Dashboard: Content Upload & Playlist Best Practices

Task: Optimize and format images, videos, and playlists to ensure smooth playback and professional-looking TV displays.

Platform: Budvue Dashboard / Asset Creation

Use this article when: You are creating new marketing graphics or videos, uploading files to the dashboard, or organizing your dispensary's TV playlist loops.

1. File & Dimensions Requirements

To prevent your content from looking stretched, blurry, or cut off, your files must match the exact pixel dimensions of your TV setup.

Understanding Aspect Ratios

Standard TVs utilize a 16:9 aspect ratio.

• Landscape (16:9): Perfect for standard layouts. Graphics should be widescreen.

• Portrait (9:16): Perfect for vertical menu boards. Graphics must be turned on their side.

• Recommendation: Never upload a square (1:1) or smartphone-ratio picture to a full-screen playlist, as it will stretch unnaturally or leave massive black bars on the sides.

How to Check Your File Dimensions Before Uploading

If a file's dimensions are double the size of our recommendations (e.g., a 2160 x 3840 "4K" file instead of 1080 x 1920), it will severely lag or crash the TV. Always check your files before uploading them to the dashboard.

On a Mac (Apple)

1. Locate the image or video file on your computer.

2. Right-click (or hold Control and click) on the file, then select Get Info.

3. Look under the More Info section:

   • Dimensions will show the width and height in pixels (e.g., 1920 x 1080).

   • Size will show the file weight (e.g., 2.5 MB).

On a Windows PC

1. Locate the image or video file on your computer.

2. Right-click on the file and select Properties.

3. Click on the Details tab at the top of the pop-up window:

   • Scroll down to the Image or Video section to find Dimensions (or Width/Height).

   • Go back to the General tab to check the Size.

2. File Compression Instructions

Oversized files are the #1 cause of TV screens lagging, freezing, or crashing. Media players have limited memory and struggle to loop heavy files continuously.

• Images: Keep files around 2–3MB. If you have a 15MB file, run it through a free online tool like FreeConvert Image Compressor before uploading.

• Videos: Keep files around 10MB. Always compress videos using FreeConvert Video Compressor. For best results, set the Video Codec to H.264 and Compression Method to Target a video quality (CRF 21).

3. Video Length & Audio Rules

• Ideal Video Length: Ideally keep marketing videos between 10 to 15 seconds. Long videos can disrupt the flow of screen content.

• Audio / Sound: No. Digital signage media players are designed strictly for visual display. Budvue does not support or playback audio tracks attached to video files. Ensure your videos rely entirely on text, high-contrast typography, and visuals to get your message across on the sales floor.

4. Playlist Architecture & Content Balance

Balancing Your Loop: Promotions vs. Education & Brand Vibe

A great promotional playlist drives sales while building your store's community identity. When building out your marketing loop, aim to split your slides across these two core categories:

• Promotions & Smart Tag Menus (70%): Daily deals, bundle discounts, featured vendor pop-ups, and fresh product drops. This is also where you utilize Budvue Smart Tag Menus—custom promotional slides you create by tagging specific products in your inventory that you want to highlight, and choosing exactly which slide template to display them on.

• Education, Vibe & Community (30%): Non-sales content that informs your customers and builds your store's identity. This includes quick terpene breakdowns or consumption tips, alongside "ambiance" assets like your Instagram handle, upcoming community events, store hours, local partnerships, or clean lifestyle graphics that fit your dispensary's aesthetic.

The Media Mix: Video vs. Static

• The Perfect Balance: We recommend a mix of 60% Static Images and 40% Video/Animation.

• Why it works: In a retail cannabis environment, subtle movement naturally draws the eye of waiting customers. Alternating between clean, static promotional graphics and a moving slide keeps the screen engaging without overstimulating the viewer.

• Leveraging Smart Tags: Budvue Smart Tag Menus are perfect for this mix. By manually selecting featured items to showcase on our dynamic slide layouts, you can easily incorporate clean, eye-catching text and motion effects, helping you hit that 40% movement sweet spot effortlessly.

• Pro-Tip: Avoid making a playlist out of 100% video files. Keeping 60% of your loop static gives the media player's hardware memory a chance to "breathe" and ensures your core promotional text remains crisp and easy to read.

5. How the Playlist Loop Works

The Budvue app downloads your playlist assets directly onto the device's local storage and plays them in a continuous, chronological loop (Slide 1, Slide 2, Slide 3, then back to Slide 1).

• The Cache Delay: When you save changes in the dashboard, the TV device will finish its current loop before fetching the new files in the background. Allow 10 to 15 minutes for new imagery to fully sync to the screen.

Expected result: Following these guidelines ensures files upload instantly, menus update within minutes, and playback loops seamlessly without a single stutter.

Contact Support

If you need assistance checking your asset ratios or are encountering upload errors in the dashboard, email tvsupport@budvue.com with:

• Your store name and location.

• The file you are trying to upload.

• A description of what is happening.