PICTURE FUNCTIONS

The Picture Functions of a Digital Frame are Features that Enrich the Viewing Experience. There are a varity of picture functions available in digital frames. The list includes the different ways the images are organized and presented on the frame, the types of transition from one image to another, support for music or video files as well as image files, the capability to zoom in or out of individual images, etc.

Of course, the more of these features the better! But beware...the more features a frame has, the more expensive it is likely to be!

Nonetheless, knowing what picture functions are available, helps to make a more informed decision before purchase. It will also make it easier to compare prices before buying.

1) Do you just want to display pictures in a slideshow or do you also want the capability of adding audio or video files?

Adding appropriate music to a slideshow of pictures can be very impressive. Digital Frames that support audio and even video file formats are very popular and readily available.

Although the speakers may not be the best for general listening to music, the music can add greatly to the enjoyment of the image viewing. You may want to look for a frame which has an "audio out" feature to add external speakers for a better quality listening experience.

2) Does the frame support a picture function that allows you to specify the time each image is on the screen, as well as the different transitions, such as fades, between the images?

Three to five seconds between pictures is usually sufficient for a normal slideshow but it would be nice to be able to speed them up or slow them down, depending on who is viewing the show.

Another picture function, one that determines how an image initially appears on the screen, can also vary, such as fading, coming from the right or the left, top or bottom, showing one picture at a time or four or more pictures at a time as in a collage, etc.

These are just some of the ways frames can transition between pictures to add to the enjoyment of the slideshow.

3) Will You Be Able to Add Captions and Special Effects To Your Pictures?

4) Will the frame be able to automatically rotate individual photos to their proper orientation or do you need to purchase a frame set to either the wider "landscape" mode or the taller "portrait" mode.

If the frame does not have this picture function, you will need to be careful about the orientation of your photos.

Nothing is more disconcerting than to have a picture show up in the slideshow sideways!

If the orientation of a frame does not match the orientation of a photo, some of the image may be automatically cropped out.

5) Do you want to be able to view the stored images as thumbnails so you can pre-sort them?

This is a nice feature if the order of the pictures is important.

Most of the less expensive frames will either need special numbering for the pictures or they may or may not appear in whatever order they are sequenced on a memory card!

A frame that can store the pictures in folders, would allow the user to choose pictures for a shorter slideshow, rather than go through 2,000 pictures at a time!

This feature makes it easy to keep all your pictures in folders on your computer and just put pictures from the appropriate folders on individual frames.

One Christmas, I did this for my family. I was able to easily pick and choose which folders I felt would interest each family member. The result was a very personalized gift for each of them.

6) Is there a pan or zoom function?

This feature could be important in different situations. For example, in a commercial setting, such as during training, the slideshow can be paused so that zooming into a particular feature on the screen is possible.

For individual viewing, especially a graduation or any gathering of large numbers of people, panning and zooming makes it easier to see individual attendees.

For a landscape, this is a function that definitely adds to the enjoyment of the viewer.

Please be aware that zooming into a picture through a frame which has a touch screen menu interface (where the menu options are on the screen itself), may not allow for an unobstructed view of the zoomed picture.

Additionally, you may not be able to "lock" the picture into the zoomed position, making it necessary to use the zoom function each time you want to see that picture in zoom mode.

Please also see advanced features for additional features that add to the functionality and enjoyability of digital frames.

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ADVANCED FEATURES of DIGITAL FRAMES