Digital Photo Frames

A digital photo frame is an electronic device which is used for the purpose of displaying photos electronically. The frames are commonly sold in 7 inch to 20 inch sizes. Although some have restrictions on them which only allow them to display JPEG pictures. The majority of digital photo frames are used to present slideshows, usually with an adjustable time interval. The frames can also be used by users to send photos to print. Some also support additional multimedia content, such as movie clips recorded in a digital camera’s movie mode, MPEG video files and MP3 audio.

The majority of digital photo frames on the market are also capable of displaying text files. Certain frames are also able to load pictures over the Internet from RSS feeds, photo sharing sites such as Flickr, Picasa and from e-mail. The majority of these frames with such capabilities use wireless support connections.

Digital photo frames typically display the pictures directly from a digital camera’s memory card, although some also have the capability to hold pictures on an internal storage device. Some allow users to upload pictures to the frame’s memory via USB connection, or wirelessly through Bluetooth technology. Less commonly, some digital photo frames are also able to connect through cellular, such as a mobile phone. Some frames also allow photos to be shared from a frame to another.

Most 7 inch (17.8 cm) models show images at 430 x 234 pixels. With some models the width of each landscape image is stretched to achieve an aspect ratio of 16:9, which results in noticeable distortion. Built-in speakers are common for playing video content with sound, and many frames also feature remote controls. Although digital photo frames are very popular with many people, there are also numerous limitations currently. Due to a digital photo frame’s display ration the frame does not always match the original photo ratio, some pictures displayed are not always in a satisfactory manner. For example some may be rendered to small, with black borders, or they may be automatically zoomed in and randomly cropped. Although such issues can often be corrected through using software before the pictures are uploaded to the frame.

In February 2008 there was an unusual viral outbreak with a number of digital photo frames manufactured in China were found to be carrying a Trojan horse which was named Mocmex, this hit the internal data storage on the device. In recent years there has been a large increase in sales for digital photo frames, possibly due to the rise in Facebook and sites such as Flickr. As the demand for the frames has increased, the prices of these frames has also reduced dramatically, mainly due to an increase in the amount of suppliers. The frames can also now be bought from a wide range of places including online and in supermarkets.