Apr 13, 2008, 08:12
Does anyone use a digital photo frame to display their pictures? I know Rob created an excellent DIY one, which was pretty impressive. What have your experiences been like?
I'd like to share mine - I bought a 12.1 inch one off an internet site, one of those 1 day bargain ones. I thought it was a steal at $179 AUD, when you can't even get a 10 inch one at that price. The resolution was pretty good too - supposed to be 1024 x 768, when most frames are much less than this. I didn't really have much to go by as they didn't list the brand or model but they promised - "well known brand name". My brother bought a brand name one recently (Kaiser Bass?) which was 12 inch too, with 1024 x 768 res, and he paid more than double, so I thought I had nothing to lose.
Anyway, the unit arrived safely, and I set it up in eagerness. The brand turned out to be "AV Labs", and I started to have a sinking feeling in my stomach...
![[Image: DSC_5026.jpg]](http://www.shuttertalk.com/forums/images/upload/DSC_5026.jpg)
Straight away, I was disappointed - the image looked a little fuzzy, I thought to myself that this couldn't be 1024 x 768. Anyway, I resized all my pics to 1024 x 768, and it looked a bit better. Then I set it up on the shelf and looking at it straight on, it looked pretty good. However, I noticed that as I moved left, right, up or down, the image started to fade to black dramatically so much so that you couldn't make out any detail unless the pic was extremely bright. Anyway, I checked out the specs again, more closely this time and it said that the viewing angle was 80 degrees by 80 degrees. Yikes! For a computer LCD monitor that sat on a desk, maybe that would be acceptable, especially a person sat in front of it... but a digital frame needs to be visible from across the room, at all sorts of angles, so that's quite unacceptable in my point of view.
So after less than a week of use, I put it on ebay. Sad to say, I lost about $20, but I suppose it's a good lesson. In future, I would probably ensure that I (1) buy a reputable brand, (2) check the specs thoroughly, and (3) view a demo unit in person so I can be confident of the image quality and viewing angle.
Anyway, that's my experience - hope you all don't make the same mistakes I did! Feel free to share any similar stories...
I'd like to share mine - I bought a 12.1 inch one off an internet site, one of those 1 day bargain ones. I thought it was a steal at $179 AUD, when you can't even get a 10 inch one at that price. The resolution was pretty good too - supposed to be 1024 x 768, when most frames are much less than this. I didn't really have much to go by as they didn't list the brand or model but they promised - "well known brand name". My brother bought a brand name one recently (Kaiser Bass?) which was 12 inch too, with 1024 x 768 res, and he paid more than double, so I thought I had nothing to lose.
Anyway, the unit arrived safely, and I set it up in eagerness. The brand turned out to be "AV Labs", and I started to have a sinking feeling in my stomach...
Straight away, I was disappointed - the image looked a little fuzzy, I thought to myself that this couldn't be 1024 x 768. Anyway, I resized all my pics to 1024 x 768, and it looked a bit better. Then I set it up on the shelf and looking at it straight on, it looked pretty good. However, I noticed that as I moved left, right, up or down, the image started to fade to black dramatically so much so that you couldn't make out any detail unless the pic was extremely bright. Anyway, I checked out the specs again, more closely this time and it said that the viewing angle was 80 degrees by 80 degrees. Yikes! For a computer LCD monitor that sat on a desk, maybe that would be acceptable, especially a person sat in front of it... but a digital frame needs to be visible from across the room, at all sorts of angles, so that's quite unacceptable in my point of view.
So after less than a week of use, I put it on ebay. Sad to say, I lost about $20, but I suppose it's a good lesson. In future, I would probably ensure that I (1) buy a reputable brand, (2) check the specs thoroughly, and (3) view a demo unit in person so I can be confident of the image quality and viewing angle.
Anyway, that's my experience - hope you all don't make the same mistakes I did! Feel free to share any similar stories...