> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.readout.tv/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Readout's screen: a Raspberry Pi at the TV

> A Raspberry Pi plugged into the TV shows captions, reminders and calls, whatever the TV's brand.

A Raspberry Pi on one of the TV's HDMI inputs is Readout's screen for that TV. It runs the
[home agent](https://docs.readout.tv/home/home-agent.md), shows the captions and the schedule's screens itself, and switches
the TV to them, turning it on first. The TV's own remote reaches it: OK confirms a reminder.

Between times it shows the **home board**: the time, big, with the day, the date and the weather. The clock can be digits, a clock face or flip cards.

## What you need

* A Raspberry Pi 4 or Pi 5, with its power supply and a micro-HDMI to HDMI cable
* A microSD card of 8 GB or more, or a USB drive
* A computer to write the card on (Mac, Windows or Linux)
* A TV with HDMI-CEC turned on in its settings (LG calls it SimpLink, Samsung Anynet+, Sony Bravia Sync)

Optional, for more:

| Add | And the screen can |
| - | - |
| A USB webcam | let the family [drop in, or video call the TV](https://docs.readout.tv/home/video-calls.md) |
| A microphone (a webcam's, or a speakerphone) | caption the room by itself, and listen for the doorbell, a smoke alarm and more |
| A presentation clicker, such as Logitech's R500s | start captions and confirm reminders with its big button |
| A phone-line splitter and a USB sound card | [caption calls on your landline](https://docs.readout.tv/home/landline.md) |

## Set it up

**1. Make a setup link**

In the app, open **TVs and phones**, then **Set up a Raspberry Pi at the TV**. Give it a name if
you like, and press **Make a setup link**.

**2. Write the card**

Put the Pi's microSD card (or USB drive) in your computer. Paste the command the app gives into
Terminal on a Mac or Linux, or the other one into PowerShell on Windows. It finds the card,
asks before erasing it, and asks for the Wi-Fi the Pi should join. Your computer's password is
asked for once.

**3. Plug it in and switch it on**

Put the card in the Pi, plug the Pi into the TV (on a Pi 4, the HDMI port nearest the power
socket), and switch it on. In two or three minutes it's Readout's screen, already listed with
your TVs. There's nothing to type.

> [!NOTE]
>
> Setting the same Pi up again on a new card keeps it the same Pi in Readout, with what's scheduled
> on it, as long as the new card is paired within a day.

## Caption the room

With a microphone on the Pi, the screen captions the room by itself, with no phone needed: for a
visitor at the TV, say. Press **OK** on the TV's remote while the home board shows, or **Caption the
room** in the app's remote. What's said shows big on the TV. OK again, or **Stop captions** in the app, ends it, and so do 10
minutes with nothing said.

## Sounds it listens for

With a microphone, the screen can listen for **the doorbell, knocking, a smoke or fire alarm, a phone
ringing, a baby crying and a dog barking**. Choose which in **Menu → Sounds and flashing**. When it
hears one, the screen flashes and a banner says what it was, TVs showing captions say so, lights
can flash, and phones can be notified.

What it hears stays on the Pi: it never records or sends sound, only which of the six it was.

## Show your computer's screen

On a computer, open the [remote](https://docs.readout.tv/home/remote.md), choose the TV, and press **Cast your screen**. Your
browser asks what to show: the whole screen, a window or a tab. The TV turns on and shows it, as big
as fits. **Stop casting**, your browser's own **Stop sharing**, or OK on the TV's remote ends it.

It's for a browser on a computer; phones and tablets can't show their screens this way.


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