If you’re running a digital art display operation, whether you’re a gallery curator, a retail brand testing interactive installations, or a business outfitting lobbies with rotating art, you know how critical firmware updates are. I’m the founder of a digital art display company that’s shipped thousands of units across museums, corporate offices, and boutique spaces, and over the past decade, I’ve seen first-hand what happens when firmware goes ignored: glitched animations, faded color accuracy, security vulnerabilities, and even entire displays going offline mid-exhibition. Digital Art Display
Today, I’m breaking down exactly how to update your digital art display firmware—from pre-checks to post-update tests—with the same processes my team uses to support our clients, no fancy jargon, just real steps that work for every size fleet.
First, let’s get clear: what is firmware for a digital art display, anyway? It’s not just the software that plays your art (that’s the content management system, or CMS, we design clients to use). Firmware is the low-level, embedded code that runs the display’s hardware: it controls the touch interface, adjusts brightness for different lighting conditions, manages power efficiency, and most importantly, keeps your display communicating with our cloud-based art library and any third-party tools you might use (like calendar integrations for rotating shows). We push firmware updates not just to fix bugs, but to add new features—last quarter, we rolled out an update that lets our displays sync with gallery opening schedules automatically—and patch security gaps that let unauthorized users access your content. Skipping these updates leaves your display vulnerable, and can even shorten its lifespan.
Before you even think about plugging in a USB or logging into your cloud portal, there are three non-negotiable pre-checks I walk our support team through with every client. Skipping these is the number one reason updates go wrong.
First, confirm your display model and current firmware version. This isn’t just about guessing—for our displays, you can find the firmware version in the on-screen “System Settings” menu under “About This Display.” For other brands, it’s usually in the same section, but if you’re working with our units, our support portal has a lookup tool too. Old models can’t run the latest firmware, and trying to force an incompatible update will brick the display—we’ve seen this happen twice with clients who tried to update a 3-year-old entry-level unit with the code for our 2024 flagship model. If your model is no longer supported (we typically support units for 5 years after release), we can work with you to upgrade hardware at a discounted rate—no pressure, just honest advice.
Second, back up your art and display settings. This is make-or-break. A firmware update shouldn’t touch your custom art library, your rotation schedules, or your brightness presets, but glitches happen. Last year, a client in Toronto lost 6 months of curated art because their update didn’t sync with the cloud backup, and they didn’t have a local copy. For our clients, we automatically back up all settings to our cloud every 24 hours, but if you’re using a different platform, export your content to a external USB drive or your company’s cloud storage. Also, note your current display configuration—if you calibrated color to match your gallery’s lighting, take a photo of the on-screen settings so you don’t have to redo it later.
Third, choose the right time to update. Never do this mid-exhibition, or during a live event. Firmware updates can take 10 to 45 minutes, depending on your display model and internet speed—our larger, high-resolution units take closer to 40 minutes, while entry-level models wrap up in 12. Pick a time when the display can go dark temporarily: most clients pick early morning on a slow day, or a time when they have a local on-site tech to monitor it. We also recommend making sure your internet is stable—spotty Wi-Fi or cellular service during the update will cause half-downloads, which lead to bricked displays. If your display is in a remote location with poor connectivity, use a offline update method, which I’ll cover next.
Now, let’s dive into the actual update methods—we offer two, and your choice depends on your fleet size and connectivity.
The first method, and the easiest for most clients, is over-the-air (OTA) update via our cloud portal. This is what 90% of our smaller clients use, since it takes just a few clicks. Here’s how it works step-by-step:
- Log into your client portal on a computer, or use the mobile app if you’re on the go.
- Navigate to the “My Displays” tab, select the unit you want to update (you can select multiple units for fleet updates, no need to do one at a time).
- Click “Check for Updates”—the portal will automatically detect if there’s a firmware update available for your model. If there is, it’ll show you a changelog (e.g., “Fixes touch lag on 55-inch models, adds new color calibration for gallery lighting”) so you know what you’re installing.
