Call centres displaying queue lengths. Sales teams tracking targets. When the information changes frequently and people need to see it at a glance, a screen on the wall is often more effective than another tab in a browser.

What does digital signage cost?

Costs vary enormously depending on what you need. Here is a realistic breakdown for a UK organisation in 2026.

The screen

If you already have a TV or monitor, your screen cost is zero. A new 43-inch commercial display starts at around £300–£400. A standard consumer TV works fine for most indoor environments and costs less.

Our honest take: Unless your screen is in direct sunlight, near water, or running 24/7 in a high-traffic retail environment, a consumer TV is usually good enough. Commercial displays are brighter and more durable, but you pay a significant premium.

The player

A dedicated media player typically costs between £50 and £200 as a one-off purchase. Some solutions — including NowBoard — offer their own player hardware. Others work with off-the-shelf devices like Android TV boxes or Raspberry Pi boards. Some run entirely in a web browser, so you may not need a separate player at all.

The software

This is the recurring cost, and where the market is widest.

• Free tiers exist, usually limited to one or two screens with basic features and sometimes with the provider's branding on your display.
• Budget software runs from £5–£15 per screen per month. This includes platforms like NowBoard (from £10/Location/month — pay per spot, not per screen), which are designed for straightforward use cases — schedules, announcements, notices.
• Mid-range platforms charge £15–£40 per screen per month and typically add features like interactive touch, app integrations, advanced scheduling logic, and analytics.
• Enterprise solutions charge £40–£100+ per screen per month and are aimed at large retailers, airport operators, and global chains with hundreds or thousands of screens.

The total

For a single screen showing schedules and announcements, you might spend:

• £0 up front if you already have a TV and use a browser-based solution
• £7–£15 per month for the software
• Under £100 in total for the first year

For a 10-screen setup across a building: £1,100–£3,800 for the first year, depending on hardware and software choices.

When you do need digital signage

Digital signage genuinely helps when one or more of these apply:

Your information changes regularly

If the same poster has been on the wall for three years, a screen will not change your life. But if you are printing new schedules every week, updating menus daily, or swapping out notices every few days, digital signage removes that recurring effort. Update once, and every screen shows the new version instantly.

Multiple people need the same information at the same time

When visitors, staff, residents, students, or customers all need to see the same thing — a schedule, a menu, a welcome message — a screen in a shared space is the most reliable delivery method. It does not depend on people checking an email, opening an app, or reading a printout that may have been taken down.

You manage more than one location

Paper notices and whiteboards do not scale. If you run multiple sites — care homes, schools, offices, shops — you cannot walk around every location updating every board. Cloud-based digital signage lets you update every screen from one place, or give local teams the ability to manage their own content within your guidelines.

Your current notices are out of date, ignored, or hard to read

If you walk past noticeboards covered in curling paper, notice tape residue on windows, or find that nobody reads the printed schedule — that is a sign the medium is not working. A bright, clear screen with up-to-date content gets noticed because it looks current. People learn to trust it.

You need an audit trail or evidence of communication

Some sectors — particularly care homes — benefit from being able to show that information was displayed. If a regulator asks "How do families and residents know what activities are available?", being able to demonstrate a digital schedule board is a stronger answer than pointing to a cork board.

When you probably do not need digital signage

This section would not exist in most articles about digital signage. But the honest answer is that it is not right for everyone.

Your information rarely changes

If you need to display your opening hours and a welcome message, and those do not change from one month to the next, a printed sign may be perfectly fine. Digital signage is most valuable when content is dynamic.

Nobody will see the screen

A screen in an empty corridor serves no purpose. Before investing, think about where people actually spend time and look. Reception areas, waiting rooms, communal lounges, canteens, and entrances tend to work. Back offices and storage rooms do not.

You do not have anyone to keep it updated

A digital sign showing last Tuesday's schedule is worse than no sign at all. Someone needs to own the content — even if updating it takes five minutes a week. If nobody in your team will do this, the screen will go stale and people will stop trusting it.

You are buying it to look modern

A screen on the wall does not automatically make an organisation look professional. A screen showing an error message, a screensaver, or content from six months ago makes it look worse. Only invest if you have a genuine information need.

Your budget has better uses

If you are a small business deciding between digital signage and a new website, fix the website first. If you are a care home choosing between a screen and a better activities programme, the programme matters more. Digital signage supports good communication — it does not replace it.

The spectrum from simple to complex

Digital signage is not one thing. It sits on a spectrum, and understanding where you fall helps you avoid overspending or overcomplicating things.

Simple: one screen, one purpose

A TV in reception showing today's schedule. A tablet outside a meeting room showing availability. A browser window on a laptop at the front desk showing announcements. This is the entry point, and for many organisations, it is all they need.

Typical cost: £7–£15/month for software, plus whatever screen you already have.

Moderate: multiple screens, managed centrally

Ten screens across a building — or across several buildings — showing a mix of schedules, announcements, and notices. Content is managed from a single dashboard. Different screens can show different things.

Typical cost: £50–£150/month for software, plus players and screens as needed.

Complex: hundreds of screens, dynamic content, integrations

Retail chains showing location-specific promotions. Airports showing live flight data. Hospitals showing real-time bed availability. This level involves API integrations, content triggers, and often custom development.

Typical cost: £2,000–£10,000+/month, plus significant setup investment.

Most organisations reading this article sit at the simple or moderate end. The problem is that most digital signage companies market to the complex end, which makes the whole category feel more expensive and difficult than it needs to be.

How to decide what you need

If you have read this far and think digital signage might be worth trying, here is a straightforward way to work out what you actually need.

Step 1: Write down what you want to show. Be specific. "Today's activities schedule." "This week's menu." "Room bookings for today." "A welcome message with the Wi-Fi password." If you cannot write a clear list, you may not have a clear need yet.

Step 2: Count the screens. How many locations need a display? Start with the minimum — you can always add more later. One screen in the right spot is better than five screens nobody looks at.

Step 3: Decide who will update it. This does not need to be a full-time job. In most cases, one person updating content for 5–10 minutes a day is enough. But someone needs to be responsible.

Step 4: Set a budget. Include the screen (if you need a new one), any player hardware, and the monthly software cost. If the total is less than you spend on printing and distributing paper notices each month, it pays for itself.

Step 5: Try before you buy. Most digital signage software offers a free trial. Use it with a real screen in a real location for at least a week before committing. You will learn more in a week of actual use than from any demo or sales presentation.

Where NowBoard fits

We would not be writing this article if we did not have a product, so let us be upfront about that.

NowBoard sits at the simple end of the digital signage spectrum. It is designed for organisations that need to show schedules, announcements, and notices on screens — not for organisations building video walls or running retail ad campaigns.

It works on any TV, tablet, or browser. Plans start at £10 per Location per month, and there is a 14-day free trial with no credit card required. If you need something straightforward and your content is mostly text-based — schedules, timetables, notices, announcements — it is worth a look.

If you need interactive touchscreens, video playback, real-time data integrations, or screens in outdoor environments, NowBoard is probably not the right fit, and we would rather tell you that now than have you find out after signing up.