eMaa can display a only videos currently but in our next release eMaa will display composition of images, documents, online web pages and widgets.

You will be able to upload whatever media files you want to eMaa and use them. We will also support YouTube videos, Live Streaming Videos (YouTube, Ustream, and custom streams) and PowerPoint files (converted to videos, keeping all animations). All Document types will be supported and shown as slides, including PDF, PowerPoint, Word and Excel files. Our Widget collection will be there, including Scrolling Text (ticker), Rich Text, RSS Feed, will be available soon to use and we are working on adding more.

Because it sucks. Really.

Most TVs with a USB port allow you to load some media files on a USB drive and select to play them back sequentially.  That’s it.

If the TV turns off, you will have to restart the playback. Some TVs show annoying progress indicators on screen. Others, stop when the full list of media is completed. Generally, it is a nice free way to do stuff, but it really sucks.

eMaa automates the process of playback. It can turn the TV on and off, change the channel to the proper HDMI input and make sure everything goes smooth without glitches even after a power failure. And, of course, you can continuously update the content over the Internet without using USB sticks or DVD discs, and do so to 1 or 10,000 screens. Also, eMaa provides a scheduling feature. You can setup your monitors to show different things on different hours, or even power off your monitor to save power.

And all of that without discussing about eMaa being able to composite screens with multiple content, using YouTube videos, PPTs, live streaming videos, etc.

You need Internet access and a eMaa-supported playback device.

eMaa is an online service, so you need an Internet connection for signing in and managing your monitors. A eMaa-supported playback device is required for each monitor (either a Raspberry Pi you build yourself, or our very own eMaa Player). Internet connectivity is also required for the eMaa Player devices installed, either wireless (WiFi), wired (LAN) or mobile (using a 3G/4G/LTE USB dongle).

Absolutely not! eMaa was designed from scratch so that anyone can use it.

Forget the mambo-jumbo tech-stuff. The service is really easy to use and you can get our eMaa Players that are really plug-and-play. Really. And you can get them for free with our Annual Plan.

You can have any number of monitors you need.

eMaa uses scalable technologies that can support tens of thousands of monitors under a single eMaa account. We provide mass management of multiple monitors, along with tag-based searches, making eMaa an easy solution for handling thousands of units.

Hardware (Players and Monitors)

eMaa supports the Raspberry Pi and our very own eMaa Player (based on Raspberry Pi).

The Raspberry Pi is a very low cost but quite capable mini-computer which you can buy yourself from vendors worldwide, no matter where you are located. In the past, we did support using regular PCs, but we have dropped support as nobody was actually using it on a PC. We have our very own eMaa Player, based on Raspberry Pi 4 Model B. You can get all the 1GB Raspberry Pi 4 Players you need for free with our Annual Plan. Or you can opt for a 4GB Raspberry Pi 4 Player and only pay $20 if you get any of our Annual Plans. eMaa Players you get are shipped ready-to-use, with everything pre-configured. See the eMaa Player section below for details.

eMaa was built for Raspberry Pi 3 and has been enhanced to run perfectly on the Raspberry Pi 4.

The experience has been optimized for the Raspberry Pi 4, and our own eMaa Players are based on Raspberry Pi 4 Model B. We now ship the newest Raspberry Pi 4 Model B.

eMaa has been tested to work on:

  • (Aug 2019) Raspberry Pi 4 Model B  (4 cores, 1GB/2GB/4GB RAM) – The best possible experience for 1080p and 4K content.
  • Raspberry Pi 3 Model B and B+(4 cores, 1GB RAM) – Will provide you with an amazing experience on 1080p.

We also support all Raspberry Pi Compute Modules according to their respective generation as above. We do not support Raspberry Pi models with less than 1GB RAM for new production-grade installations.

eMaa software supports any type of monitor, of any resolution.

