Deliver content in the right format

Why format matters

Screenbird uploads your images and videos unchanged: what you upload is what the player plays. That delivers maximum quality, but it means your content format directly determines how smoothly your screens run.

A 4K video on a Full HD screen forces the player to downscale every frame. That costs CPU, GPU, and memory. On weaker players (Fire TV Stick Lite, older Raspberry Pi, entry-level Android) this leads to:

  • Stutter between items in a playlist
  • Slower transitions
  • Memory pressure with multiple zones or long playlists
  • Higher bandwidth with no visible difference

The same applies to photos. A 24-megapixel photo on a 1920x1080 screen is 12 times more pixels than visible, and costs proportionally more memory to decode.

Guidelines per screen

Full HD screen (1920x1080)

  • Images: 1920x1080 (landscape) or 1080x1920 (portrait)
  • Video: 1920x1080, H.264 or HEVC, 5-10 Mbps bitrate

4K screen (3840x2160)

  • Images: 3840x2160 (landscape) or 2160x3840 (portrait)
  • Video: 3840x2160, H.264 or HEVC, 15-25 Mbps bitrate

LED banner or video wall

Use Pixel Mapping to follow the pixel layout of your screen.

Match orientation

Deliver content in your screen's orientation. If your screen is mounted landscape, deliver landscape content. If portrait, deliver portrait content. On a mismatch, the player automatically scales with bars or cropping. It works, but wastes screen real estate.

Photos: practical tips

  • Maximum file size: 2-3 MB per photo. Larger is allowed, but delivers no visible difference and costs memory.
  • Resize before upload: free tools like Squoosh (squoosh.app) do this in seconds in your browser.
  • Format: JPG for photos, PNG for transparency or flat color areas, WebP for the best compression.

Video: practical tips

  • Codec: H.264 (universal) or HEVC/H.265 (better compressed, smooth on modern hardware)
  • Container: MP4 is supported by all Screenbird players
  • Bitrate: HD 5-10 Mbps, 4K 15-25 Mbps. Higher = heavier, no visible gain.
  • Framerate: 30 fps standard, 60 fps only for fast motion
  • Audio: AAC or no audio. Signage screens usually run muted.

Designer: design at screen format

In the Designer, use the same canvas format as your screen: HD screen gives an HD canvas, 4K screen a 4K canvas. The output is a PNG that the player displays 1:1, no scaling.

Symptoms of overweight content

Recognize these issues? Check your content format first:

  • Brief freeze between items in a playlist
  • Slow transitions (cross-fade stutters)
  • Player restarts or crashes on large files
  • Long load time before content appears on screen

On weaker hardware (Fire TV Stick Lite, Pi 4 with 4K content, entry-level Android boxes) these are often hardware limits, not Screenbird bugs. Lower your content resolution, or pick a more powerful player such as Fire TV Stick 4K Max or Raspberry Pi 5.

Checklist before every upload

  • Resolution matches your screen (HD or 4K)
  • Orientation matches your screen (landscape or portrait)
  • Photos under 3 MB
  • Videos H.264 or HEVC, reasonable bitrate
  • Audio off, unless specifically needed

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