AVS Forum banner

Are you using your TV as <large> digital picture frame?

15K views 29 replies 12 participants last post by  DocuMaker 
#1 ·
We are interested in using a 32" or so HDTV to display a slideshow of JPEG images in a church foyer, like one of those digital picture frames does, just on a larger scale. Does anyone have experience/recommendations of what manufacturer has a good onboard program to do this? I see Panasonic can do it with an SD card and several others can do it with a USB stick.
 
#2 ·
Hrmmm. A CCFL based one would be cheaper, but use alot of power just to be utilized as a digital picture frame. An edge lit LED based one would draw much less power, but would be more expensive.
 
#3 ·
I have precisely the same requirement (in a light industrial / lobby board / employee info kiosk context) and am chasing precisely the same size (32")


I can tell you one USB and picture-enabled display that WON'T do the job!

I just took delivery of a Sceptre X320-ECO which has USB and will be returning it tomorrow.

It certainly does display JPEGs but has one glaring limitation... It does not loop!

The user interface is basic but attractive, and it has remote-control functions for pause/play, several frame transition options ('none,' box in/out, dissolve, and wipe in all four directions.)

It scales well and very quickly, albeit linearly only (i.e. it will not stretch horizontally to meet the native aspect ratio.) It is able to scale 640x480 up to 768p, and 3264x2448 down, with equal speed (to my eye.)


It did everything except loop! Heck, it'll loop MP3 files but not JPEGs. Go figure.



So, how 'bout it boys and girls? Is there an inexpensive 32" display out there with true (looping) digital picture functionality out of the box?


Barring that, and for the sake of the OP, I may be going with one of the inexpensive networked digital media players and move the A/V out of the display.





--Edit: A call to Sceptre tech support was returned in less than three hours, which I count as quite good in the consumer electronics market, and the technician confirmed that their firmware has no looping of JPEGs. I asked him to put it in the suggestion box for their firmware developers with the knowledge that they would then be competing with $800USD+ displays that are being marketed to the signage market.
 
#4 ·
Wow... busy forum! 16:57EST yesterday and already on page 3.


Bumpitty bump bump. Anyone out there using an LCD-TV as a large photo frame successfully?
 
#5 ·
Panasonic as mentioned above has a decent JPG viewer built in to most models.


I have a Samsung 550 that has a USB port that will let you display pictures in a slideshow format. I have used this to go through vacation pics from time to time and it works very well.


I also have a Panasonic Upscaling DVD player at home that has a USB/SD card slot that will function as the player for JPGs.


I don't use either of these for a permanent display just for pics, but they do work well for this purpose. I travel allot and when I have some free time on the road, I will go out and be a tourist, so typically I have allot of pics when I get home from a long trip. The wife enjoys this and it primes the pump for making purchases of more up to date AV equipment.
 
#7 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by MrBobb /forum/post/18328059


No Way.


That would be like driving --still-- an Hummer. I'd sad for the Planet.

Hey, thanks for worrying about Mother Earth. BTW, what are you doing on AVSForum? Just guessing, but I would say EVERYTHING we discuss here uses electricity and natural resources. Perhaps you would be happier on PuppetShowForum.com?
 
#8 ·
Since no one had any suggestions, I went and did some "research" (i.e., drove around and played with HDTVs.)


1. 1080p is much better than 720p for static image viewing, even in 32". Unless you like your moving slide transitions to be clear, 60hz refresh is just fine.


2. Panasonic only has one unit which accepts a USB drive, the TC-P42G25 (Plasma, 1080p, 120hz). WAY too much money and a waste of features for the application, but it did allow me to check out the Viera image viewer without having an SD card. Lots of slide transitions (think PowerPoint Lite) which can be set to select randomly, settings for image processing (B&W, sepia) and slide timing. I will probably borrow a SD card to check out the TC-L32U22, TC-L42U12 and TC-P42C2 (yeah, its 720p, but it's SO cheap - $540 @ BB!) since I loved the viewer so much.


3. Sony had the next best image viewer, IMHO. About 8 slide transitions (but no random), and slide timing. Looked at the KDL40EX500/501 (120hz), KDL40EX400/401 (60hz), and KDL32EX400 (60hz).


4. Samsung has the simplest image viewer that would work. No transition effects.


5. I saw a Phillips (2009 model) and (I believe) an LG that wouldn't loop slides.


So, for me, its going to be either a Panasonic or a Sony 1080p 60hz, depending on whether we want to deal with an external SD card adapter for the computer or not.
 
#10 ·
I plan on doing this also, but just in my living room.... One other thing to consider (at least for me) is off-axis viewing angle.


If you can live with 720P, you can go with a Panasonic plasma for (I think) around $500. That will provide the best off-axis performance. I'm not sure if they make many 32" plasmas though...


Thanks for the information. I was contemplating just getting an outboard media player, as someone suggested, but I'd much rather just have it as as SD card slot or USB right on the display. For your application, I'd say that's pretty important also.
 
