Grafana dashboards on digital signage, NOC walls and office TVs

Show the dashboards your engineers already built on any screen, without putting a Grafana login on a TV. The ScreenTinker server renders the dashboard to an image, and every screen of the same size shares that one picture.

How it works

• The server renders, the screen displays. ScreenTinker asks Grafana for a PNG of the dashboard, or one panel, and sends the image to screens. The screen never talks to Grafana and never holds a Grafana token.
• One render per screen size. Screens of the same size share a render, so ten lobby screens don’t mean ten renders.
• It stays up when Grafana doesn’t. If Grafana stops answering, screens keep the last image with a small “Showing the last image” note.
• Refresh on your schedule. Every 5 minutes by default, and as often as every 30 seconds.
• Works on every player. It’s an image, so even an old TV browser shows it.

You can show a single panel instead of the whole dashboard, set a time range such as now-6h, pass template variables (var-host=web1) and pick a light or dark theme. A Grafana public dashboard also works as a public link, with no token.

Set it up

1. Install the Grafana Image Renderer, as the plugin or as the remote rendering service. Without it nothing renders.
2. Create a service account in Grafana with the Viewer role, and add a token.
3. In ScreenTinker, an organization owner or admin opens Settings → BI dashboards → Add a connection → Grafana, and enters the Grafana address and the token. Test also checks that the renderer is there.
4. Add a BI Dashboard widget, choose the connection and Browse for a dashboard, or enter its UID (the part after /d/).
5. Put the widget in a playlist and assign it to your screens.

Full options are in docs/bi-dashboards.md.

Grafana on your own network

The ScreenTinker server connects to Grafana, not the screen. On hosted ScreenTinker, private addresses (10.x, 192.168.x, localhost and so on) are refused, so a hosted server can’t reach into your LAN. If your Grafana is internal only, self-host ScreenTinker on that network and switch on Allow a private network address for the connection. Cloud metadata and link-local addresses stay refused either way.

Limits

• The Grafana Image Renderer is required.
• It’s a picture, not an interactive dashboard: nobody can click into a panel on the screen.
• A hosted instance can only reach a Grafana that is on the public internet.

FAQ

How do I put a Grafana dashboard on a TV?

Install the Grafana Image Renderer, create a Viewer service-account token, add a Grafana connection in ScreenTinker’s Settings, then add a BI Dashboard widget and pick the dashboard. Put the widget in a playlist for the TV.

Does the TV need to log in to Grafana?

No. The ScreenTinker server renders the dashboard to an image and sends that. The token stays on the server, encrypted.

What happens if Grafana goes down?

Screens keep showing the last image, with a small note saying so, until Grafana answers again.

Can I show a Grafana instance that is only on our LAN?

Yes, with a self-hosted ScreenTinker on that network: turn on Allow a private network address for the connection. Hosted ScreenTinker refuses private addresses.