5 Steps to Creating a TV Menu Board [+ Software Comparison]

Most restaurants I talk to are still printing their menus. Some are handwriting specials on a chalkboard. A few have made the jump to a TV screen, but are running a static image they uploaded once and never touched again. All of these approaches leave money on the table.

A well-run digital menu does more than display your items. It switches from your breakfast menu to lunch automatically, promotes your highest-margin specials at the right time of day, and updates in seconds when a price changes or a dish sells out. I have seen cafes increase their average order value just by putting a well-designed promotional slide next to their core menu during peak hours.

The barrier to getting this right is lower than most people expect. You do not need expensive hardware, a design team, or a technical background. You need the right software, a clear plan, and about an hour to set it up properly.

In this guide, I walk you through how to create a digital menu on your TV from scratch. I cover the setup process, the best software platforms to consider, and the practices I have seen work consistently across restaurants and cafes of all sizes.

How to create a TV menu board

Getting a digital menu live is simpler than most people expect. I have walked hundreds of restaurant and cafe owners through this process, and the ones who do it well follow the same five steps every time.

1. Choose the right software for your business (see options below)

The software you choose shapes everything else, so it is worth taking five minutes to evaluate your options properly. Look for these features:

• Remote content management so you can update menus without being on-site

• Automated scheduling for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or weekend menus

• Canva integration or quality built-in templates for menu design

• Transparent, affordable monthly pricing

• Compatibility with common hardware like the Amazon Signage Stick, Chromecast, or Raspberry Pi

One thing I always tell people: do not overthink the hardware question at this stage. Most good signage software works with a dedicated media player like the Amazon Signage Stick, which costs around $30 and is far more reliable for a commercial environment than relying on a smart TV's built-in browser. Keep reading for a full comparison of software options.

2. Design your digital menus

Your menu design needs to do one job well: help customers decide what to order quickly and confidently. Include item names, descriptions, and prices as a baseline. Whether you include photos depends on your style. A casual burger joint benefits from food photography. A fine dining restaurant often looks better without it.

I worked with a cafe owner in Melbourne who was putting photos on every single item, including their drinks. Once they stripped it back to hero images on their top five sellers only, the menu looked cleaner and their average order value went up. Less is often more.

You can also use your screens to promote specials. A lunch combo screen can run during service and automatically switch to a dinner menu at 5pm without anyone having to touch it.

3. Add your designs to your TV menu software

Once your designs are ready, upload them to your signage platform and build your content schedule. At Juuno, we call these content playlists. Your Monday through Friday playlist might switch from a breakfast menu at 7am to lunch at 11am, while your Saturday and Sunday playlist runs your brunch menu all day.

A pizza restaurant I spoke to had been manually switching their menus every day by unplugging and re-plugging devices. Once they set up scheduled playlists, they got that time back permanently. It sounds simple, but automating this step removes a surprising amount of daily friction.

4. Install a smart TV in your restaurant locations

Think about how many screens you need and where to place them. A small cafe might need just one well-positioned screen behind the counter. A larger space with a drive-through or multiple service points will need more.

You will need mounting hardware to secure your TVs to the wall. For the player, we recommend the Amazon Signage Stick over relying on a smart TV's built-in browser. TV browsers are inconsistent, prone to dropping connections, and not designed to run 24 hours a day. A dedicated player is a small upfront cost that saves a lot of headaches.

5. Launch your digital menu

With your screens mounted and your player connected, log into Juuno from your dashboard, assign your playlist to the screen, and launch it. Juuno takes it from there, playing the right menu at the right time automatically.

If you ever need to make a change, whether it is a price update or a new seasonal item, log in from any device and update it remotely. Your screen reflects the change within seconds.

The top TV menu software platforms to consider

Not every platform is built the same way, and the right choice depends on your size, budget, and how much control you want over your content. Before diving in, here is what I use to evaluate any menu software worth recommending.

• Ease of setup: Can a non-technical person get a menu live without a sales call or IT support?

• Scheduling: Does it support automated menu switching for breakfast, lunch, and dinner?

• Design flexibility: Does it integrate with Canva or offer quality templates out of the box?

• Hardware flexibility: Does it work on screens you already own, or does it lock you into proprietary players?

• Pricing transparency: Is the cost clear upfront, or does it require a demo just to get a number?

1. Juuno

Juuno is digital signage software built for businesses that want something powerful without the complexity. It works for TV menus, announcement boards, live social media feeds, and more. You do not need to purchase any hardware to get started, and most customers have their first screen live within the same day they sign up.

We designed Juuno specifically to handle scheduling better and easier than most platforms. You can build content playlists for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and weekend brunch, then let the software switch between them automatically. Nobody has to remember to change the menu.

The Canva integration is worth calling out too. Most of our customers design their menus in Canva and push them directly to their screens through Juuno, which means you get beautiful, on-brand designs without hiring a graphic designer.

