Sunday, October 14, 2007

Digital photo Frame Reviews and Comparison

Digital PictureFrame Reviews and Comparison

Digital picture frames have really taken off this year. Here we compare some of the cheapest and best digital picture frames that are currently available with regards to both features and value for money. We’ll also provide an explanation of all the features that the various digital photo frames have to offer.

Brand

China OEM

Kodak

Phillips

Screen Size

10″

10″

10.4″

Resolution

800 x 600

800x 480

800 x 600

Aspect Ratio

16:9

16:9

4:3

Frame Style

Acrylic

Black Gloss

Interchangeable

Remote Control

Yes

Yes

No

Wi-Fi

Not yet

Yes

No

Memory Cards

5 in 1 card Reader

MMC SD MS CF

USB

Internal Memory

No

128MB

No

Sound

Yes

Yes

No

Plays Video

Yes

Yes

No

Optional Batteries


N

N

Special Features

Built in clock, calendar and alarm

Print directly to any PictBridge enabled printers

Interchangable framesBuilt in clock, calendar and alarm

Price

$139

$200~$289

$289


You can see an explanation of all comparison points here.


Reviews of Digital Picture Frames
Pandigital Photo Frame with 8″ LCD screen
The Pandigital photo frame has been receiving some good reviews recently.
They may not be as well known a brand as Philips or Kodak but they do look to
know what they are doing in the digital frame department with excellent picture
quality.Pandigital Frames available for sale from: Amazon
Official Site: Pandigital



Kodak Easyshare 10″
The Kodak Easyshare range of digital picture frames also benefit from great picture
quality and use Kodak Color Science. The operation menus aren’t said to be the
most straight forward but that’s what instruction manuals are for.
Various cheap kodak frames are available at Amazon from $100, more information
on the official Kodak site.




eStarling E-Mail Enabled Wi-Fi Photo Frame

It was the eStarling frame that first got me the most interested in digital picture frames.
It was the first one that I came across that incorporated wireless technology meaning
you can easily update the pictures without have to use memory
cards or lug your laptop about. You can also email picture directly
to the frame making it a cool gift for Wi-Fienabled grandparents.
The eStarling is available for sale at Think Geek with both a 7 and
8 inch version.



Philips Digital Picture Frame

The Philips frame also boasts one of the best pictures which is crisp even at close range. It will automatically rotate a picture depending on its orientation. It does use a rechargeable battery so can be displayed
lead free, however in slideshow mode the battery life is only around the hour mark.

You can get a full range of Philips digital picture frames from Amazon or check out the Philips site for further technical details.




Portable USA 10.4-Inch Digital Picture Frame

Portable USA is not a make I’ve heard of before but it offers frames
at cheap and reasonable prices and overall the reviews that I’ve read have been very positive. The 10.4 inch screen is the biggest in our frame comparison, so if you are after the biggest frame this is the one to buy.




Digital Picture Frames Comparison PointsScreen Size

As with monitors the screen size of a digital picture frame is measured in inches diagonally from corner to corner. It should be the size of the visible display and not include the surrounding frame.

Resolution

The resolution is the number of pixels that a digital photo frame can display. The higher the resolution the crisper the image, higher resolutions look better on larger screen sizes.
Aspect Ratio

Aspect ratio is the displayed width divided by its height, they normally come in 4:3 or wide-screen. Pictures and photographs can be cropped to fit most digital photo frames.

Frame Style

A lot of the time your digital picture frame will be turned off so you want to ensure that the frame itself looks cool even when it isn’t displaying a photograph.

Remote Control

The remote control enables you to change the settings on a digital picture frame from the comfort of the sofa, like with a television remote control.

Wi-Fi

With a wi-fi picture frame you are able send pictures to the frame wirelessly. They make it easy to display an ever changing collection of pictures either from your home PC or a shared collection (like a Flickr account). Some wireless frames will also enable you to email photographs directly to the frame even from your cell phone. You will need to have access to a Wi-Fi access point to make use of this.

Memory Cards

Adding a digital memory card to a photo frame increases the number of photographs it can display. If you buy a digital picture frame that accepts the same memory card as your digital camera you will be able to swap the card between the two.

Internal Memory

Some frames come with internal memory, this means the frame can store the pictures without always needing the memory card to be connected.

Sound

Some picture frames are used purely for displaying images whilst others incorporate speakers which let them play music or other sounds.

Plays Video

As well as showing your photographs many of the newer digitial picture frames are also capable of playing video.

Optional Batteries

All the digital picture frames that we reviewed need to be connected to an external power supply. However some of them have rechargeable batteries so ones charged they can be hung on the wall without trailing wires (though they will need plugging in again when charging.)
Usual disclaimer: To the best of our knowledge all points in this comparison are correct but you are advised to read the manufactures specifications before making any purchase.

what is digital photo picture frame

What's a digital photo frame?

Digital photo frame is different from traditional frames, it can display hundreds or even thousands of picture with one screen, it can play video and music too. To some degree, it's the combination of DVD player and LCD TV.
What's in the Frame?

A digital photo frame consists of four main parts, the liquid crystal displays (LCD)panel, the Printed circuit board(PCB), the "Solution" (CPU)and the outside frame. The screen's frame is usually made of plastic/wood or even gold if you want. The panel can either be analog or digital and varies in size. The "Solution" is the heart of the digital photo frame, as it makes the digital frame to show photo, play music//video etc. There are about 10 different type of "solution" used into producing digital frame. They are ATMEL, Amlogic, MXIC, Sunplus, ESS, Zoran, MTK, CheerTek , SigmaTel , WinBond



This circuit card contains all of the components that drive the digital picture frame.

CPU


The "Solution"(CPU) in the digital picture frame is similar to the kind used in DVD player.

Memory


The digital picture frame has some ROM memory to store the operating system. It might also has some Flash memory, which is where the pictures, settings and some of the operating software live. Both types of memory are persistent -- no data is lost if the unit is unplugged.

Display


The display is a passive-matrix liquid crystal display (LCD) with a viewing area of about 1 by 17 inches . This type of display is thin enough that the digital frame isn't much thicker than an ordinary picture frame.

Here is a video about digital photo frame
Enjoy !