Digital menu board vs a regular TV: what’s the difference?

A slideshow on a TV vs a digital menu board

Plenty of restaurants start with a slideshow: pictures of the menu playing on a TV. It looks fine on day one. Then a price changes, an item runs out or lunch starts, and someone has to remake the slides and load them onto every TV again. A digital menu board is built for those changes. Why USB stick menus break

The short version: it can be the same TV either way. The difference is the player, the software and the menu behind it.

On Square, Toast, Clover or Oracle? Change a price or 86 an item there, and your boards follow on their own. Want a special up tonight? Scene Magic builds a finished slide with your real item and price. See what Just a Menu boards do

Can a regular TV be a menu board?

Yes. Any TV with a spare HDMI port can be a digital menu board, including the ones already on your wall. With Just a Menu, one small JAM Player plugs into each TV and shows your menu. You set it up from your phone in about 2 minutes. You don’t need a smart TV: the player does the work.

The JAM Player is about the size of a pack of playing cards. It tucks behind the TV.

• ✓Plug it in: the JAM Player goes into the TV’s HDMI port and into power.
• ✓Connect it: the JAM Player Setup app on your phone puts it on your business Wi-Fi.
• ✓Pick what it shows: link the player to a screen in Just a Menu, and your menu is on the TV.
• ✓Leave it alone: from then on, it updates itself whenever you publish a change.

That’s the whole setup. Step by step: Put your menu on your TV

Each TV gets its own player, so a row of three TVs needs three. No TVs yet? Tell us how many screens you need. We ship JAM Players straight to your restaurant, and we can deliver JAM-ready screens too. More about the JAM Player

Regular TV or commercial display? A regular TV is a fine start for most indoor counters. If the screen faces a sunny window, runs from open to close every day or hangs in portrait, read how to choose the TV before you buy.

Digital menu boards vs paper and printed menus

A printed menu board is out of date the day a price changes. The fix is a reprint, or a sticker over the old price. Specials need their own sign, and sold-out items stay up. A digital menu board changes when your menu does, so the wall matches what you’re selling today.

After

Before

Esperanza’s Mexican Bakery & Cafe · Dallas, TX

A printed board with price stickers taped over it. Now: two menu boards that change from a phone.

• ✓Price changes: change a price once, and every board that shows it updates. No reprints, no stickers.
• ✓Specials: a finished special slide in a few taps, with your real item and price, scheduled for the days it runs.
• ✓Time of day: breakfast, lunch and happy hour each show at their own times, on the same TV.
• ✓Sold out: tap Sold Out, and the item hides or grays out on your boards and your QR menu.

Keep print for what guests hold. Table menus and takeout menus still earn their place. With Just a Menu, they come from the same menu as your boards: pick a paper size and a design, and download a print-ready PDF with your items and prices already in it. Print it in-house or at any print shop. Print menus from the same menu

Between print runs, put your QR code on the printed menu. Guests scan it and see today’s prices and specials, from the same menu as your boards.

Which is right for you?

Start with how often your menu changes. If your prices, specials or menu change with the season, the day or the hour, a digital menu board saves you the reprints and the stickers. If you already have a TV with a spare HDMI port, you’re most of the way there.

Our advice: start with the TVs you have. If one needs replacing later, swap the screen and keep everything in Just a Menu as it is.

Questions