Screens, Layouts, and Themes are your tools for managing how content appears on your physical displays. Screens is where you connect hardware and assign Collections; Layouts let you divide a screen into zones for different content; and Themes keep your visuals consistent and on-brand. Layouts and Themes are both accessible from within Screens.

Use Screens, Layouts, and Themes whenever you need to:

Before content can appear on a physical display, you must pair your hardware with a ScreenCloud Player. This process securely connects your device to your account so it can receive the content you've configured.

If you are using ScreenCloud hardware, simply connect it to power and the internet.

For other hardware, you can download and install the ScreenCloud Player on your hardware via screencloud.com/download.

You can buy ScreenCloud hardware and find out recommended third-party hardware at the screencloud.com/hardware page.

To test how the ScreenCloud player works before acquiring hardware, you can test with the web player: web.screencloud.com.

Open the app on your device to display your unique pairing code. If you are using ScreenCloud hardware, this code will appear automatically upon boot-up.

If you see a black screen instead of a code, check your network settings to ensure ScreenCloud services aren't being blocked.

In your ScreenCloud account, navigate to Screens and select + Pair new screen. Input the code shown on your TV. Ensure you have an available screen license in your account to complete this step.

During the pairing process, you will be prompted to select one or more Collections. Once saved, your screen will immediately begin playing the selected content. See Creating Collections for Your Screens to learn about setting one up.

Once a screen is paired, you can use the following settings to refine how your information is delivered to your audience.

You can assign multiple Collections to a single screen. When you do this, content rotates evenly between Collections, so posts from every source get equal time on screen. Within that rotation, the newest content, based on when it was created or connected, plays first. This is the best way to combine updates from different departments, like HR and Marketing, onto one screen while keeping their libraries separate.

Layouts divide your screen into different functional areas. You can choose from Landscape or Portrait orientations with various configurations:

A full-screen focus.

Adds a Side zone and a Bottom (Ticker) zone for supplemental apps.

Provides maximum information density with four distinct zones. Some apps are designed specifically for these smaller zones and are configured directly within the layout editor rather than in your main Collection.

See Making the Most of Your Screen with Layouts for the full walkthrough, including how to create a layout and which apps fit each zone.

Themes ensure your content is visually consistent and on-brand, letting you set your Primary and Secondary brand colors, switch between Light and Dark mode, choose a style for how posts are framed, and control image cropping and backgrounds. See Creating a Theme for Your Screens for the full walkthrough.

A Screens button appears in the top right corner of both the Themes and Layouts menus. This lets you quickly check which screens have a particular theme or layout applied, without leaving the editor.

Each screen can be assigned its own unique time zone. This ensures that time-sensitive apps, such as Weather, Clock or AQI, always display accurate information based on the actual physical location of that specific screen.