Features:

• Works on any TV, PC, or tablet with a web browser, plus the Amazon Signage Stick

• Automated content scheduling and playlists

• Native Canva integration for menu design

• Social media integrations for Instagram, Facebook, and more

• Unlimited users and playlists on all plans

• Remote content management from any device

Pricing:

Juuno's Business plan starts at $5 per screen per month, with no setup fees and no hardware required. A Growth plan at $9 per screen per month is coming soon, adding proof of play reporting, API access, and remote device management. White-label plans start at $100 per month flat for agencies and resellers.

Pros and cons:

Juuno is the strongest choice for independent restaurants, cafe groups, and multi-location businesses that want a simple, affordable solution with strong scheduling and design tools. If you are comparing it to truDigital, you get comparable scheduling features at less than a fifth of the price. Compared to Scala, the setup takes hours rather than weeks. The honest limitation is that large enterprise organisations needing single sign-on, Salesforce integrations, or fully managed hardware deployments will likely need a more specialised platform.

2. Scala

Scala is an enterprise-grade digital signage platform designed for large chain restaurants and retailers. Beyond displaying content, Scala offers sensors that use motion detection to analyse audience behaviour and optimise what plays on screen based on who is watching. It is genuinely impressive technology, but it comes with a procurement process to match.

I recommend Scala only in very specific situations. If you are running hundreds of locations and need a vendor to manage hardware, deployment, and ongoing operations end to end, Scala is built for that. For anything smaller, you will pay enterprise prices for features you will not use, and you will wait weeks to get your first screen live.

The hardware lock-in is the other thing I always flag. Unlike Juuno or truDigital, which work on TVs you already own, Scala requires you to purchase their proprietary media players. That adds significant upfront cost before a single menu is displayed.

Features:

• Cloud-managed content, design studio, and media player

• Audience analytics using motion detection

• In-store content optimisation based on demographics

• Enterprise-grade managed service and support

Pricing:

Scala does not publish pricing. You will need to contact their sales team for a custom quote, which typically reflects enterprise-tier rates well above other platforms on this list.

Pros and cons:

Scala is the right answer for 500-location fast food chains with a dedicated AV team and a managed-service budget. It is the wrong answer for independent restaurants or small groups. If you are weighing Scala against Juuno, the practical question is whether you need facial recognition, audience analytics, and a vendor to own your entire hardware stack. Most restaurant operators do not. Start with Juuno and revisit if you scale to the point where those features become necessary.

3. Look

With Look, you can manage multiple screens from one platform. Their app is available for Android, Windows, iOS, and Linux, and you can create screen groups to manage different use cases, like separating customer-facing menus from employee-facing announcements.

Look's visual editor is the strongest in this category. It is closer to Figma than to traditional signage software, which makes it appealing to design-led teams who want pixel-level control over every layout. The on-premise licensing option is also unusual here and worth noting for organisations that cannot use cloud-based software for compliance reasons.

Where Look falls short for most restaurant operators is integrations. There is no native Canva connection, which is the design tool most small teams rely on. The app ecosystem is smaller than Juuno or OptiSigns, and the user community is less established.

Features:

• Best-in-class WYSIWYG visual editor

• Native apps for Android, Windows, iOS, and Linux

• On-premise licensing option

• Screen grouping for different use cases

Pricing:

Look's pricing starts at $13.50 per screen per month with a free trial available. The Pro plan scales down in cost per screen as you add more. On-premise licensing is also available for organisations that require it; contact their sales team for custom pricing.

Pros and cons:

Look is the right choice if you have an in-house designer who wants Figma-level control over screen layouts and does not rely on Canva. For that specific profile, the editor is genuinely better than ours. For everyone else, particularly independent restaurants and cafe owners who design in Canva and want a straightforward setup, Juuno's native Canva integration and lower price make more practical sense. I would not recommend Look as a first option for food service operators unless design precision is a top priority.

4. truDigital

truDigital is a digital signage platform built for hospitality and franchise networks. It handles menu boards, announcement screens, social feeds, and employee-facing content well. The company also offers optional design services if you need help creating templates, which is a nice option for operators who do not have any in-house design capability.

What makes truDigital stand out is its service model. On the Pro tier, you get a dedicated account rep who handles content changes, scheduling updates, and ongoing management on your behalf. For franchise operators who want signage to feel like a managed service rather than a software subscription, that is genuinely valuable.

The gap between truDigital and Juuno comes down to cost and control. At $29 per screen per month for the Basic plan, truDigital is nearly six times Juuno's price. If you want to manage your own content and have any in-house capability to do so, that gap is hard to justify.

Features:

• Multi-location campaign management

• Dedicated account rep on Pro tier

• Optional design services

• Works on most smart TV brands

• Integrations with various third-party apps

Pricing:

truDigital's Basic plan is $29 per screen per month, covering unlimited users, support, and core features. The Pro plan at $49 per screen per month adds custom onboarding, a dedicated account rep, integrations, and project consultation. Custom plans are available for multi-location or franchise setups that need a mix of both tiers.

