Forum Discussion

jamesc69's avatar
jamesc69
New Member
10 years ago

Power BI in digital signage

We have a need to display Power BI dashboards within a business that can cycle through different reports.  We have looked at various digital signage solutions but each one of them falls down with not...
Need Help
jameslo30's avatar
jameslo30
Advocate III
10 years ago

It widely depends on what you want to show on your signage.

Is PowerBI the only service you want to show on your display?

 

We have multiple screens setup in our office and they are all connected up to one PC (Windows 10) via a splitter. You can have PowerBI open up on Google Chrome with an automatic refresh on a timer (Chrome Plugin: Auto Refresh) with a program called "AutoIT AnalogX AutoTab - http://www.analogx.com/contents/download/System/autotab/Freeware.htm" that switches windows open on your desktop on a timer.

 

You can also make PowerBI open reports in a "Windowless scheme" by adding ?Chromeless=1 at the end of your URL.

 

In my experiance, I've never found decent Digital Signage software that does what we want it to. We have always used a "Windows" solution.

 

elliotdixon's avatar
elliotdixon
Responsive Resident
9 years ago

Hi jameslo30 Thanks for the tips around displaying PowerBI on screens in the office. I am trying to source a solution for this issue right now.

 

I tried the Windows 10 Application but it doesnt auto refresh.

Tried chrome with Super Auto Refresh addin but that just sucks up all the memory of the PC. Does AutoIT AutoTab use much memory? Is it something you can just leave running for weeks without any interaction? 24/7.

 

Cheers

  • jameslo30's avatar
    jameslo30
    Advocate III
    9 years ago

    Hi,elliotdixon

     

    The only thing I would recommend is to try and minimise all system resources on the PC you are displaying on the monitors (i.e. turn off transparancy effects / anti virus scans).


    I have a HP PC that is low spec (AMD Athlon) that has about 7 reports on Chrome (with auto refresh add-in) and the AutoTab program (I mistyped the name of the program, it's actually AnalogX AutoTab - http://www.analogx.com/contents/download/System/autotab/Freeware.htm)

     

    It uses very little memory (about 1mb).

     

    If your reports are using up memory on your PC, try and set the Chrome add-in auto refresh rate to something quicker (i.e. every 5-10 minutes).

     

    Mine runs for months with no problem (until I have a powercut!).

     

    Thanks!

     

    • sieed's avatar
      sieed
      Helper II
      9 years ago

      jameslo30, what happens when power bi refreshes the reports while the auto tab is running? Do the rpeorts get updated or do you have to maually refresh the tiles? 

      • jameslo30's avatar
        jameslo30
        Advocate III
        9 years ago

        sieed I've been told any updates to reports are refreshed instantly. But I've found that not to be true and so therefore I've had to use AutoRefresh plugin's to force the browser to refresh.

         

        Thanks,

        James

    • Anonymous's avatar
      Anonymous
      Not applicable
      9 years ago

      Just wanted to say that after looking at a number of paid and free solutions, we've found the open source DisplayMonkey to be the best choice.  It takes a little to set up the server (SQL Server, .NET app, and IIS), but the installation documentation is pretty good. It's very customizable, delivers smoothly to any HTML5 browser, and nothing else handles Power BI reports as well.

      • sieed's avatar
        sieed
        Helper II
        9 years ago

        Anonymous,  how often do you have to sign in to show your reports? Does it ever crash or logout for some reason?