Birthday screens the guest of honour will actually stop for

To show a birthday display on a TV, open tv.birdseye.buzz on the television, scan the code with your phone, and enter the birthday name and age. The screen then shows an animated birthday design with their name on it, and you can switch it to a countdown to cake or a photo slideshow from your phone during the party.

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How it works

  1. Open tv.birdseye.buzz on the television. A code appears on screen.
  2. Scan it with your phone. That TV is now yours to control, with no cables and no app to install.
  3. Pick a design, add names and photos, and change it whenever you like.

What your screens could look like

Kids Birthday design on a TV screen: Big, bright and named, with a theme you pick. The one small children point at.

Kids Birthday

Big, bright and named, with a theme you pick. The one small children point at.

Countdown design on a TV screen: Ten minutes to cake, on the wall, so nobody has to keep answering it.

Countdown

Ten minutes to cake, on the wall, so nobody has to keep answering it.

Make a Wish design on a TV screen: Candles to blow out on the screen, for the moment before the real ones.

Make a Wish

Candles to blow out on the screen, for the moment before the real ones.

Pinata Party design on a TV screen: Colour and swing, for the part of the afternoon that needs a game.

Pinata Party

Colour and swing, for the part of the afternoon that needs a game.

Milestone Birthday design on a TV screen: For the ones with a zero in them, where the tone is different.

Milestone Birthday

For the ones with a zero in them, where the tone is different.

Why the screen is the decoration that works

A birthday party has one structural problem: the guest of honour is the centre of it for about four minutes at a time. Cake, presents, the song. The rest of the party is children moving fast in several directions while adults try to keep track of when the next thing happens.

Almost every printed birthday decoration is bought to solve the first problem and quietly fails at the second. A banner says the name once. It does not say that cake is in ten minutes, it does not show the photo everyone just took, and it cannot be a game.

A screen can be all of those in sequence, and it holds attention in a way paper does not, because children who have grown up with screens read a moving one as the thing that is happening. Put a name on it and the four-year-old whose party it is will walk over and point at it, repeatedly, for the whole afternoon.

Things hosts actually do

  • Their name, the size of the television

    The simplest thing on this page and the one that lands. A four-year-old seeing their own name that big is the whole decoration.

  • Count down to cake

    It stops the question, and it gives the afternoon a shape that children can feel coming.

  • Photos from ten minutes ago

    Take pictures as the party goes and put them straight on the screen. Parents watch it more than the children do.

  • One screen for grown-ups

    A second screen in the kitchen showing the running order keeps the adults on the same page as the party without anyone shouting.

Questions

How long does it take to set up?
A couple of minutes. Open a web page on the TV, scan the code, type the name and age. The design fills itself in from there.
Does it work on a TV that is not smart?
Yes, with anything that puts a browser on it: a Fire Stick, a Chromecast, an old laptop on the HDMI port, or a tablet stood on a shelf.
Can I use it for a grown-up birthday?
Yes. The milestone designs are made for the ones with a zero in them, and the tone is completely different from the kids designs.
Is it free for one party?
One screen is free. If you want several screens around the house, the Event Pass is $11.99 once and covers five for 48 hours.
Can family who cannot be there see it?
Yes. Share a link and the screen they are watching is the same one on the wall at the party.