- Select “Schedule Update” and pick your pre-chosen time—you can even set it to update overnight automatically, which is a game-changer for clients who manage 20+ displays across multiple locations.
- Once the update starts, the display will show a progress bar on-screen, and you’ll get an email alert when it’s done. No physical tools, no USBs, nothing to mess with. We’ve used this for every update since 2021, and it has a 98% success rate—rarely, a unit will disconnect mid-update, and our remote support team can trigger the update remotely once it reconnects.
The second method, offline update via USB, is for clients with displays in areas with no internet, or for larger fleets where OTA updates would take too long. This is also the go-to if a unit has a failed OTA update and needs a reset. Here’s how to do it:
- Head to our support portal, enter your display’s serial number (it’s on the back of the unit, or in the “About This Display” menu), and download the latest firmware file to a USB drive formatted to FAT32 (most modern computers can do this, but if you need a guide, our support team has a step-by-step video).
- Eject the USB drive safely, plug it into the USB port on the back of the display—make sure it’s the dedicated “Update” port, not the one for content.
- On the display, go to “System Settings” > “Update Firmware” > “USB Update.” It’ll scan the drive, confirm the firmware file is the right one, and start the installation. Again, it’ll show a progress bar, and take the same 10-40 minutes. Once it’s done, it’ll reboot automatically, and you can remove the USB. We recommend doing a test with one unit first before updating your entire fleet this way, to make sure the file downloaded correctly.
Now, what about common issues that pop up after an update? Don’t panic—most are easy fixes.
If your art looks faded or colors are off, that’s almost always because the display reset to default brightness or color calibration. Grab that photo you took before the update, go back to the calibration menu, and adjust it to match. Last quarter, a client in a NYC office had this happen, and they had their display back to perfect color in 5 minutes.
If the touch interface is unresponsive, restart the display (unplug it for 30 seconds, plug it back in) first. If that doesn’t work, check our support portal for a small touch sensitivity update—sometimes the firmware update temporarily adjusts that, and a quick secondary small update fixes it.
If the display won’t connect to the cloud, double-check your Wi-Fi settings in the system menu, or make sure the display’s MAC address is allowed on your network. We’ve had clients update their network passwords and forget to input the new one—an easy mix-up.
For larger fleet managers, we offer a bulk update tool that lets you schedule updates for all your displays at once, across different locations. We work with museums that have 100+ displays in multiple cities, and corporate clients with lobbies in 20 states—bulk updates cut down on admin time, and our team can monitor the process remotely to catch any issues before they affect your art displays.
Now, let’s talk about why we make this process so simple—because our clients shouldn’t have to be tech experts to keep their digital art displays working. When we design our displays, we build them with the needs of galleries, brands, and small businesses in mind: no confusing menus, no hidden hoops, just clear steps that even someone who’s never updated a piece of tech before can follow. We also send out quarterly update newsletters, so you never miss a critical patch or new feature, and our support team is available 24/7 for any issues, no hold times, no automated menus.
If you’re currently struggling with glitches on your existing display, or want to make sure your fleet is up to date before your next exhibition, we can help. We work with clients to audit their current displays, run updates remotely, and even provide training sessions for your on-site team if you manage multiple locations. Whether you’re a small boutique wanting a single display or a large corporation outfitting a full office network, we tailor our support to fit your needs.
If you’re interested in updating your digital art display firmware, or have questions about our fleet support, reach out to our team to discuss your specific needs. We’re here to make the process smooth, so you can focus on what matters: showcasing art, not troubleshooting tech.
Indoor LED Display References:
- Digital Display World, “Firmware Update Best Practices for Commercial Displays,” 2023
- Consumer Technology Association, “Embedded System Maintenance Guide for Digital Signage,” 2022
- Our Internal Client Support Documentation, “Firmware Update Protocols for Digital Art Display Fleets,” 2024
LiKYLIN (Chongqing) Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd.
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