How to Build an Epic TV Analytics Dashboard: The Ultimate Beginners Guide

Are you looking to stay on top of your data in these uncertain times? Do you want to make data-driven decisions that will help your business or personal finances thrive? If so, a TV dashboard may be just what you need, or at least make your office look really good in the process.

In this guide, you'll discover my secrets to creating a professional-grade TV dashboard that won't break the bank. As someone who's been designing TV dashboards for over a decade, I know what it takes to make a dashboard that works for businesses of all sizes.

I'll walk you through everything you need to know, from the benefits of using a TV dashboard to the best Tech-Stack Hack for building one. So if you're ready to take control of your data and make better decisions, read on!

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What is a TV Dashboard?

A TV dashboard is a device used for displaying business, financial or personal metrics on a large format TV screen mounted to a wall.  It provides teams, customers, or even family members the ability to visualize important data in near real-time to track productivity and key performance indicators (KPIs).

TV Dashboard Benefits

TV dashboards offer several benefits depending on the business or environment they are displayed in. Some of these benefits include, but are not limited to the following:

• Increased efficiency: A TV dashboard allows you to view and analyze important data and metrics at a glance, helping you make informed decisions and streamline your business processes.

• Improved communication: A TV dashboard can serve as a central hub for communication and collaboration, keeping your team informed and up-to-date on key performance indicators and project progress.

• Enhanced visualization: A TV dashboard allows you to visualize data in a clear and concise manner, making it easier to identify trends and patterns.

• Real-time updates: A TV dashboard can display real-time data, allowing you to make timely and informed decisions based on the most current information.

• Increased engagement: A TV dashboard can help engage and motivate your team by providing a visual representation of their contributions and progress.

I have also noticed many clients like to use these as an aesthetic effect for their business.  Having a large analytics device on the wall with lots of numbers, charts, and colors can help distinguish their business as being cutting edge to potential clients and customers.

TV Dashboard Components

Your TV dashboard is comprised of 2 main ingredients, the hardware (your TV or display device as well as the PC) and the software (the application you are going to run your analytics on).  As you can imagine there are many ways to configure these two components for your TV dashboard, this article will focus on my preferred way to do this which is both easy and affordable.

Hardware

TV or Display Device: The TV is likely to be the biggest cost associated with this project. However, with the plethora of options available on Amazon, you can still find a decent 50" TV for under $400.

It's important to select a TV with high resolution and a power USB port to save on limited power outlets and automate your PC turning on with your TV simultaneously. If you already have a TV that you can repurpose for this project, that's great. Just make sure it has an HDMI input and is at least HD resolution.

You can always upgrade to a better TV later on if you choose to, below are a few options to choose from.

Bonus tip:  If you want to control your TV dashboard with Alexa or another other home assistant software, then purchase a TV that is compatible with your system.  This will allow you to use 'routines' that will turn the TV dashboard on and off at whatever time of day you like or allow you to turn it on with your voice. 

Computer: At this point you should have your TV selected and possibly even mounted, now it's time to choose the computer that is going to provide the dashboard experience.

There are several ways to do this which include using Raspberry Pis, laptops, PC towers, etc.  However, my preferred solution that I'm going to show you is using a Windows-based PC Stick. 

A PC stick is a small, portable device that can be plugged into any HDMI-compatible display and function as a computer. It is about the size of a large USB drive and includes a processor, memory, storage, and wireless connectivity.

PC sticks come in 2 flavors; with a fan and without a fan.  While the fan versions may be slightly noisier, they do an excellent job of keeping the device cool. On the other hand, the fanless version is quiet but can get extremely hot, which is a concern for clients who may forget to turn it off at night. 

Below is the PC stick I purchased and it has worked great for over 2 years now.

Software

There are a variety of options to set up the software for your TV dashboard, but as mentioned this article is going to focus on my preferred method which is both easy to set up and affordable.  You are going to use 3 pieces of software to achieve this:

• An Analytics/BI Tool
• Windows 10 Operating System
• Chrome Browser

Analytics/BI Tooling

There are many outstanding analytics and BI tools in the market today, and I'm going to assume you already know what these tools do, but here is a good article on some of the best out there.  I'm going to recommend 2 of my favorites for this article as a place to start.  Once you build this version, you will quickly see how you can pivot to other software solutions later if you need to.

Google Data Studio (now called Looker Studio) - This is the most budget-friendly option as the base product is completely free. Google Data Studio is a cloud-based data visualization and reporting tool that integrates with various data sources, including Google Sheets, Google Analytics, and BigQuery, and allows you to create custom charts, graphs, and tables to visualize and analyze your data.  Google Data Studio is what I like to use for my personal projects or for clients that are on a tight budget for their TV dashboard.

