DIY Digital Menu Boards for Restaurants

This low-cost, do-it-yourself solution for creating a digital menu board not only looks great with your branding, it's easy to update as menu prices and items change. Here are the simple steps for creating a digital menu board with almost any TV.
1) You can use any TV that is equipped with a USB port capable of playing media. I’ve found Vizio Smart TVs to be a reliable and cost-effective option.
2) Buy the VESA mount you like from Amazon.
3) Make a menu design using PowerPoint, Export the menu as a Jpeg and save it to a jump drive.
4) Plug the jump drive into the USB port on the TV.
5) Turn on the TV and select the USB port as the input. Browse to your menu graphic and “play” it. Some TVs can display multiple images as a slideshow, so it could be multiple menu pages, or a menu and pictures of food.
For more, check out the write-up on our website: dennisfoodservice.com/diy-digital-menu-boards/

[@maichu4727]

thank you so much for this video!!!! I searched high and low for a video like yours on how to do it and everyone else's sucks with worthless info!!!! I figured it out by watching yours!!!! thank you!!!!!

[@heywassupmeleena]

Thank you! Direct and to the point!!!!!

[@moicrux7112]

Gave me the greatest idea ever!! Thanks youtube and freinds

[@raymondmartinez8215]

Thanks brother, great information!!

[@ClaudeDAguilar-cc2hx]

Love it

[@seharris11]

Me thinks I shall do this instead of actual chalk art lol saves me so much time designing in Adobe Illustrator then uploading to a screen

[@zunairaslam5841]

How many you get the tvs to play videos for example to show you products being cooked or prepared

[@ivendudley]

Hi Dennis, can you please let me know why my jpg is not filling up the whole TV screen? It’s at the correct 16:9 ratio with 1920x1080 pixel and my image looks small on the TV

[@CarlosAndresVelasquez]

Hi Dennis, how would you go about making a slideshow of different screens that loops for maybe 14 hours?

[@DennisKnowsFood]

Hi, Carlos. There are two main considerations there. 1) Does your specific TV have slideshow functionality? 2) Does it loop back to the beginning after the last slide, or does it stop? If the answer is "Yes" to both of those questions, then all you need to do is make a series of images as your "slides" - Sticking with the PowerPoint example, each slide in the deck would become an individual jpeg that you save to your thumb drive. Once you open the thumbdrive you should be able to start a slideshow of all the images contained on the drive (or in a folder on the drive) and it will loop. Option 1 if your TV DOES NOT LOOP the slideshow, you will have to determine how long it displays each slide. If it's 5 seconds, you will need a little over 10,000 images to hit 14 hours. Option 2 if your TV DOES NOT LOOP, this device does: www.amazon.com/dp/B008NO9RRM/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&linkCode=sl1&tag=churchmotio04-20&linkId=7268c23519f825304cb9dac8f3719b8c&th=1 (Micca Speck 1080p Full-HD Ultra Portable Digital Media Player - No affiliation, we've used and it works.)

[@thisandthat797]

Will the media player play videos on loop aswell?

[@user-pu8ei3xd9n]

Hi Dennis. I have an older LG TV that’s not a smart TV but has a usb port. I created a jpeg menu and put it on a thumb drive but when I play it, it stops after about 5 minutes. How can I make the TV display the menu for hours?

[@MaxCruiseable]

i know how to put static jPG images on the TVs, but how do you do the ones with videos?

[@thisandthat797]

Ok how about playing videos on the screen??

[@abhilashhota8151]

Thank you ❤

[@Play4Vida]

I remember mexican restaurants doing this like 15 years ago ..lol

[@truelovetravelers]

What are the dimensions for the menu when you create it?

[@zakariazaki1546]

Hello! I have a problem when I edit an image in Photoshop and display it on a TV, its color changes. Is there a solution in the settings? I hope to get a response soon.

[@m_saqibali]

The colour settings between the screen you're editing the photshop file and the TV don't match

[@shazesty]

Change the mode from cmyk to rgb

[@WhatsNextIWonder]

Make sure you're 'exporting for screens' too

[@Coolbimmerguy]

I'm using a Samsung TV and even tried it with LG, Vizio, and others and after a couple hours the screen goes dark, no off, just dark and I have to restart the image. What can I do to keep the screen active?

[@thespotfloridastyleseafood9883]

Change your settings on your tv.

[@016rajeev]

Can you rotate the tv for vertical display ?

[@m_saqibali]

Borther asked a very good question

[@Play4Vida]

why not? ... seriously WHY NOT? all you do is rotate the picture..

[@rogercolque]

Hello i found a result for vertical??
Want to know that

[@menuzet]

menuzet lol❤❤

[@eddieduque9371]

Yeah when you have to install 5 TVs and try to turn them on and off every day.

[@dguerrero115]

Probably takes as much time as having to rewrite menu and change prices twice a year.

[@Play4Vida]

are your TV's 5" or something? just get a decent size one.. wow..

[@myaccount__7269]

They sell remote repeater devices to automate this

[@Heplaysbass2024]

Wait actually? ​@@myaccount__7269

[@keyoflife24]

Get a splitter to send the media to multiple monitors if you just want them to dis play the same image.
Get a display switcher if you want each monitor to display something different at times.

[@jiveturkeylegs8692]

DIY is not an indication of a failing restaurant... it's smart business if you can avoid added cost! Anyone thinking otherwise is probably a sales rep of paid menu programs.

[@B2Bfoot]

And you guys still don't understand why your restaurants are failing... no investment no return

[@m_saqibali]

huh? why so sour?

[@jagaimo9859]

womp womp

[@leejaix8792]

what??? 😂
Why pay a company a monthly fee to do something you can do yourself for free?
This is financially clever.

[@jagaimo9859]

@@leejaix8792exactly

[@B2Bfoot]

@@leejaix8792😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 ok next thing i want is a mansion. Oh but why would i pay i can build it my self..😂😂🫠