How to put your menu on a TV or screen

You need three things: a screen, the internet, and a board to show on it. The screen is probably the one you already have. The board is the part that used to need a designer. Here is how to do all of it yourself, in about ten minutes.

Draw my board free → See how it works

One screen free, no card. Works on any screen with a web browser, or any screen with an HDMI socket and a streaming stick.

The board of Bella's Pizza, an example pizza shop, with pizzas, sides, drinks — Drawn by Counterboard AI in about two minutes, from a few words and a price list. Bella's Pizza is an example shop: yours is drawn to your own description, with your name and your prices on it.

Step one: the board

Say what you want, and it is designed for you

You are the designer. You say what you want in your own words: the colours, your name across the top, what goes where. AI designs the finished board in about two minutes. Not quite right? Say what to change and it is drawn again. There is no design software to learn, and nobody else trying to guess what is in your head.

Tell it in plain words, the way you would tell a sign writer: “Dark blue, our name big at the top, pizzas down the left, drinks on the right.” Or show it a photo of a board you like the look of. Then type your prices, or take a photo of the price list you have now. About two minutes later the finished board is on your screen, with your name and every price on it. Check each price before you use it.

Step two: the screen

Two things, on any television

On the screen, open this addressPress Home on the screen remote, open Internet, and type counterboard.com/player in.
Type the six letters the screen showsThe screen puts six letters and numbers on the screen, something like HY9CJT. In Counterboard on your phone, open Your screens and type them in. Your board is on the wall a few seconds later.

That is the whole job: two steps on a smart screen or a laptop. On an Amazon Fire TV, Fire Stick, Android TV or Google TV there is nothing to type at all - search its app store for counterboard, install it, and the app puts the six letters up itself. Our own screen app is in the Amazon Fire TV and Google Play stores, and it is free: on a Fire TV, an Android TV or a Google TV, search for Counterboard.

If you get stuck

Which screen have you got?

A smart screen

Samsung, LG, Sony, Hisense or any screen with apps on its home screen. Press Home and look along the row for Internet or Web Browser. On a few sets it is inside Apps. Nothing to plug in.

A Fire TV Stick

Do not look for a browser on it. Press the magnifying glass on the home screen, search for counterboard and press Get: our own app is free, it shows the six letters itself, and it comes back on every time the screen is switched on. The Fire TV Stick guide has every step.

An Android TV or Google TV

Open Google Play on the screen and search for counterboard. Install Counterboard: Menu Board: it is free, it shows the six letters itself, and it comes back on with the screen.

An older screen that is not smart

Any screen with an HDMI socket works. Plug a Fire TV Stick into it, about the price of a takeaway for two from a supermarket or online, and it becomes a smart screen. Or open the address on a spare laptop or tablet to see your board working today.

Make the board first. Sign up at counterboard.com, describe it and put your prices in: one screen free, with no card. On a laptop plugged into the screen with an HDMI cable, press Source or Input on the screen remote until you see the laptop, open counterboard.com/player, make the window full screen (on most Windows laptops, F11) and set the laptop never to go to sleep.

Good to know

Before you walk away from it

✓

It keeps going if the internet drops.The screen holds the whole board, so a wobbly connection does not take your prices off the wall.

✓

A browser does not come back on by itself.Switch the screen off and on and you open the address again. For a screen that is on all day and comes back on its own, set a Fire TV Stick or Android box up the way the Fire TV Stick guide shows.

✓

A screen on its side works too.Hang it tall and the board is drawn tall.

✓

Prices change from your phone.No ladder and no remote. How changing prices works.

What it costs

Priced by how many screens you put up

One screen free, for as long as you like, with a small counterboard.com band on the board, and no card. Without the band, so much a screen: £14 a month for one screen, and £7 for each screen after it. No VAT charged. The price list on the front page shows it in dollars and euros too.

Every screen gets the same dashboard and the same boards; what changes with the price is how many screens you put up and how many credits come with them. Each screen gets a board drawn for it, free. After that everything we draw is credits, and a credit is a pound: a price change is one, a new look or an item added, taken off or renamed is two, a whole new board is three. Each paid screen includes two credits a month, and they start again on the 1st; more can be bought inside Counterboard, ten for £9 or more in a bigger pack, with no change to your plan. No contract: cancel any time.

Draw my board free → See how it works

Questions

What people ask

Do I need to buy a special screen?

No. Any screen with a web browser works, and any screen with an HDMI socket can be given one with a Fire TV Stick. A screen made for shops is brighter and built to run all day, but you do not need one to start.

Do I need a computer?

No. You can do the whole thing from your phone: make the board, pair the screen and change prices.

How long does it take?

About two minutes for the board to be drawn, and about two minutes to pair a smart screen. Setting a Fire TV Stick up so it comes back on by itself takes about ten minutes, once.

Can I have more than one screen?

Yes. Pair each screen the same way, with its own six letters. Each one can show the same board or a different one. The price goes up with the number of screens.

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