In this paper we give an overview of current approaches in the development of digital cluster units with rich graphical interface. Given that most of the presented approaches are closed source, proprietary and dedicated to a unique target environment, we discuss possibilities of utilization of open source technologies for cluster graphics development purposes. We give results of an experiment of cluster application developed using HTML5/WebGL technologies. Finally, we contrast different approaches with regard to the development time, scalability, portability, as well as the functional scope and show that utilization of HTML5 can be a viable route for future research.