Digital photo frames or digital media frames display multiple pictures without the need for printing, and are therefore an excellent way to finally use pictures that have been in hiding in the computer for years. The display is essentially a slideshow, the time interval of which can usually be adjusted. Several models of digital frames are available in the market, some with enhanced features like the ability to download pictures from the Internet, and the capability to support multi-media content, movie and audio files.
Some popular models to consider when thinking of buying a digital photo frame are:
Philips 8FF3CME
This 8-inch digital frame uses 4:3 aspect ratio for optimal, distortion free display of photos. RadiantColor, an exclusive Phillips technology, improves the display of smaller pictures by extending the picture colours to the edge of the frame, thereby eliminating unsightly black bands. Imagen Pro, an image enhancement technology automatically analyses and adjusts colour and contrast.
Viewsonic DPG807BK
The Viewsonic DPG807BK has a display size of 8 in, with 4:3 aspect ratio, 800x600 resolution, and 500:1 contrast ratio. It has touch controls, MP3 and MPEG playback and 512MB of internal memory. It has an attractive design, good image quality, accepts all popular memory card formats and USB connections, and comes with a built-in clock, calendar and alarm.
Sony DPF-X1000
The Sony DPF-X1000/B digital photo frame features a stunning 10.2-inch WSVGA resolution LCD screen with a remote control, and comes with 2 GB of internal memory, allowing you to store and display up to 4,000 photos. The digital frame comes with TruBlack technology which reduces reflection and improves contrast. The frame has auto image correction, auto dodging, white balance correction, auto image rotation and comes with Bluetooth wireless connectivity. The HDMI connection and HD output allows viewing in Full HD 1080 quality on a compatible HDTV.
Samsung SPF-107V
Samsung's Wi-Fi enabled 8-inch digital photo frame combines sleek and elegant design with the latest technology. The digital frame's Wi-Fi connectivity allows for photos to be conveniently downloaded from a PC or the Internet using its intuitive full-graphic user interface. The frame can be automatically detected by Windows Media Player 11 so pictures can be shared by simply selecting and uploading pictures directly from the software.
Parrot Specchio
The Parrot Specchio mirror digital frame is designed by Martin Szekely, a contemporary French artist known as a master of minimalism. This digital frame allows the user to receive photos by email, display Web photo albums and copy and paste photos from the computer using Wi-Fi. Photos from mobile phones can be shared by Bluetooth. An interesting feature of the frame is the use of Near Field Communication to transfer photos. Photographs can be immediately transferred and displayed on the screen of the digital photo frame by just sliding an NFC mobile phone against the back of the Parrot Specchio. With its stylish design, the Parrot Specchio appears to be just a metallic mirror when switched off – you wouldn’t guess it was a photo frame.
Kodak OLED frame
Kodak pioneered the OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) technology, which contributes to almost wafer thin display screens and stunning colour. This digital frame comes with 2GB of internal memory and built-in Wi-Fi connectivity. This frame is a touch-border model, so menus and settings are accessed by touching the bezel of the frame.
On connecting to a Wi-Fi network and installing the Kodak EasyShare desktop software on a PC, photos can be transferred wirelessly from the computer to the frame, and web albums can be accessed. FrameChannel provides RSS feeds for news, weather, and sports scores.
Mac users, however, can't transfer photos from their PCs to the frame wirelessly, but they can use all the online services. Most videos from popular still cameras can be played on this frame.
