Digital Signage Screen Monitoring & Management

Imagine brings your digital signage screen management into one central dashboard, so you do not have to treat every display as a separate job. From the Screens area, you can view your network, organise screens, check their status, confirm which playlist is assigned, and see which devices may need attention.

Depending on the screen and player, you can also:

• Review the latest connection information
• Check playback and content-download status
• Request a remote screenshot
• View hardware and software details
• Store branch, contact, and installation information
• Review recent screen activity
• Use supported remote controls
• Export screen information

This gives both everyday users and technical teams a clearer picture of what is happening across the network, without requiring them to visit every location.

Yes. Whether you have one screen in a reception area or multiple displays across several branches, you can manage them from the same Imagine account, subject to each user’s permissions.

From the dashboard, you can search for a particular screen, filter the list, organise displays into groups, assign content, and check their current status. You can also select an individual screen to open a more detailed overview.

For example, a retailer could manage screens in Cape Town, Johannesburg, and Durban from one place, while still giving each branch or department its own content. This is especially useful for businesses that want central control without making every screen identical.

The summary at the top of the Screens dashboard gives you a quick overview of your network. It shows the number of disconnected, licensed, and published screens, as well as screens that may need attention.

You can then use the screen list and filters to narrow down the issue. Useful details include:

• Whether the player is online or offline
• When it last connected
• Whether content is still downloading
• The playlist assigned to the screen
• Its current playback status
• Recent activity recorded for that device

This means you can start with the screens most likely to need help instead of checking every display individually. Remember that the dashboard reports on the player and its connection. A quick physical check may still be needed if the display panel, power supply, or cable is the cause.

Each screen has a status in the Screens dashboard, together with information about when the player last connected to Imagine. If it is online, the player is communicating with the platform. If it is offline, it has stopped reporting back for the time being.

It is worth remembering that an online player does not automatically prove that the physical display is switched on or visible to customers. If you need a stronger check, look at the latest remote screenshot and ask someone at the location to confirm what is showing on the actual screen.

An offline status also does not always mean that the screen is blank. Previously downloaded content may still be playing locally while the connection is unavailable.

Usually, no. Once published images, videos, and other supported media have downloaded to the player, they are stored locally. This allows the screen to keep playing its downloaded content if the internet connection drops temporarily.

While the player is offline:

• New content and schedule changes cannot download
• Live websites and connected widgets cannot retrieve fresh information
• The dashboard cannot receive current monitoring information from that player
• Remote instructions cannot reach the device

When the connection returns, the player can reconnect to Imagine, receive updates, and refresh connected content. This is why it is important to confirm that media has finished downloading before a time-sensitive campaign begins.

Absolutely. You can assign content to an individual screen, a selection of screens, or an organised screen group. This allows every display to serve the people who actually see it.

For example:

• A grocery store can show different promotions in its bakery, butchery, and liquor departments
• A hotel can use one playlist in reception and another in its conference area
• A company can separate customer-facing content from employee communications
• A national retailer can run one campaign everywhere while adding regional offers to selected branches

Clear screen names, groups, playlists, and schedules make these variations easier to manage as your network grows.

Groups make a larger screen network much easier to understand and manage. You can group screens according to the structure that makes the most sense for your business, such as:

• Country
• Province or region
• Branch, store, or building
• Department
• Brand
• Client or franchise
• Screen purpose
• Landscape or portrait orientation

For example, a retailer might create a main group for Western Cape branches, with smaller groups for bakery screens, till-point displays, and shop-window promotions. A corporate business could organise screens by office, floor, or department.

Choose a simple structure that your whole team can understand. If you create too many overlapping groups, it becomes harder to see where content will appear.

Yes. You can search for a screen and use filters to narrow down a busy network. This is useful when you want to find one branch quickly or focus on a particular group of devices.

The dashboard supports filtering by screen status, tags, and recently added screens. Used alongside clear screen names and groups, these tools can save a great deal of time once you are managing dozens or hundreds of displays.

A practical naming format might include the branch, screen purpose, and orientation, for example, “Paardevlei Reception Portrait”. Someone who did not install the screen should still be able to identify it from the name.

When you select a screen, an overview panel opens on the right-hand side of the dashboard. It brings the most useful information about that device into one place, with separate areas for general details, hardware, profile information, recent activity, and notes.

Depending on the information available for the screen, you can view:

• Its online or offline status and last connection
• The assigned playlist and playback status
• Licence and content-download status
• A remote screenshot
• Resolution, orientation, memory, and operating system
• Screen and player information
• Company, store, contact, and installation details
• Recent activity and saved notes

This screen record is especially useful when you are helping a branch remotely because you can understand the setup before asking someone on site to check cables, power, or the display.

Yes. The screen overview shows the playlist assigned to the selected screen, together with its playback status. This is a useful first check when a branch says it is seeing the wrong content.

If the expected playlist is not assigned, you can correct the assignment. If it is assigned but the screen has not updated, check whether the player is online and whether the latest media has finished downloading. You can then request a screenshot to confirm the player’s output.

For more detail about building, assigning, and updating content loops, visit the digital signage playlist section of the Knowledge Centre.

Yes. The screen overview includes a content-download status, which helps you confirm whether the player has received the files it needs. This is particularly important before a product launch, price change, or campaign that must begin at a specific time.