Pros and cons:

TruDigital is worth the premium if you specifically need a dedicated rep to manage your content for you, and your budget supports it. For a 10-screen restaurant group, that is roughly $490 per month compared to $50 with Juuno. I would only recommend truDigital over Juuno when the managed-service element is genuinely non-negotiable, for example if the operator has no staff who can handle content updates. Otherwise, the cost difference is too significant to overlook.

5. Spectrio

Spectrio is a fully managed digital signage platform that bundles screen content with overhead music, on-hold messaging, guest WiFi marketing, and even scent marketing for physical locations. The digital signage component is just one part of a broader in-store experience suite.

The fully managed model is what defines Spectrio. They handle content production, hardware deployment, and ongoing maintenance on your behalf. You do not manage the software yourself. For large retail chains or multi-location restaurant groups that want signage to be entirely hands-off, that model has real appeal.

The trade-off is cost and control. Spectrio no longer publishes pricing publicly, which is usually a signal that minimum spend is significant. You give up direct control of what plays on your screens, and changes go through their team rather than a dashboard you manage yourself.

Features:

• Fully managed content, hardware, and deployment

• Bundled in-store experience products including music, WiFi marketing, and scent

• Vertical expertise in retail, automotive, and healthcare

• Single vendor relationship for multiple in-store experience products

Pricing:

Spectrio no longer shares pricing publicly. You will need to book a demo and request a custom quote from their sales team.

Pros and cons:

Spectrio is the right fit if you want digital signage to be completely off your plate and you have a budget that supports a fully managed service. It is the wrong fit if you want to control your own content, update menus quickly without going through a third party, or keep costs predictable. For most independent restaurants and small groups, that level of service is more than necessary. Juuno gives you full control of your screens at a fraction of the cost, and if you want someone to manage your content for you, a local agency reselling Juuno can often replicate the managed-service experience at a much lower price point.

Best practices for creating TV menus

To create a digital menu that achieves your goals, follow these best practices:

Create menus that are on brand

To keep your digital menus from looking cheesy, make sure to keep the design simple and include lots of white space.

Most importantly, the menus should reflect your brand and the feeling that you want to evoke in your patrons. Choose fonts, colors, and layouts that match your brand.

Use Canva if you can't afford a graphic designer

If you have a graphic designer that you work with regularly, it's smart to hire them to design your digital menu. This way, it will match the style of the rest of your graphic design. However, if you can't afford a graphic designer, our favorite app for making your own menu is Canva. They offer thousands of free menu templates, both in portrait and landscape style.

Most TV menu software will be able to play a PDF, PNG, or JPG file, so you don't have to worry about complex file formats.

Juuno has a Canva integration, meaning you can add your digital menus to our software to display them on your smart TV (with no hardware required).

Automate your menu change if you have multiple menus

Do you have different menus for different times of the day or days of the week?

Make sure you automate your content schedule in your TV menu software.

You can set up a schedule so the correct menu will automatically play at the correct time. This way, you don't have to worry about changing it manually or training your staff. Your menu will always be correct.

Update your pricing as needed

One of the biggest benefits of a TV menu is that you can change it without having to pay an interior designer or re-print large boards. This means that you can update your pricing more often. Of course, you don't want to change your pricing too frequently, or you'll frustrate your customers. But it's good to know that you can now do so easily.

When in doubt, rely on this smart advice for when it's okay to change your prices:

• When costs have gone up and you have no choice but to raise your prices

• When you know wholesale prices or fixed costs will go up soon.

• When you are so busy, you have a line out the door almost all of the time

Add holiday specials

And lastly, now that you have a digital menu, you might as well make the most of it. Why not launch more specials now that it's so easy to update your menu?

You could add seasonal or holiday items. Even if it's just a drink or a small dessert, seasonal menu items can keep customers happy and put them in the mood to celebrate.

FAQ

Should I use one large screen or multiple smaller ones for my menu?

It depends on your layout and service style. One large, well-placed screen works for a simple single-counter setup. Multiple screens make sense when you have distinct service areas, long menus, or customers approaching from different directions. Readability at distance matters more than screen count.

How do I handle menu updates across multiple locations without making errors?

Build your master menu in Canva with your brand kit locked, then push updates through your signage platform to all locations simultaneously. Never manage locations independently. One source of truth means a price change takes two minutes and reaches every screen at once without anyone making a local edit that drifts off brand.

What is the right content refresh rate to keep menus from feeling stale?

Seasonal menu changes aside, I recommend reviewing your digital menus every four to six weeks. Check that prices are current, remove anything you have quietly stopped serving, and consider whether a promotional slot on a secondary screen is still relevant. Stale content trains customers to stop reading your screens.

When does it make sense to use screen zones versus a full-screen menu?

Use zones when you have genuinely different content that benefits from being visible at the same time, such as a rotating promotional message alongside a static menu. If splitting the screen makes either piece harder to read, run them in a timed playlist instead. Readability always wins over clever layout.

Looking for simple digital signage? Juuno is perfect for small businesses. All you need is a smart TV.