I recently purchased a 15.6" portable monitor and was thinking about what I could do with it. My Raspberry Pi 4 was not being used, so I started to think about projects with both items. Lately NFTs have been on my radar, so I figured why not look into displaying NTFs on a screen.
As I looked around online, I found some options including one called Zeroframe that I decided to try out.
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| Showing off Schrödinger Circuit 15.6" monitor, Raspberry Pi 4 and RAVPower power bank |
Initial Setup
At the Zeroframe.art website, click “Sign In” at the top right. I didn’t write down all the steps, but it was pretty straight forward. Once you are logged in, here are the basic steps to get a test setup running and once you have a display working you can continue to explore the setup options. The steps below align with the interface tabs:
Artworks - This is for the art itself.
Steps
- Click “Add artwork”
- Add the OpenSea URL of your NFT
- Fill out “Title” and “Artist” if you want, otherwise it will default to info pulled from OS
- Click “Save”
- Review the title (normally the NFT #) and artist and edit if you want
For my test setup I added two NFTs ( Schrödinger Circuits and Lost Miners of the Ether ) as a start.
Collections - This is to group your art into collections
Steps
- Click “Create collection”
- Put in a collection name and hit save.
- Next to the collection name click the > arrow.
- Click “Add to collection” and pick the art you want to add.
- Click on “Collections” to go back up a level.
As a note, you can add art to multiple collections. I made 3 collections for my test setup: One for Lost Miners, one for circuits and one called “BPX Collective” that includes both NFTs.
Frames - Setup your actual displays.
Steps
- Click “Create frame”
- Put in the name of the frame, something so you know which device it is.
- Don’t worry about the pairing code right now, just click “Save”.
For my setup I plan to use a Chromebook first for testing, then a Raspberry Pi for additional testing.
Exhibitions - Pulls it all together
Steps
- Click “Create exhibition”
- Put in a name and click “Save”
- Click the > arrow next to the name, here you can select your frame and what artwork or collection to show off.
That is it, now you need to actually setup your display. As you are first learning how to do things, I would just use a computer web browser or other device (Chromebook) first. If you plan to implement something long term, you can consider other options like kiosk software that is focused on just displaying a certain URL.
I shared my setup directions below to hopefully help.
Chromebook as Frame
As a first test, I setup my Chromebook Duet as a display screen ( called a frame in Zeroframe). .
Steps (High level):
- In the Zeroframe interface, go to “Frames” and under “Link” copy or write down the URL listed since that is what you will need to put into your device
- I used the “Browse as Guest” option instead of logging into my account on the Chromebook
- Go to the URL for the frame on the Chromebook
- If it works you should see the frame name ( Chromebook Duet for me ) and “Waiting for artwork” at the top.
- Go back to your Zeroframe interface, on the “Exhibitions” tab click the up arrow on the row for the exhibition you want to display.
If everything works, you should now see your NFTs on the screen. Go back to the “Frames” page, and under “Plaque” if it has “None” try the various options. If you have a large enough screen, I would use “Art info & QR” if you plan to put this in a place others can see it. If this is for use at home use, you can probably leave it as “None”.
Raspberry Pi 4 as Frame
I will assume that you already have a Raspberry Pi 4 and are familiar enough with it to be able to get most of this done without step by step directions so my steps are high level.
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| 15.6" monitor connected to Raspberry Pi 4 |
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| Raspberry Pi 4 in Argon ONE V2 Case |
Steps (High level)
- Use Raspberry Pi Imager to install the following onto a microSD card (4GB works)
- OS: Other specific-purpose OS > FullPageOS > FullPageOS (Stable)
- Click the gear and specify your wifi info unless you have your Pi wired via Ethernet. Also set your locale while you are here.
- Click “Storage” to make sure you have the right device selected
- Click “Write”
- Once it is done writing, remove and re-insert the SD card.
- Edit the “/boot/fullpageos.txt” file to include the URL for the frame.
Bottom line: Based on my tests so far, everything worked and it was a cool way to show off various NFTs. I did notice that I was on a "Public Beta" plan, so I wouldn't be surprised if this will require some paid plan in the future.
Video showing two test displays: https://youtu.be/tHqp0B9Cdsk
Zeroframe Page: https://zeroframe.art/
