What is Billboard?

Billboard is an easy to use, web-based management system used for controlling digital signage. Used throughout NC State University, it is the primary management system for web-enabled digital signs across campus. Billboard v1 was created by the programmers of OIT Outreach Services. Development of the software was then taken over by WolfTech in 2008, resulting in Billboard v2 and, in October 2009, this current v3 release.

How does Billboard work?

A digital sign powered by BillboardBillboard is slightly complicated to understand, but still easy to use. At the most basic level, Billboard takes a group of user selected slides and displays them on a webpage that we setup computers to present on television screens, creating digital signage.

The program works by allowing users to create groups of slides and then assigning these groups to the computers powering their digital signs. Once assigned, the computers will be pointed to the main Billboard site, where they will display the slides in the order that you've chosen. In addition to just slide content and order, unit and group owners will also be able to choose the length of time that the slide should display for, as well as dates and/or times that the slide should appear.

What are the average specifications for the digital signs in use?

Most of the digital signs at NC State are 50" or larger televisions connected to domained Windows 10 computers running a 1920x1080 resolution. In the past, we had a variety of computers (including MacOS and Linux), but we now recommend Stick PCs running Windows 10 as the newest version of our configuration software requires it. MacOS can still be used, but new installations should switch to Windows 10.

What kind of slides can Billboard display?

Billboard can display almost any publicly available web-based content available, including images, YouTube movies, and HTML documents (both flat and dynamically generated with a language such as PHP). In addition, we have partnered with the folks in the WolfAlert team to allow them to broadcast all NCSU Emergency notifications using all screens tied to the WolfTech Billboard system -- any such notification will appear on top of any slides currently displaying.

How can I post content (slides) to Billboard for others to use?

We permit ALL NC State users to submit slides to the Billboard Community -- just head to https://billboard.ncsu.edu, click on Community and login. You can then upload your slides. When asked for the unit, keep in mind we're asking who created the slide, not where you'd like it displayed -- as a content creator, you won't have any control over which board owners feel your content is appropriate for their audiences.

How can I use the Billboard system to control my digital signage?

If you have screens that you'd like to manage with Billboard, please send an e-mail to billboard@ncsu.edu with the name of your on-campus unit as well as the Unity IDs of the users that will manage your unit's screens.