A download may take longer when:

• The player is offline or has an unstable connection
• The playlist contains large video files
• Several screens are downloading new content at once
• The device has limited available storage

If a campaign is time-sensitive, publish it early enough for all selected players to download the required media. Then check the relevant screens before the campaign is due to begin.

Yes. You can request a remote screenshot to see the output being produced by the player. This can help you confirm that the expected content is visible, correctly orientated, and filling the screen as intended.

A screenshot is especially useful when a screen is in another branch or city, but it has one important limitation: it shows the player’s output, not the physical panel itself. A normal-looking screenshot cannot tell you whether the television is switched off, the wrong input is selected, a cable has come loose, or something is blocking the display.

The Hardware tab keeps useful technical information with the screen record, so you do not have to ask a branch to look for it every time there is a problem.

The dashboard includes details such as:

• Screen resolution and orientation
• Available memory
• Screen make and model
• Operating system
• Player software version
• Widget engine version
• MAC address and IP address
• Device ID
• The date the player was first paired

You do not need to understand every technical field during everyday use. These details are mainly there to help your IT team, installer, or Imagine support identify the device and diagnose compatibility, network, or playback issues more efficiently.

Yes. The Profile area allows you to keep important site information with the screen record. The dashboard includes space for the company, store, contact person, contact numbers, installation date, address, and images. You can also add notes for information that does not fit into a standard field.

A complete profile is extremely useful when someone needs help months after installation. We recommend recording:

• The branch and exact screen location
• The on-site contact and telephone number
• The installation date
• The screen and player setup
• A clear photograph of the installed display
• Any access instructions or important site notes

Keeping these records current can shorten support calls and help technicians arrive with the right information.

Yes. The Activity tab provides a chronological record of events linked to the selected screen. This gives you a useful starting point when something changes unexpectedly or you want to understand what happened before a screen went offline.

The activity view shown can be filtered by event type, including informational messages, warnings, errors, and commands. You can also adjust the date range to focus on a particular period.

When troubleshooting, look for the time the behaviour changed and review the events immediately before and after it. The activity history may not explain every physical fault, but it can help your team or Imagine support narrow down the cause more quickly.

Yes. The map view can help you understand where screens are located across your network, which is particularly useful for organisations with branches in several towns, provinces, or countries.

For the map to be genuinely useful, each screen profile needs an accurate address or location. Use the map when you want a geographic overview, and switch back to the screen list when you need to compare detailed statuses, search for a device, or apply filters.

For example, a national retailer could use the map to see the spread of its network, then open an individual branch screen to review its connection, playlist, and hardware information.

Yes. Imagine gives you two different export options, depending on how much information you need.

To review your entire screen network, use the main Export button in the Screens dashboard. This downloads an Excel workbook containing an inventory of all your screens, including details such as:

• Screen name and ID
• Online or offline status
• Download and playback status
• Company and screen group
• Assigned playlist
• Store or venue
• Location
• Tags

You can also open an individual screen and export its information as either an Excel workbook or a detailed PDF report. The PDF provides a fuller record of that screen, including its identity, playlist and playback settings, connectivity, device information, site details, licence, schedules, notes, and activity history.

Yes. In the Email section of your Settings tab, you can set up automatic notifications when a screen goes offline, helping your team spot downtime before customers, staff, or individual branches need to report it.

You have detailed control over how each screen is monitored. For every screen, you can:

• Turn downtime monitoring on or off
• Choose who should receive the email alerts
• Select the active days of the week
• Set the hours during which the screen should be monitored
• Decide how long it must remain offline before an alert is sent

For example, a retail screen could be monitored from 08:00 to 19:00, Monday to Friday, with an alert sent only if it remains offline for more than three minutes. This means your team can respond to downtime during trading hours without receiving unnecessary notifications when the store is closed or for very brief connection interruptions.

Different screens can have their own recipients and monitoring windows, making this particularly valuable for businesses with multiple branches, regional teams, or business-critical displays. It provides proactive digital signage screen monitoring while keeping alerts relevant and manageable.

Start with the simple checks first. The problem may be the content assignment, a delayed download, the player connection, or the physical display.

1. Check that the correct playlist is assigned to the screen.
2. Confirm that the player is online and note when it last connected.
3. Check whether the latest content has finished downloading.
4. Request a remote screenshot to see what the player is producing.
5. Review the screen’s recent activity for warnings, errors, or commands.
6. If the screenshot looks correct, ask someone on site to check the display power, selected input, and cables.
7. If the issue remains, note the screen name, location, status, and what you have already checked before contacting support.

Providing those details helps the support team avoid repeating the same steps and get to the likely cause faster.

Depending on the player, operating system, and hardware model, you may be able to reboot or switch off the Imagine application remotely from the dashboard. This can help resolve certain playback or connection issues without requiring someone to visit the screen.

Remote-control options vary between devices and operating systems. Contact Imagine support with your screen or media player model, and our team can confirm which controls are available for your setup.

Before deleting a screen, make sure it is being permanently removed rather than temporarily disconnected, moved to another location, or paired with replacement hardware.

We recommend exporting the screen’s information before removing it from the CMS. From the Screens page, select Export to download a CSV containing your screen information and activity records. This gives you a copy of the screen’s details should you need them for reporting, troubleshooting, or future reference.

Once the information has been exported, you can remove the screen from the CMS. If you are unsure whether deleting or updating the existing screen record is the better option, contact Imagine support first.