You have a polished PowerPoint presentation. You want it running on a TV screen — permanently, not just for a meeting. Here are the practical ways to do it and why some approaches work a lot better than others.
The most common approaches — and their trade-offs
Plug in a laptop or PC via HDMI
The quickest thing people reach for is a laptop connected to the TV with an HDMI cable. It works immediately and requires nothing new. But it ties up a computer, the screen turns off when the laptop sleeps, and any Windows update, notification, or accidental click disrupts whatever is showing. For a one-off presentation this is fine. For a screen that is supposed to run all day, every day, it is fragile.
Copy the file to a USB stick
Many smart TVs can read a USB drive and play video files from it. You export your PowerPoint as an MP4, copy it to a stick, and plug it into the TV. This works — once. The moment you need to update a price, change a slide, or add a new section, someone has to re-export the file, walk to the TV, and swap the drive. If you have more than one screen, you multiply the work. Staff end up avoiding updates because the process is too slow, and the screens gradually fall out of date.
Use a streaming stick (Chromecast, Fire TV)
You can cast a PowerPoint from a laptop or phone to a Chromecast or Amazon Fire TV using Google Slides or the PowerPoint mobile app. This is fine for a temporary display but requires a phone or laptop to stay active as the source. It also does not support scheduling, multiple screens, or automatic content updates.
Use digital signage software
Digital signage platforms are built specifically for the problem of running content on screens continuously and keeping it up to date. You upload your PowerPoint once, and the platform handles the rest: rendering, streaming, scheduling, and distribution to every screen in your setup.
This is the approach that works at scale — whether you have one screen or twenty.
How InfoSlides converts a PowerPoint into a live TV stream
InfoSlides takes a different approach to this problem compared to most signage tools. When you upload a PowerPoint file, InfoSlides does not just push it as a video file to each device. Instead, it converts your presentation into a continuous HLS video stream — the same protocol used for live television broadcasts.
Every screen that is paired to that slideshow pulls from the same live stream. When you update a slide, add a new one, or change the schedule, every screen reflects the change within seconds. There is no file to push, no device to sync, and no waiting for a re-render to finish.
What you need to get started
To put a PowerPoint on a TV using InfoSlides, you need:
- A PowerPoint file (.pptx) — the one you already have
- A TV with internet access — any smart TV, or a monitor connected to a streaming stick or computer
- An InfoSlides account — free, no credit card required
The three steps
1. Upload your PowerPoint. Sign in to InfoSlides and drag your .pptx file into the slideshow editor. InfoSlides renders each slide and encodes everything into a stream automatically. Most presentations are ready within a few minutes.
2. Pair your TV. On your TV, open a browser and go to infoslides.app/pair. A QR code and pairing code appear on screen. Scan the QR code from your phone — the TV connects instantly. If your TV runs Samsung Tizen or Android TV, you can install the InfoSlides app from the Samsung Galaxy Store or Google Play instead, which makes the setup even faster.
3. Assign and play. In the InfoSlides dashboard, assign your slideshow to the paired device. The TV starts streaming immediately.
Keeping content current without walking to the TV
One of the main frustrations with TV-based presentations is keeping them up to date. With InfoSlides, you update from any browser — laptop, tablet, or phone — and every paired screen reflects the change within seconds. You never touch the TV again.
For businesses that run different content at different times of day — a restaurant showing a breakfast menu in the morning and a dinner menu in the evening, for example — InfoSlides supports time-based scheduling. You set the rules once and the screen switches automatically every day.
What about animations and transitions?
InfoSlides renders your PowerPoint server-side and produces a smooth video stream, so slide transitions and basic animations are preserved. Complex animations with advanced timing may not render exactly as they appear in PowerPoint, but most standard slide decks — text, images, shapes, slide transitions — convert cleanly.
How much does it cost?
InfoSlides has a permanent free plan — one screen, no expiry, no credit card required. If you have a single TV you want to run a slideshow on, the free plan covers it indefinitely. Paid plans start at €9 per screen per month for multi-screen setups and include scheduling, live data adapters, and playback reports.
Ready to try it? Create a free InfoSlides account — your first screen is free forever.