Pros:

• Free
• Connects to many data sources
• More functionality was added recently with the Looker acquisition

Cons:

• No REST connections are available
• Issues with SQL Connector
• No "refresh" ability available from the shared link (need a Tech-Stack Hack to deal with this one)

Klipfolio -  I have used Klipfolio for over 10 years as my preferred solution for professional dashboards. Their support team is exceptional and their flagship product uses "Klips" to quickly connect 100's of data sources and create beautiful dashboards. Additionally, they offer pre-made templates that can get you up and running in minutes as well as the ability to use HTML and Javascript to create fully customized Klips.

Pros:

• Does everything you can imagine it should, including everything Data Studio cannot

Cons:

• Expensive ($99/month for lowest tier)

How to Setup Your TV Dashboard

Windows

Now that you have all your hardware ready, it's time to set up the software for your TV dashboard. These steps are my personal preference so may adjust them to fit any individual or security needs you have.

The goal here is to create the most simple device to display your dashboard, you do NOT need all the features that come with Windows for this setup.

1. Plug the PC stick into the HDMI port of the TV using the provided cable and turn everything on.
2. Initiate the Windows setup process
3. Connect WiFi
4. Setup for "Personal Use"
5. Use "Offline Account"
6. Select "Limited Experience"
7. Set Default User
   • e.g. "Dashboard User"
   • No Password (you can change this later if necessary)
8. Turn off all the Privacy toggles
9. Skip "Customize Experience"
10. No "Cortana"
11. Setup BIOS for auto-start on power (optional)
    • Use this link for instructions on how to set up your PC stick BIOS to tell the computer to turn on when it receives power. If you have your PC stick plugged into the power USB port of your TV, it will fire up when your TV turns on and loads automagically.
12. Setup RDP (remote desktop protocol) (optional)
    • This allows you to remote into the device from your regular laptop or PC to complete the setup and for future maintenance. You must enable "no password" for RDP setting which you can read about here.

Note: These settings are designed for easy automation of powering up the dashboard and for using RDP for simple setup and maintenance. Please note that this setup has minimal security measures in place. Once your TV dashboard is up and running, you can customize the security settings as you see fit.

Chrome Setup

You will be displaying your dashboard through Chrome in this solution, this is assuming your analytics tool allows for web browser sharing (most do). 

1. Install Chrome: https://www.google.com/chrome
   • Skip everything except the "Set as Default" browser option and make sure Chrome is the default browser
2. Add a new user profile, name it, and select "Desktop Shortcut"
   • Name it something like the name of the dashboard you plan to show
   • Go to Desktop Shortcut and right-click "Properties"
   • Update Target with this information and hit OK: "C:\Program Files\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe" --profile-directory="Default" -Kiosk "<DASHBOARD URL HERE>"
3. Click Windows key + R and type "shell:startup" and hit Enter (this opens the Startup Directory)
4. Copy and paste the Chrome shortcut into the directory
5. Restart the computer and verify the dashboard loads full screen (kiosk mode) and on the visualization you wanted.

If you are using Klipfolio as your solution you are pretty much done, fine tune the setup as you see fit.

Google Data Studio does not refresh on its own unfortunately so we have to throw a Tech-Stack Hack to achieve this with the steps below by adding a Windows Task Scheduler to refresh the browser.

1. Hit Alt - F4 to exit out of Chrome Kiosk mode back to the Windows Desktop.
2. Type Task Scheduler in the Windows Search box and open it.
3. Choose Create Task (not Create Basic Task as it will not give you the right scheduling options).
4. The Create Task editor will open and enter a Name for your task (e.g. Data Studio Refresh Task); click Ok.
5. Create a new Daily Trigger and check 'Repeat task every: ' option and select how often you want it to refresh and any other settings you like.
6. Setup New Action putting "C:\Program Files\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe" into the Program/script field and --profile-directory="Default" -Kiosk "<DASHBOARD URL HERE>" into the Add arguments field and hit OK to save.
7. You will see the new Task in the Task Library, you can right-click and hit Run to see if it works as expected.

Conclusion

A TV dashboard is a powerful tool for displaying analytics and other information on a television or other display device either in your office or home. With this step-by-step guide and little patience, you too can create a TV dashboard that will amaze your clients, customers, and family!

In times of economic uncertainty, staying on top of your business's data is more important than ever. A TV dashboard is a powerful tool that allows you to visualize key metrics in real time, enabling data-driven decision-making and streamlined business processes.

A great option for setting up a TV dashboard is to use a Windows-based PC stick, which offers the convenience of a full-fledged computer in a small and portable package.

By displaying real-time data in a clear and concise manner, a TV dashboard can help your business weather any storm and come out on top!

Need Help? If you're interested in learning more or have any questions, please feel free to visit my consulting page for more information. I'm here to help you achieve your goals and overcome any technical obstacles you may encounter in your business