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FrameOS

An operating system for single function smart frames.​

It's designed for both screens that update 60 frames per second, and for screens that update 60 seconds per frame. Think smart home calendars, meeting room displays, thermostats, interactive message boards, public advertisement screens, and more.

FrameOS is written in nim, and gets compiled into a single binary when deployed.

What do you need?​

  • A display of some sort. E-ink or LCD. Take your pick from Waveshare or Pimoroni's e-ink HATs, or hook up a TV with an HDMI cable.
  • A Raspberry Pi.
    • For maximum peformance, (e.g. 60FPS over HDMI) you'll need a Raspberry Pi 5.
    • If size matters, use the Zero W 2. It's great for eink displays, and can even do 24 FPS on small LCDs.
  • A server to host the FrameOS backend. It'll need to be able to connect to the frames over SSH. Use Tailscale on all devices if they're not all in the same network.

FrameOS backend​

You use this self-hosted application to deploy scenes onto frames.

FrameOS backend

Sample frames​

Here are some frames I have around the house.

Door frame Hallway dashboard 5.7" 7-colorKitchen Calendar Kitchen calendar 12.48" 3-color
Bathroom frame Bathroom thermostat 2.1" LCDPasta frame Scan the code to change the text
Kiwi 12.48" 3-color dithered artTimmy Tommy More 12.48" 3-color wall art

Sample scenes​

Deploy your first scene from the list of prebuilt templates.

Scenes

Scene editor​

Create new scenes using the diagram editor.

Editor

App editor​

Go even deeper and edit the source behind each app on the scene

Fork OpenAI

Getting started​

  1. Start by installing the FrameOS backend.
  2. Then set up the raspberry, while following the device guide for your specific screen.
  3. Finally, read the rest of the guide to learn how to build your own scenes.

Status​

FrameOS is good enough for small-time usage. Most of the core concepts are in place.

There is no numbered release yet. A FrameOS/frameos:latest docker image is generated for every push to main. While we take great care not to break things, there are no guarantees at this point.

If you're the adventurous type, please try it out, and help out. Look at the tasklist for ideas. Don't ask for permission, just submit a PR. If you're not sure, open an issue and we'll discuss it.

Next steps​