Pishow is a lightweight slideshow solution designed specifically for older devices—including outdated smart TVs and tablets. It delivers a simple HTML page that continuously cycles through images and videos stored on your network. With no reliance on JavaScript (using meta refresh instead), Pishow is ideal for browsers with limited or no scripting support.
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Multi-Device Operation:
Each device maintains its own media queue and state, ensuring personalized playback and seamless resumption across sessions. -
Persistent State & Queue Management:
Device-specific settings and media queues are saved to disk using lightweight binary files. The media list updates automatically as files are added, removed, or modified. -
Device Identification:
Unique identifiers are generated based on the device’s user-agent and IP address, allowing each device to have its own configuration. -
Flexible Media Support:
Supports images and videos in various formats, depending on your device's capabilities. -
Customizable Settings Panel:
Each device can be individually configured via a settings page (/go):- Photo Display Time: Set the duration (minimum 5 seconds) for which photos are shown.
- Only Photo Mode: Display only images and skip videos.
- Sequential Mode: Play media in sequential order (new media are appended without random shuffling).
- Counters & File Names: Optionally display playback counters and file names.
- Video Background Mode: Choose between continuous video playback or a static background. In static mode, a frame is extracted from the video; if that fails, an image from the library is used, or a gradient is generated as a fallback.
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Admin Panel:
Accessible at/admin, the admin panel provides:- An overview of all connected devices along with their settings and current media queue status.
- Controls to update the media list, clear individual device queues, delete devices, and remotely edit device settings.
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Automatic Media Conversion:
New media files can be uploaded (via the admin panel or directly to the designated folder) and are automatically converted—images are compressed and resized (up to 3840×2160 at ~60% quality) and videos re-encoded to MP4—using FFmpeg and supporting libraries.
Dependencies: ffmpeg, pillow-heif, httpx (installed via requirements.txt).
Many modern slideshow solutions rely on JavaScript and heavy frameworks that can cause compatibility issues on older devices. Pishow offers a minimalist, resource-efficient alternative by using:
- No Scripts: Pure HTML with meta refresh.
- Customizable, Device-Specific Settings: Each device can be tailored to its own capabilities.
- Low Resource Consumption: Designed to run smoothly on legacy hardware.
Compatibility depends on your device’s codecs and supported formats.
Recommended:
- Images:
.jpg,.jpeg,.png - Videos:
.mp4,.mov
Note: Video duration detection may not work perfectly for all formats. Converting media with tools like
ffmpegis recommended for non-standard formats.
| Device | OS/Browser | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| LG Smart TV (webOS 3.0) | Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; NetCast) AppleWebKit/537.31 Chrome/38.0 | Runs continuously for over 2 hours. Some devices may not support video looping—static background mode is used instead. |
| iPad 2 (16GB) | Safari (iOS 9.3.5) | Stable playback with full support for customizable settings. |
Note: On devices with limited RAM or when playing very large files, playback may be interrupted. For example, one tested TV restarted when attempting to display a panorama image with a resolution of 12,000+ pixels and a size over 24MB.
For optimal performance, consider the following tips:
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Compress Videos:
Use Rotato Video Compressor orffmpegto re-encode videos. A recommended ffmpeg command (often better than Rotato) is:ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -c:v libx264 -preset slow -crf 30 -pix_fmt yuv420p -movflags faststart -c:a aac -b:a 128k output.mp4
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Resize Images:
Resize images to match your display resolution, set JPEG quality to 60–70%, and remove unnecessary metadata.
Tip: If your device struggles with rotated videos (a common issue with mobile recordings), re-encoding will ensure correct rotation and aspect ratio since many decoders do not honor the rotate attribute.
git clone https://github.com/nikmedoed/pishow.git
cd pishowpython3 -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements.txtEdit the .env file to specify the path to your media folder:
MEDIA_DIR = /path/to/gallerypython run.pyBy default, the server runs on http://0.0.0.0:8000. Open this URL in your browser on your device.
To run Pishow automatically on startup:
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Create a systemd service file:
sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/pishow.service
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Add the following content:
[Unit] Description=Pishow Slideshow After=network.target [Service] User=youruser WorkingDirectory=/home/youruser/pishow ExecStart=/home/youruser/pishow/venv/bin/uvicorn run:app --host 0.0.0.0 --port 8000 --reload=false Restart=always EnvironmentFile=/home/youruser/pishow/.env [Install] WantedBy=multi-user.target
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Enable and start the service:
sudo systemctl daemon-reload sudo systemctl enable pishow.service sudo systemctl start pishow.service
Pishow includes an update script to simplify the update process. Simply run:
./update.shThis script will pull the latest changes from the repository and restart the service if necessary.
If you find Pishow useful or have suggestions for improvement, please open an issue or submit a pull request.
The first version was based on JavaScript with modern styles and transition effects. This version is minimalistic. If you’d like to implement a modern mode with advanced features, feel free to fork the project and contribute.
Pishow leverages iphone-inline-video for improved video support on older iOS devices. Many thanks to fregante and all contributors!
This README is current as of the latest update. Contributions and feedback are welcome.