#11 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by DocuMaker /forum/post/18329791


It would be better to just pick the TV you want by finding a good deal, and then use a cheap $50 HD media player to do the slide shows.

Simpler is better in this application. Hope to find a good deal AND get one of the ones that works well.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark_Likes_Games /forum/post/18330756


I plan on doing this also, but just in my living room.... One other thing to consider (at least for me) is off-axis viewing angle.


If you can live with 720P, you can go with a Panasonic plasma for (I think) around $500. That will provide the best off-axis performance. I'm not sure if they make many 32" plasmas though...


Thanks for the information. I was contemplating just getting an outboard media player, as someone suggested, but I'd much rather just have it as as SD card slot or USB right on the display. For your application, I'd say that's pretty important also.

The last 32" plasma I remember was the Vizio VP322 about 2 years ago. But like I said in my big post, BB has that 42" 720p for $540...
 
#12 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by partsman_ba /forum/post/18329352


Hey, thanks for worrying about Mother Earth. BTW, what are you doing on AVSForum? Just guessing, but I would say EVERYTHING we discuss here uses electricity and natural resources. Perhaps you would be happier on PuppetShowForum.com?

Don't get butt hurt. You asked for people's opinion. He simply answered.
 
#13 ·
I can report on the cheapie WD-TV HDMI player as being a success for the $50 price point if you're not asking too much from it.

It has only two transition modes, fade and "normal." It'll loop till the cows come home, has folder browsing for pictures (handy for multiple presentations or revisions) and more scale/stretch modes than the internal JPEG viewer on the Sceptre.


It's also got a very user-friendly UI, and has a remote capable of play/pause/skip forward/skip back (VCR-like) functions.

For my purpose an HD media player may serve better than the internal options on a TV... The media players will all have the same UI whereas different model/size/firmware TVs will have different UIs. Re-training is a concern if you are going to deploy multiple displays to a user community that literally needs coaching to turn on a PC. (Happened this week!)


HDMI into the 720P Sceptre looked best with the source set to 1080p and the JPEGs native 1080p. 10point italics font is nicely readable from powerpoint.


For those chasing Powerpoint as a source, here's a helpful hint: Powerpoint defaults to 96DPI for export of JPG/BMP/raster formats. PP2003 and 2007 prior to SP1 can be modified via a registry key, 2007 after SP1 cannot.

For my testing I generated 1080p JPEGs from powerpoint by selecting a custom size page setup, 20" wide by 11.25" tall.
 
#14 ·
I sometimes pop in my SD Card from my camera into our Wii Console and was shocked to find the quality of what it can do in presenting our vacation photo's on my 57" TV.


Had no idea that feature was available when I bought it but damn it can sure make you feel like your a professional photographer with the results as it's blowing up my photo's from a 12 MP Canon and I don't even have the HD cables interfaced yet and it looks great. What a great game console - I've been using a family game called "Walk it out" for 7 weeks averaging 32 miles a week and taken off over 20 lbs - however, I think it's more step dancing than actually walking but for me it's working at age 59 trying to get back in shape and it's addictive but about the only place you can find it is on Amazon - best $29 I've spent.


Don't hesitate to use your Wii consoles for Photo Displaying - pretty cool freebie feature.
 
#15 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Zenith DTT900 /forum/post/18331197


Don't get butt hurt. You asked for people's opinion. He simply answered.

Actually, I asked for help in making a purchase decision, not opinions about the morality of the choice.


In fact, I'm trying to understand MrBobb's objection. Should digital pictures only be shown on small frames? Or is the fact that HDTV's have capabilities that we would never use the basis of the Hummer analogy? Because in that case, I never should have bought my home HDTV, since I only watch OTA and don't use the QAM tuner. Or maybe I shouldn't have bought my home Blu-ray player, since I don't have hi-speed internet to utilize Netflix or Pandora. Why did I purchase these units with features I don't use? Because the price was right!


And, getting back to the digital picture frame, I only see mention of one purpose-built 32" digital picture frame in my Googling around. It came out in 2008 and cost $800.
 
#16 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by westa6969 /forum/post/18334909


I sometimes pop in my SD Card from my camera into our Wii Console and was shocked to find the quality of what it can do in presenting our vacation photo's on my 57" TV.


Had no idea that feature was available when I bought it but damn it can sure make you feel like your a professional photographer with the results as it's blowing up my photo's from a 12 MP Canon and I don't even have the HD cables interfaced yet and it looks great. What a great game console - I've been using a family game called "Walk it out" for 7 weeks averaging 32 miles a week and taken off over 20 lbs - however, I think it's more step dancing than actually walking but for me it's working at age 59 trying to get back in shape and it's addictive but about the only place you can find it is on Amazon - best $29 I've spent.


Don't hesitate to use your Wii consoles for Photo Displaying - pretty cool freebie feature.