The service was designed based on the primary resolution of 1920×1080 (dubbed “Full HD” or “1080p” in the TV industry). With the Raspberry Pi 4, eMaa also supports 4K resolution. The content is automatically adapted for any resolution and any monitor, even non-widescreen monitors.

eMaa supports multiple ratios and orientations making it possible to customize and optimize your content by ratio and orientation (portrait or landscape). For resolutions supported by our eMaa Player, check out the hardware specs of the eMaa Player.

eMaa Player

The eMaa Player is our own plug-and-play Player, based on the popular Raspberry Pi 4B and Pi 3B+ computer.

eMaa needs a device that will handle playback of your media onto your monitor or TV. To make things easier for you, we created our own consumer device.

With the eMaa Player you get:

  • A Raspberry Pi 4 (Model B) mini computer (you can choose either the 1GB or 4GB version), including a metallic case that works as a heatsink to keep your Raspberry Pi 4 cool and mains power supply.
  • A 3ft-long (1m) Micro HDMI to Standard HDMI cable, for connecting the eMaa Player to your TV/monitor.
  • An 16GB SD-card, preloaded with eMaa software and preconfigured to be plug-and-play.

Sounds complicated? It is not. As soon as you plug your Player on your monitor and then on your broadband router, it will start playback from your account. Immediately.

Just send us a demo or contact us request, we will reach back you for eMaa Player.

Any eMaa Player you order will be preconfigured with your account details so that you can simply plug it in and start “eMaaing”!

Remember: With our Annual Plan, you get a 1GB Raspberry Pi 4 eMaa Player for free! And the 4GB Raspberry Pi 4 eMaa Player only costs 4500 INR with an annual Plan!

If you need any advanced configuration, you can provide it through the ordering process. For example, you can supply your WiFi network name and key and the eMaa Player will come ready to connect to your WiFi network!

Yes! eMaa ships worldwide. Our eMaa Players ship from our warehouses in the US or the EU, depending on your location, so that you receive them as quickly as possible.

There is a limited worldwide warranty of 1 year on the eMaa Player.

eMaa Player Specs

The latest version of the Raspberry Pi, featuring a 4 × Cortex-A72, 1.5 GHz CPU.

  • Broadcom BCM2711 SoC, with ARM v8 64-bit quad-core processor with 4 x Cortex-A72 cores running @ 1.5GHz and a Broadcom VideoCore VI GPU
  • GPU provides OpenGL ES 3.0 graphics, H.265 (4kp60 decode) and H264 (1080p60 decode, 1080p30 encode), supported resolution up to 4K@60Hz
  • Up to 4GB LPDDR4- 3200 SDRAM
  • 4K video and stereo audio output
  • MicroSD card slot
  • Ports:
    • BLE Gigabit Ethernet
    • 2 × micro-HDMI ports (up to 4kp60 supported)*
    • 2-lane MIPI DSI display port
    • 2-lane MIPI CSI camera port
    • 2 USB 3.0 ports; 2 USB 2.0 ports
    • 4-pole stereo audio and composite video port
    • Composite video (PAL/NTSC) output
    • 15-way MPI CSI-2 connector for Raspberry Pi HD video camera*
    • 15-way Display Serial Interface connector*
    • 40-pin header for GPIO and serial buses*
  • Required power supply: 5V DC via USB-C connector (minimum 3A*), 5V DC via GPIO header (minimum 3A*) A good quality 2.5A power supply can be used if downstream USB peripherals consume less than 500mA in total
  • Power over Ethernet (PoE) enabled (requires separate PoE HAT)
  • Dimensions: 88 x 58 x 19.5mm

* These ports not yet usable through eMaa software, but some will soon be supported! Check out our roadmap!

We provide a 16GB SD Card (Class 10), around 12GB of which is usable for media storage space (more than 10 hours of video files in Full HD and more than 4 hours of videos files in 4K). You can use up to 32GB, from which around 24GB of usable media storage space, suitable for heavy video use (up to 24 hours of video files).

All SD Cards come with software pre-installed and pre-configured with your eMaa account.

We include the Official Raspberry Pi power supply, with plugs suitable for worldwide use.

We include a 3ft (1m) micro-HDMI to HDMI cable (male-to-male), tested for 4K 60 Hz resolution.

Features

Within eMaa, there are 4 simple concepts: Media, Playlists, Widgets and Screen Layouts.

