Advertising Monitor

The Advertising Monitor is digital signage for your venue: a program of cards with your items, promotions and menu plays on the TV in the hall. You put the program together in the admin panel, press "Publish" — and the TV picks it up by itself, nothing needs restarting.

Open: Admin panel → Advertising → Advertising Monitor.

Card types#

Each screen is a program of cards. Three types are available:

Item cards take the photo, name and price straight from the catalog — nothing has to be entered twice, and the screen stays correct after a price change. You can crop the photo, turn on a slow "living" motion or cut the item out of its background — AI does the cutout in one click. A promotion can be linked to a catalog item: when the item runs out, the promotion is not shown.

Creating a screen and its program#

1. In the Advertising Monitor section press "Add screen" — the wizard "What should this screen do?" opens.
2. Choose the job: sell items, show the menu and prices, announce a promotion, entertain the queue, shop window or checkout display.
3. Pick what to show (catalog items or the promotion text), look at the preview and choose when to show it — all the time or in the "Morning", "Day", "Evening" slots.
4. Press "Publish and connect". The TV connection window opens after publishing is confirmed. If confirmation is missing, the wizard asks you to retry.

You can then edit the program: cards on the left, a live preview in the centre and card settings on the right. "On screen now" calculates what the program should show at the selected time and explains skipped cards. It is not a screenshot of the TV.

Draft, publishing and history#

Edits in the editor are saved as a draft — the top of the editor says "Draft · not published". While you work, the TV keeps showing the previous program and never flashes a half-finished one.

When you are ready, press "Publish". The top of the editor shows how publishing goes:

• "Waiting for confirmation…" and "Accepted · publishing to screens…" — the program is on its way;
• "✓ Published" — the program is published; the TV usually receives it in 1–6 minutes. Network problems or a different update interval can make this longer. Look for "Version N applied" in the screen list;
• "Queued: no connection — it will be sent automatically" — your internet dropped; publishing will go through when the connection is back;
• "⚠ Publishing not confirmed" — no reply has arrived yet; publishing may still finish later. Press "Retry"; the changes will not be applied twice;
• "⚠ Not published: the program was changed" — while you were editing, the program was published from another device; nothing was replaced, take the fresh version or publish over it.

Every publication goes into history (the last 20). To restore yesterday’s program, choose "History" → "Restore", then "Publish". Deleting the last screen sends a publication immediately; the TV changes after its next update.

To remove the program, choose "⋯" → "Remove the program from the screen" in the hub. The TV stays paired. "Unlink device" in the device list stops its reports, but the program already open on it keeps playing.

If the editor reports a missing image or video, open the indicated card or placeholder, upload the file again and publish. Dismissing the warning does not restore the file.

Connecting the TV#

Connect the TV with a code#

1. Open the browser on the TV or set-top box and enter the short address tv.<your service domain> — for example, tv.cenaly.com.
2. The screen shows a six-character code (for example, 8P2-9JV) and a QR code.
3. In the admin panel open "Advertising" → "Advertising Monitor" → "Connect the TV" and enter the code — or point your phone camera at the QR code and the code fills in by itself. Choose the location and the screen.
4. The TV asks "Connect this TV?" with the location and screen names — press OK on the remote.

The program starts playing at the same address, and after a restart the TV shows it without a code. The code alone does nothing: only "OK" on the TV completes the connection. A code lives 10 minutes; if it has expired, press OK and a new one appears. The screen's row in the admin panel shows that the TV is online and which program version it has applied.

"Connection" menu on the remote. Hold OK for two seconds or press it three times. The menu offers "Change assignment", "Diagnostics" and "Screen margins". If edges are cut off, first try the TV’s "Just Scan" or "Screen Fit" mode. In margin calibration, left/right change the side margins and up/down change the top and bottom margins. OK saves; Back cancels. Margins shrink the display area rather than move the picture.

Which TV works#

The screen works most reliably on an Android TV or Google TV box with Chrome 105 or newer. The TV's built-in browser may also work, but old browsers cannot cope — in that case the screen itself will suggest connecting a box.

Other ways#

In the "Connect the TV" window, the "Other ways to connect" section has a direct link to the screen and its QR code — for a tablet, a computer or a TV where the short address did not open. Open the link in a browser and switch to full screen (F11 in most browsers).

Without internet and when something goes wrong#

• Saved programs and files can play for up to 7 days from the last confirmed connection. Restarting offline also requires the app itself to have been saved beforehand. An incomplete download or cleared browser storage can prevent this. Prices have a separate freshness limit; after a week the screen switches to a neutral placeholder.
• If loading fails and no saved program is available, the TV shows "Connecting…" and retries automatically. The initial loading screen can be dark before this message appears.
• If the screen was deleted or its program removed, the TV shows "Monitor is not set up yet" — connect it to the right screen again.
• During opening hours, the system aims to report a lost connection in the work chat within 15 minutes and opens a case in "Needs decision". Delivery failures can cause delays; the hub shows a late alert or missing delivery confirmation. The case closes when the connection recovers.
• If the TV is connected but shows only an unplanned screensaver, the hub explains why: for example, items are missing from the published menu or blocked by the stop list, country rules or dates. After 15 consecutive minutes during opening hours, the system sends a work-chat message. After 5 minutes of normal playback, it sends a recovery message. Scheduled breaks, pauses and disabled playback do not trigger this alert.

