DenwiseWall displays & parts
What to buy to run Denwise, and how to add extra screens around the house — a tablet in the kitchen, a spare Pi by the back door, an old monitor in the hall. Every screen just points a browser at your hub.
1 · The hub
The hub runs the software. Pick one of these.
🍓 Raspberry Pi 5 Recommended
The full appliance: boots straight into Denwise, drives a wall touchscreen, and hosts every other display in the house. The smoothest experience.
Pi 5 (4 GB is plenty) · official 27 W USB-C power · a good A2 microSD (32 GB+) or an NVMe HAT + SSD · a case with a fan.
🐳 A machine you already own
Have a NAS, mini-PC, or home server? Run Denwise in Docker and skip buying a Pi. Open it from any browser on your network. Fastest way to start.
No new hardware. See Docker quick-start.
Wall touchscreen for the hub (optional)
If you want the hub itself mounted on a wall, add a touchscreen. The official Raspberry Pi Touch Display 2 (7") suits a hallway; for a "family command center" a larger HDMI touch monitor (10–15") reads better across a room. Any HDMI monitor works if you don't need touch.
2 · Extra display-only screens
A second and third screen — the kitchen, the entryway, a kid's room — don't each need their own hub. They just open one of your hub's display screens (a read-only, input-free dashboard at its own /display/… address). Set them up right from the hub: Settings → Home Layout & Display → the “Set up” button on a screen gives you a QR code and the exact steps for each option below.
📱 A tablet or old phone Easiest
Open the display screen in the tablet's browser (scan the QR from the hub), then Add to Home Screen and launch it — full screen, no chrome. Lock it there with iPad Guided Access or Android screen pinning. A cheap stand or a wall mount and you're done.
Reuses a device you already have. Great for renters — nothing to mount or flash.
🥧 A spare Raspberry Pi
Flash Raspberry Pi OS Lite, then run our one-line kiosk installer (the hub gives you the exact command with your screen's address baked in). It boots straight to the display and stays there.
A Pi Zero 2 W is the practical floor and the cheapest path; a Pi 3/4/5 is smoother if the screen shows lots of photos. Add power, an SD card, and any HDMI monitor.
🖥️ An old monitor or laptop
Anything with a browser works. Point an old laptop, an all-in-one, or a monitor-on-a-Pi at the display URL and leave it in full-screen. No install needed on a laptop — just open the page and press full-screen (F11).
Reuses what's in the closet. Zero cost.
3 · Setting up a display screen
- Make the screen on the hub. In Settings → Home Layout & Display, open the designer and add a display screen (or use the ready-made per-member screens). Arrange its widgets and give it a name like “Kitchen”.
- Set its on/off & dim schedule (optional). Still in the designer, switch to that screen and hit ⚙️ — set when it dims and when it goes black. The page dims and blacks itself on that schedule, so it works the same on a tablet, a Pi, or a laptop.
- Put it on the wall. Back in Settings, tap Set up next to the screen and follow the option you're using:
- Tablet/phone: scan the QR → Add to Home Screen → launch → lock with Guided Access / screen pinning.
- Raspberry Pi: download the setup script (button is right there), copy it to the Pi, and run the shown command. Reboot — it boots to your screen.
- Laptop/monitor: open the URL and press full-screen.
Reaching the hub from a display works exactly like reaching it from a phone — same network by name (homehub.local) or IP, another VLAN by IP, or anywhere over Remote Access. See Reaching your hub.