4K Images & Videos

[FrankAR]

I have a Google Chrome Cast TV; it says it's 4K ready, but I'm not sure the images are 4K. Is 4K supported in Play Digital Signage

[Anette]

Even though a TV or a player is "rated" to 4K, it ONLY means, it will play video in 4K, meaning Netflix video, Prime video, etc. It also means that apps are NOT going to run in 4K (Some day that will change). This is common on more or less all entry-level players, like the FireTV Stick, Chromecast, and more. So be sure to only use HD images and video when you build content for entry-level players.

Does resolution matter? Absolutely, for example; if you push a 4K photo on a FireTV Stick it will most likely work, but behind the scenes you'll see that the player is using a lot of resources down-sizing that 4K image. So it should be avoided.

Can you run 4K? Absolutely, but you'd have to get a player that actually outputs 4K, like a Windows, Android, RPI5, MacOS, or similar player. Those are the ones we refer to as professional players.

[FrankAR]

Thank you very much. I get it; it can handle 4K, but I cannot use 4K in my digital signage. Would you recommend downscaling all my pictures to HD?

[Anette]

Yes, doing that will help your media player run as smoothly as possible. You can use our built-in Image cropping tool to downscale your images, it's actually straightforward.

See this link for more info: https://playsignage.com/support/cropping-images/

[FrankAR]

Okay great, thank you! I'll look at that right away.

Would you also recommend downscaling my 4K videos?

[Anette]

Yes absolutely.

That will maximize the media player's performance and ensure videos and your images run smoothly!

You can use HandBreak to downsize your videos to HD. Here is a complete guide with a tutorial video on how to use Handbrake: https://playsignage.com/support/handbrake/

[FrankAR]

Okay, I will do that. Again, thank you for the help. You guys rock!