The wall lives in a browser. Anything that runs Chrome or Safari full-screen on a screen at your venue can run it. This guide covers the three setups that account for ~95% of events, plus the gotchas we’ve seen on the other 5%.
Pick a display setup
In rough order of reliability:
Setup 1: Laptop plugged into the venue screen (most reliable)
What you need:
- Any laptop that runs current Chrome or Safari.
- An HDMI cable (most venues have one; bring a spare with USB-C adapter).
- A power adapter — never run on battery alone for a 4+ hour event.
Steps:
- Plug into the venue screen and confirm display.
- Open Chrome or Safari and load your wall URL.
- Press F11 (Windows/Linux) or Ctrl+Cmd+F (Mac) for full-screen.
- Disable sleep, screensaver, and notifications (see the checklist below).
This is what we recommend for galas and weddings — anything where reliability matters more than tidiness.
Setup 2: Streaming stick with browser
Devices that work:
- Amazon Fire TV with the Silk browser (free).
- Chromecast with the Google TV interface — sideload a browser like Puffin.
- Apple TV — use AirPlay to mirror a phone or laptop running the wall.
This is the tidiest setup (no laptop visible at the venue) but slightly more fragile. We recommend it for corporate events and conferences where someone technical is on site.
Setup 3: Smart TV with a built-in browser
Some venue TVs (Samsung Tizen, LG webOS) have a usable browser. They work fine for static slideshows but can underperform on dense mosaic layouts at 4K. Run a dry run before committing.
[SCREENSHOT: three side-by-side device setups labeled Laptop, Streaming stick, Smart TV]
What to ask the venue AV lead
A short email a week before the event saves an hour of fumbling on event day. The four questions to ask:
- What input does the screen accept? HDMI is universal; some older venues are still on VGA (you’ll need an adapter).
- What resolution is the screen? 1080p is fine for most modes; 4K matters mostly for mosaic and magazine layouts. See Use 4K displays and projectors.
- Is there a wired ethernet jack near the screen? Wired beats Wi-Fi every time.
- Can we leave a laptop on-stage all night? Many venues will, but some have aesthetic restrictions you want to know about in advance.
Pre-event checklist (10 minutes)
Do this once, in advance, not at 5pm on event day:
- Disable sleep. Set the laptop or device to “Never sleep” in display and power settings.
- Disable screensaver.
- Turn off notifications. Both the OS notification center and any browser extensions. A Slack popup mid-event is not a good look.
- Enable full-screen. F11 in Chrome on Windows; Cmd+Ctrl+F in Safari on Mac.
- Disable auto-update. Windows will helpfully restart for an update at the worst possible moment.
- Test for 15 continuous minutes. Mosaic mode on a slow laptop can heat-throttle after about 10 minutes. If you see frame-rate drops, switch to slideshow or downgrade the cell density.
- Test with a real phone upload. Scan the QR, upload a test photo, watch it appear on the wall.
Configure three wall settings before the doors open
Three things to check from the admin dashboard the day of the event:
- Presentation mode. Final-locked. See Choose the right presentation mode if you’re still deciding.
- Moderation strictness. Auto-approve (no manual review) vs. manual review per photo. Galas should be on manual review; festivals can be on auto.
- The pause control is on your phone. Open the admin dashboard on your phone and confirm the Pause wall button is accessible. You’ll want it at toast time or during the first dance.
Things that have gone wrong
These are the failure modes we’ve actually seen — they’re rare but every one of them happened to someone’s wedding:
- HDMI cable too short. Bring a 25-foot cable in your event-day bag.
- Laptop sleeps during the speeches. Disable sleep in advance. Sleep settings are sneaky on some OSes — verify by leaving the lid open for 20 minutes with no activity.
- Notification popup over the wall. Turn off notifications. Especially Slack, Teams, calendar reminders, and Windows update prompts.
- Wi-Fi degrades when the venue fills up. Use wired ethernet at the display when possible. The display only needs to receive photos, not upload them, so bandwidth requirements are modest — but a flaky connection still hurts.
- The wrong tab is fullscreen. Close every other browser tab before going fullscreen. Pinch zoom can also get you in trouble — make sure zoom is at 100%.
If you do hit a problem mid-event, see Wall display goes blank or crashes for the fastest recovery path.
What to do next
- Choose the right presentation mode for your room and audience.
- Use 4K displays and projectors if the venue screen warrants it.
- Pause and resume the wall so you know how to handle the speeches.