A digital photo frame (also called a digital media frame) is a picture frame that displays

digital photo Digital photography uses cameras containing arrays of electronic photodetectors interfaced to an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) to produce images focused by a lens, as opposed to an exposure on photographic film. The digitized image i ...

s without the need of a computer or printer. The introduction of digital photo frames predates tablet computers, which can serve the same purpose in some situations; however, digital photo frames are generally designed specifically for the stationary, aesthetic display of photographs and therefore usually provide a nicer-looking frame and a power system designed for continuous use. Digital photo frames come in a variety of different shapes and sizes with a range of features. Some may even play videos as well as display photographs. Owners can choose a digital photo frame that utilizes a WiFi connection or not, comes with cloud storage, and/or USB and SD card hub.

Features

Digital photo frames range in size from tiny keychain-sized units to large wall-mounted frames spanning several feet. The most common sizes range from to . Some digital photo frames can only display

JPEG JPEG ( ) is a commonly used method of lossy compression for digital images, particularly for those images produced by digital photography. The degree of compression can be adjusted, allowing a selectable tradeoff between storage size and imag ...

pictures. Most digital photo frames display the photos as a

slideshow A slide show (slideshow) is a presentation of a series of still images ( slides) on a projection screen or electronic display device, typically in a prearranged sequence. The changes may be automatic and at regular intervals or they may be manu ...

and usually with an adjustable time interval. They may also be able to send photos to a printer, or have hybrid features. Examples are the Sony S-Frame F800, that has an integrated printer on its back, or the Epson PictureMate Show. Digital photo frames typically allow the display of pictures directly from a camera's

memory card A memory card is an electronic data storage device used for storing digital information, typically using flash memory. These are commonly used in digital portable electronic devices. They allow adding memory to such devices using a card in a so ...

, and may provide internal memory storage. Some allow users to upload pictures to the frame's memory via a USB connection, or wirelessly via

Bluetooth Bluetooth is a short-range wireless technology standard that is used for exchanging data between fixed and mobile devices over short distances and building personal area networks (PANs). In the most widely used mode, transmission power is limi ...

technology. Others include support for wireless (

802.11 IEEE 802.11 is part of the IEEE 802 set of local area network (LAN) technical standards, and specifies the set of media access control (MAC) and physical layer (PHY) protocols for implementing wireless local area network (WLAN) computer com ...

) connections or use cellular technology to transfer and share files. Some frames allow photos to be shared from a frame to another. Certain frames provide specific application support such as loading images over the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, p ...

from RSS feeds,

photo sharing Image sharing, or photo sharing, is the publishing or transfer of digital photos online. Image sharing websites offer services such as uploading, hosting, managing and sharing of photos (publicly or privately). This function is provided through ...

sites such as

Flickr Flickr ( ; ) is an American image hosting and video hosting service, as well as an online community, founded in Canada and headquartered in the United States. It was created by Ludicorp in 2004 and was a popular way for amateur and profession ...

Picasa Picasa was a cross-platform image organizer and image viewer for organizing and editing digital photos, integrated with a now defunct photo-sharing website, originally created by a company named Lifescape (which at that time was incubated by I ...

and from e-mail. Built-in speakers are common for playing video content with sound, and many frames also feature remote controls. Battery-operated units are also available for portable use. A new generation of frame companies, such as

Meural Meural is an American technology company whose principal product is the Meural Canvas, a digital connected canvas built to showcase artwork and photography—both Meural- and user-provided. Through end-to-end production—a combination of propriet ...

, is emerging that combines larger formats, built-in access to artistic content, and innovative control mechanisms.

Aspect ratio

The aspect ratio of the frames can vary. Common aspect ratios include: 4:3, 3:2 and 16:9. (Sometimes 16:9 frames are actually 15:9) Depending on the model and features, images which do not exactly fit the aspect ratio of the frame may be

cropped Cropping is the removal of unwanted outer areas from a photographic or illustrated image. The process usually consists of the removal of some of the peripheral areas of an image to remove extraneous trash from the picture, to improve its framing ...

, stretched, or shrunk to fit. This could result in, respectively, images that are missing content, distorted, or which have blank space around them. This can be avoided by buying a frame with an aspect ratio that exactly matches the camera, or editing photos to the target aspect ratio before transferring them to the frame.

Security issues

In February 2008, a number of digital photo frames, such as the Insignia brand digital frames manufactured in China, were found to be carrying a

Trojan horse The Trojan Horse was a wooden horse said to have been used by the Greeks during the Trojan War to enter the city of Troy and win the war. The Trojan Horse is not mentioned in Homer's ''Iliad'', with the poem ending before the war is concluded, ...

dubbed

Mocmex Mocmex is a trojan, which was found in a digital photo frame in February 2008. It was the first serious computer virus on a digital photo frame. The virus was traced back to a group in China. Overview Mocmex collects passwords for online games. T ...

on their internal data storage. Instagram allow third party app users to connect to their Instagram photo content using

OAuth OAuth (short for "Open Authorization") is an open standard for access delegation, commonly used as a way for internet users to grant websites or applications access to their information on other websites but without giving them the passwords. T ...

to display photo content and authenticate without the app storing login credentials. Digital photo frame apps are using this secure login protocol to eliminate security issues linked to storing login credentials.

History

The first generation of digital photo frames were introduced in the 1990s and included screens with the ability to accept memory cards directly from digital cameras. Widespread adoption of digital camera's in the 1990s left consumers with thousands of digital photos without a viable way to view them. Commercially available digital photo frames started to appear shortly after the introduction of digital photos but did not find market adoption until the mid 2000s when the number of digital photos exploded with the integration of digital cameras into cell phones. First generation frames enjoyed widespread market adoption. The market peaked in 2009 at over $1B worldwide, but the introduction of Apple's iPad started the market's slow decline. First generation frames are still sold today at prices under $100. The second generation of digital photo frames included connectivity to the Internet. In 1999 with the Ceiva introduced a digital photo frame with dialup connectivity. By 2010 Nixplay and PixStar started to popularize digital frames with wifi connections, allowing consumers to upload photos from the web and connect to cloud based photo sharing and storage sites from Flickr, Picasa, Google Photos, Instagram and Facebook. By 2016, the third generation of digital photo frames began to appear with companies like PhotoSpring, Aura and Joy. These frames employed tablet platforms to build photo frame features on top of. This allowed the use of touchscreen and battery technology for frames from PhotoSpring and Joy, and camera technology from Aura and Joy.

References

{{Reflist, 2 Digital photography Digital imaging Picture framing

Features

Aspect ratio

Security issues

History

See also

References