Native HDMI screens / PC monitors Support

[zanzeoo]

Describe the feature

💡 Summary

I would like to suggest adding native HDMI display support to Home Assistant OS, with an option to launch a local kiosk interface (for example, displaying the Lovelace dashboard in fullscreen mode on boot).

At the moment, Home Assistant OS only shows a boot console on HDMI, and there’s no built-in way to display the UI locally.
While this headless design makes sense for many server installations, it limits the potential of Raspberry Pi–based setups that could benefit from a directly connected display.

Use cases

💬 Motivation

Nowadays, it has become very easy to find old HDMI monitors (around 15 inches) for very low prices — especially in recycling centers, e-waste shops, or second-hand markets.

These screens are perfect for smart home dashboards and control panels, offering:

Low cost and energy consumption

Readily available recycled hardware

Compact size ideal for wall-mounted displays

If Home Assistant OS could display the dashboard directly on HDMI — even just through a lightweight kiosk browser — users could build simple all-in-one smart home panels without needing a second Raspberry Pi, tablet, or additional device.

Current workarounds

No response

Anything else?

⚙️ Possible implementation ideas

Provide an optional “Display Add-on” that launches a minimal X11/Wayland session and runs Chromium (or another lightweight browser) in kiosk mode.

Add a configuration toggle in Supervisor settings to enable HDMI output and point it to a local dashboard or URL.

Allow for auto-login and fullscreen mode on boot for plug-and-play operation.

✅ Expected benefits

Simplified setup for users who want a dedicated wall display or control panel.

Reduced hardware cost and energy use (no extra tablet or Pi needed).

Encourages hardware recycling and sustainability.

Expands Home Assistant OS into a true all-in-one appliance for home automation.

🙏 Closing thoughts

Home Assistant OS is already an amazing platform — stable, clean, and easy to maintain.
Adding even minimal HDMI display support would make it even more versatile for DIY enthusiasts, sustainability-minded users, and newcomers who want a ready-to-go smart home dashboard.

Thank you for considering this request! 💙

[mik-laj]

Hey, thanks for sharing this suggestion - it’s a well-thought-out idea, and I can see why native HDMI output feels appealing for a more all-in-one setup.

That said, part of what makes Home Assistant OS so stable and reliable is its headless nature. It’s designed as an appliance - minimal, predictable, and focused purely on automation tasks. Adding a graphical stack (X11/Wayland, Chromium, GPU drivers, etc.) would shift that focus and introduce complexity that goes against this design philosophy.

It’s also worth considering reliability. Personally, I wouldn’t want my main Home Assistant server - the one managing locks, lights, and security - to become unstable because of GPU driver issues or other kernel crashes.

There are already safer and simpler ways to achieve a similar result without adding risk to the core system, for example:

• using a low-cost Android TV stick (around 30 USD) or an old tablet running the HA app in kiosk mode,
• running Home Assistant OS as a virtual machine, with a separate lightweight host OS handling the graphical interface.

[zanzeoo]

Thanks a lot for the detailed explanation — I really appreciate the reasoning and the care put into keeping Home Assistant OS stable and minimal.

I understand the concerns about adding complexity, GPU driver issues, and the desire to keep HAOS an appliance that “just works”. That makes perfect sense.

I want to clarify that the idea is not to turn Home Assistant OS into a desktop OS with LXDE, GNOME, or a complete graphical stack.
Even a very minimal display layer — something as simple as a lightweight or non-accelerated kiosk browser — would already cover the use case.

An optional add-on could, for example:

launch a minimal X11/Wayland session

or rely on a low-overhead WebKit/CEF instance

and run in full isolation from Home Assistant Core

This way, HAOS could remain focused and clean, while still offering a simple way to display a local dashboard.

Reliability concerns are valid — but possibly solvable ? ( i guess)

I completely agree that HAOS should never depend on GPU drivers, browser processes, or graphical components that could crash.
But if such a display system were optional and isolated — just like other add-ons — then:

a crash wouldn’t affect Home Assistant

the graphical layer wouldn’t be a system dependency

and users who don’t need HDMI output could simply ignore it

This feels similar to many optional add-ons today that are not essential to core automation but still add value when needed.

That being said, I fully acknowledge that my request may be a bit ambitious.
I’m not a programmer, and I don’t fully understand everything such a feature would require under the hood.
I just wanted to share the idea because, from a user’s perspective, it feels like it could unlock useful scenarios — but I also completely trust the developers’ judgment if it’s more complex or risky than it seems.

Thank you again for taking the time to read my suggestion and respond so thoughtfully.