How to Turn Any TV into a Digital Menu Board (2026 Guide)
You do not need a special screen or an IT project to run a digital menu board. Any TV with an Android stick or a small Windows PC will do. Here is the whole process, start to finish, in plain steps.
What you need
A TV, an Android TV device (a stick or box) or a Windows mini-PC, and a My Smart Signage account. That is it. No proprietary hardware, no server.
Step by step
Pair the screen
Open the player app on the TV device. It shows a six-digit code. Type that code into your dashboard and the screen is paired. This takes under a minute.
Start from a menu template
In the editor, pick a menu-board template and swap in your items, sections and prices. You can go text-only or add photos per item. Two-column layouts and price alignment are handled for you.
Wire prices to a spreadsheet (optional but worth it)
Connect a Google Sheet so your prices live in the sheet. Change a price there and the board updates itself, across every location, without touching the signage system again.
Daypart it
Set breakfast to flip to lunch on a schedule, show happy-hour pricing at 4, and display tomorrow's hours when you are closed. Schedule whole scenes or single zones by time, weekday or date.
Publish
Hit publish. Every paired screen updates in about a second. If the internet drops during the rush, the board keeps playing from a local cache.
Questions
Do I need internet for a digital menu board?
You need internet to publish changes, but the player caches the board locally, so it keeps displaying even if the connection drops.
Can I update menu prices from my phone?
Yes. If your menu is wired to a Google Sheet, editing the sheet from your phone updates the board. You can also publish from the dashboard on mobile.