  • Media, which are things that you create or upload to eMaa and get displayed, like image files, video files, documents or web site addresses
  • Playlists, which are a collection of media that gets displayed one after the other, with a duration that you specify (to create an image slideshow or video playlist)
  • Widgets, which are drop-in, small apps displaying useful info, like RSS feed, Ticker, Rich Text, Analog/Digital Clock etc.
  • Screen Layouts, which are a composition of playlists, media and widgets, placed on a virtual monitor, e.g. a full-screen image slideshow with a video playing on one corner.

After you create your screen layouts, you just assign a default show to each of your monitors.

Beyond the default show assigned to each device, you can also assign it a single Schedule.

The Schedule determines the exact time different screen layouts get displayed. So, for example, you can setup a different show for different hours or days, or schedule to display a specific show at a given time-frame. It is very easy, but very powerful.

By using a Schedule, you can also setup the hours that you want to power-off your monitors in order to cut on electricity bill.

In an event of Internet outage, eMaa-enabled screens will continue to work fine, up to a full month.

Content displayed on your monitors is downloaded and played locally. But you won’t be able to change what gets displayed until Internet access is back. Of course, content that loads from the Internet, like Web Pages and Live Streaming Videos (except simple YouTube videos, which are downloaded locally), is not available when your devices go offline.

Yes. eMaa fully supports monitors mounted vertically.

You can design many layouts for your screens, for different resolutions, orientations and ratios. So, you can have a Show with 2 layouts, one 16:9 horizontal and one 16:9 vertical. When you assign this Show for playback, each Player selects the appropriate layout depending on its ratio and its configured orientation.

Advanced Features (tech-stuff)

Yes.

You can set HTTP Proxy and Username/Password through the configuration file. You can edit this configuration file through your PC and an SD card reader.

For our eMaa Players, all Network Settings can be configured during ordering, so it works great as soon as you plug it in!

Yes.

You can set the WiFi network name and key through the configuration file and eMaa will try to connect. All of the settings are configurable through the online eMaa Portal. You also can edit this configuration file through your PC and an SD card reader.

For our eMaa Players, all settings can be configured during ordering, so it works great as soon as you plug it in!

Yes, by using a USB dongle.

You just need to connect a 3G/4G/LTE USB dongle to the Player. All settings, like APN, Username, Password, PIN, etc, are configurable through the online eMaa Portal. You also can edit this configuration through your PC and an SD card reader directly on the SD card.

For our eMaa Players, all settings can be configured during ordering, so it works great as soon as you plug it in!

Yes.

You can set the static network information through the configuration file. All of the settings are configurable through the online eMaa Portal. You can edit this configuration file through your PC and an SD card reader.

For our eMaa Players, all Network Settings can be configured during ordering, so it works great as soon as you plug it in!

Very. We designed eMaa from the ground up with security in mind.

The eMaa service uses bank-grade security encryption, while eMaa software is always firewalled, even within your network. Nobody will ever be able to mess with your monitors. You can also fully customize the security features provided.

Pricing

eMaa is absolutely free for Public Network Use.

If you are going for P2 or Private subscription plan, it is chargable.

No.

As you have probably noticed, you did not enter any billing details when signing up. So, we will not be charging you unless you provide us with you billing details.

It is a monitor that you can use.

Each monitor under your eMaa account can either be “registered” or “unregistered”.

  • Registered monitors are monitors that have been paired with a eMaa account.
  • Unregistered monitors in your account do not have a real-world counterpart, and are waiting for a player (such as eMaa Player) to register.

Both registered and unregistered monitors can be managed the same way under your eMaa account, so you can configure settings, assign schedules, etc. But unregistered monitors cannot be actually used to display stuff, until they get registered by a player (such as eMaa Player).

eMaa is priced based on the maximum number of monitors you can have under your account.

You can freely set this limit, so it can be any number between 2 and 100. eMaa will automatically select the most suitable plan for you, which is billed monthly.

No, there is no limit whatsoever.

You can upload as much content as you want and do as many changes as you want. The only limit imposed is the number of registered monitors. As long as you subscribe for the number of registered monitors you want to operate, everything else is unlimited!