Country advertising rules#

The screen checks every card against the advertising rules of your location's country (the country comes from the location settings). This is not legal advice: the service shows which rule applied, and the decision stays with you.

• Restricted categories — alcohol, tobacco and vapes, medicines, dietary supplements, gambling, energy drinks. For an item, the category comes from a badge in the catalog; for a promotion, the ticker and your own placeholder you answer "What does it advertise?". Until there is an answer, such a card or ticker does not go on screen, and your own placeholder is replaced with a neutral one — the venue name and opening hours.
• "Where the screen faces" — "Into the hall" or "Into the window, seen from the street". The rules are stricter for a window; until you choose, the window rules apply.
• Warning plate — if a rule requires one, the screen adds it by itself, and it cannot be removed.
• State language — where the law requires text in the state language, the screen checks its share and size in the frame; the editor suggests which translation to add.

Cards that do not pass the rules are marked ⛔ — with the name of the rule and a hint on what to do.

Screen settings#

The ⚙ button in the editor opens the screen settings:

• Time slots — "Morning", "Day", "Evening" or your own with days of the week and hours; a card marks which slots it belongs to. Time follows the venue's clock.
• Aspect ratio — 16:9 for a landscape TV, 9:16 for a portrait screen or stand, plus 4:3, 3:4, 1:1 and 21:9.
• Card duration — how many seconds each card is shown; a single card can have its own time.
• Style — ready-made looks (Classic, Luxe, Neon, Fresh, Bold and others); the accent colour and headline font are set separately.
• Screen language — names and captions are shown in it; promotion texts can be translated by hand in the "Translations" block.
• Show prices — one price switch for the whole screen (handy for a window display without price tags).
• Ticker — a line at the bottom of the screen: Wi-Fi password, a promotion, an announcement.
• Where the screen faces — "Into the hall" or "Into the window, seen from the street".
• How often to check for updates — once every 60 seconds by default (from 15 seconds to an hour).

A screen can be turned off for a while ("Turn the show off" in the screen's "⋯" menu): the advertising stops, the TV itself is not switched off, and the settings are kept.

Several screens per location#

One location can have several screens with different programs — for example, for the hall, the bar counter and the shop window. Each screen connects to its own TV; a program can be copied to another screen from the "⋯" menu.

A chain of several locations. "⋯" → "Copy to another location…" moves a screen's program to one or more other locations — cards, schedule, ticker, languages and pictures. The copy lands as a draft: it reaches the TVs only after "Publish" in that location's editor. Prices always come from the catalog, and cards for items the location does not sell are not copied — before copying, the window shows for each location how many cards will be copied and what will not, and why. If the location already has screens, you can add the program as a new screen or replace the program of one of them. After copying, press "Open and check": the program check uses that location's country, languages and advertising rules.

The screen shows the truth of the menu#

The player works out availability and price by the same rules as the till, storefront, kiosk and aggregators:

• stop-list «86» — an item taken off by the cook leaves the card; in a menu-board row the price is replaced with a "Sold out" plate in the screen's language;
• item and menu schedule — breakfast is not shown in the evening;
• happy-hour price — the screen shows the same price the till will charge.

All of this is recalculated by the location's clock about once a minute, so happy hour starts and ends on screen by itself, without restarting the TV. Prices are not typed into cards by hand: the screen always shows the catalog price. New prices and the stop list reach the TV without a restart: the screen re-reads the menu every 5 minutes, so this usually takes 5–10 minutes, and up to 15 minutes on some brands.

More about the rules — Schedules and Happy Hour.

Related sections#

• Schedules and Happy Hour — stop-list «86», item schedules and happy-hour prices
• Menu printing — print a menu or a poster with items
• QR menu — QR codes for guests on the tables
• Analytics — views and guest activity
• Multiple locations — managing several locations

Frequently asked questions#

Do I need special equipment or a set-top box?#

Best of all — an Android TV or Google TV box (Chrome 105 or newer): the screen runs reliably on it. A Smart TV's built-in browser, a tablet or a computer will also do if the browser is not too old — otherwise the screen itself will suggest a box.

What happens if the internet goes down in the hall?#

Playback can continue for up to 7 days from the last confirmed connection if the program, files and app were saved beforehand. This also allows an offline restart. Incomplete or cleared storage cannot guarantee it; prices have a separate freshness limit. After a week, a neutral placeholder appears.

Can I show video on cards?#

Yes. On a promotion card you can upload a video instead of an image (MP4 and other popular formats). The video plays muted in a loop.

How fast do changes appear on screen?#

Usually 1–6 minutes after "✓ Published". Your update interval or network problems may make it longer. "Version N applied" in the hub confirms that the player page received the program. If edits are missing, check that you pressed "Publish".

Does the number of screens affect my plan?#

No. The ad monitor is included in every plan, including Free, and your plan does not limit the number of screens. Screens are not charged separately. Bring your TV and box; AI suggestions use AI credits. You can register up to 24 devices per location. Remove old records with "Forget" in the device list. Programs and devices are different: several TVs can show the same program. See the app store and Subscription for terms.