Digital Picture Frames Stink.

I know I’ve talked on and on about how cool it would be to have a digital picture frame that could display hundreds of pictures. Even with my cheap portable DVD Player solution, it still costs around $90 (US). Well, for $90, you could get a ton of pictures printed and a some frames if you shop around.

Why use regular pictures and frames? Well, regular pictures in frames don’t create any increases in your electric bill. Also, you don’t have to figure out a way for the frames to turn off when the lights are off. With old-school low-tech pictures in frames, when the lights turn off the pictures don’t let off any light – these pictures don’t require any special light-sensitive sensors to turn off automatically. They don’t create a problem. Spending some cash and a great amount of time to recreate something that is so simple can be pointless.

There’s no real need for digital picture frames. While they are a cool idea – the item they replace are amazingly efficient and simple. After all, regular pictures in picture frames are wireless – they’re not that bad.

Digital Picture Frames

I have been interested in digital picture frames for a while. For some time now, I’ve hated stuff. I hate having big books with pictures in them. So I’ve looked into digital picture frames and a lot of DIY projects by transforming a laptop.

I can see the benefits of reusing a laptop. You could update the photos with wi-fi and remotely access a computer you have hanging on the wall. That’s great, but I had an even dumber idea than repurposing a laptop.

DVD players have gotten tremendously cheap. I’m thinking I could take a DVD player, either a portable one with a screen, or hook up a small DVD player to a cheap LCD (like a 5 inch XBOX or PlayStation LCD) and use it to show photos.

I could probably just throw a bunch of photos into iMovie and make a slideshow and set it to repeat. Some of these DVD players even have remotes, so not only do you have a cheap Digital Picture Frame, but you have a remote control, too.

Plus, I could throw small pieces of home movies onto the disc. If you put this together, you still have a decent DVD player. I’m thinking that a shadow box could hold all of the components easily. You would just have to mount the devices in the shadow box.

Even easier, I’ve seen some new portable DVD players that have tablet PC style hinges that let you turn the screen around or fold it over to have it in tablet form. Each DVD Player-based Digital Picture Frame (or just one frame and lots of DVDs) could serve as an album. One DVD player’s a wedding album, another is childhood photos, etc.

Click here for my del.icio.us links for Digital Picture Frame Projects.