I have a friend with a Wii, and I remember him using his for slideshows. Unfortunately, they have an old CRT TV, so the pictures weren't very clear, but the slideshow mechanism did work well!


BTW, congratulations on the successful weight loss!
 
#17 ·
I have used all 3 of these options.


I use a PC for this type of thing. It's the most flexible, but more expensive option. Windows 7 has a nice screen saver slide show feature. Also I use the PC for DVD, media streaming, DVR OTA, ect...


I like the idea of using the WD media player. It's small and relatively cheap, however not as elegant as the PC. As mentioned, the Wii can do it, but it's max output is 480p.


Problem is, if you look for the functionality as part of the TV itself, it's going to cost you.


Mike
 
#18 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by PanamaMike /forum/post/18336270



Problem is, if you look for the functionality as part of the TV itself, it's going to cost you.


Mike

Not sure I agree with you there - pricing in each category of name-brand TVs was pretty uniform - i.e. 32" 720p's around $450, 32" 1080p's around $550, etc. I checked four different stores, from a OR/WA video chain (Video Only) to BB to Costco to Fred Meyer.
 
#19 ·
One last comment before I step out of this thread, for the interest of our environmentally-conscious friends:

A Kill-A-Watt meter reveals usage of about 110 watts combined for the WD-TV and Sceptre 320BV-ECO (backlight set to 90% down from the factory setting of 100%.)


For testing the rig was running over half an hour before measurement.

FWIW, and I don't know that it matters much on LCD, the content was a 100% coverage JPEG (converted powerpoint as described above) with perhaps 85% white, 10% black (text) and 5% red (company logo.)
 
#20 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by partsman_ba /forum/post/18336830


Not sure I agree with you there - pricing in each category of name-brand TVs was pretty uniform - i.e. 32" 720p's around $450, 32" 1080p's around $550, etc. I checked four different stores, from a OR/WA video chain (Video Only) to BB to Costco to Fred Meyer.

Maybe you're right, I haven't studied the 32" lcd prices. However, for the investment, I generally don't see the value of buying built in functionality. I'd rather have an outboard device that can be upgraded.


You might consider the Sony KDL-32XBR9


It has Yahoo Widget technology, and there happens to be a slideshow widget .


Price is a bit steep, but Samsung may come out with a similar set. I know they do have widget in other sizes.


Mike
 
#21 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by PanamaMike /forum/post/18340229


Maybe you're right, I haven't studied the 32" lcd prices. However, for the investment, I generally don't see the value of buying built in functionality. I'd rather have an outboard device that can be upgraded.


You might consider the Sony KDL-32XBR9


It has Yahoo Widget technology, and there happens to be a slideshow widget .


Price is a bit steep, but Samsung may come out with a similar set. I know they do have widget in other sizes.


Mike

Interesting. And Sony is offering refurbs for $600.


Does the Yahoo widget tech include the Flikr/Yahoo Photos connectivity?
 
#22 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by partsman_ba /forum/post/18342281


Interesting. And Sony is offering refurbs for $600.


Does the Yahoo widget tech include the Flikr/Yahoo Photos connectivity?

I don't know, I haven't tried it out myself. I'd suggest you go to your local B&M and see if they could demo that feature for you to see it in action.


According to the link I included in my post, it does. I however don't know the level of Yahoo Widget compatibility the TV will provide. Here's some Bravia Widget info. Looks like there is a Flickr feature.


Mike
 
#23 ·
Well, I just want to point out that many of the TV's out there that have built-in media content players lock you out of the picture settings when you use them. I know that is how it was on the 2009 Samsungs, and it looks like nothing has changed for 2010. I fiddled with a 2010 Samsung C7000 LED and couldn't figure out how to access the picture settings when playing media through the USB. You seem to be stuck with some dynamic or standard picture setting that is not accurate and cannot be adjusted.


Suit yourself, but it is better to just get an inexpensive HD media player (which will not only do your photos, but can also play music at the same time as your slide show), can do 1080p HD video, etc. Using an HD media player via HDMI does not lock you out of the picture settings, and you can calibrate the picture to your heart's content.


Then you are free to find a deal on whatever display you want, and are not tied down to only looking for certain models that do decent built-in slide shows.


But to each his own...


P.S. Most of these HD media players use less than 10 watts and are totally silent...no moving parts. THe WDTV's are quite small; they fit in the palm of your hand.
 
#24 ·
Thanks for the heads-up on picture settings - better go again and see if the settings are locked out on the Pannys and Sonys.


Most of the units I looked at could do stills and music, or video files. The main reasons for wanting everything in one is simplicity - less wires and equipment to try and hide.
 
#25 ·
Oops! I guess I was wrong. Sorry for the misinfo. I was playing with the B860 plazzy this evening and you actually can change the picture settings when using the built-in content player. I figured you would just click on menu and do it like normal. Samsung locks you out of the menu when using the media player.


You have to hit the tools button, and then you can switch to the more accurate movie mode.


I guess I should've read the manual!
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top