"Right sizing" photos for your digital frame

One of the things I try to do in technical support is stay on top of new features in other digital picture frame products. So in my early morning Google and RSS scans, I came across this: ACDSee develops convenient Picture Frame Manager.

I was scratching my head since I didn't immediately understand what problem was being solved by the software. Why? Well, because we handle most of these issues automatically. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against ACDSee or this product. I guess necessity is the mother of invention?? Or, at least it is for cheap frames.

So you ask, "John, what is the the solution?" For me, the approach is simple, straightforward, and something that should just be part of every digital frame. But, the problem isn't simple since you have digital images from years ago (think 1mp cameras...), newer higher resolution images (some 20mp+), prints that were scanned into digital images, a variety of image formats, and an ever increasing photo archive.

In reading ACDSee's web site, I discovered three key points. I've added my comments about digital picture frames to each.

Resizing Images

Most digital frames on the market do a very poor job of handling different sized photos. We've tested enough of them, we know. Either they don't fit properly on the display or you get an out of memory error. In addition, the internal capacity of some of these these frames is really small forcing you to frequently add or delete photos.

Image Management

The most common ways for low-end digital frames store images are internal storage and memory cards. So, you have the constant struggle of changing the content on the digital frame..adding, deleting, and reorganizing images. Overall, it's a real pain because you take pictures on the digital camera, store them on the computer, then manually add them to the digital frame. On some, you can't even use the full capacity of your memory cards!

Support of Multiple Image Types

As I've examined the PhotoVu log files from many customers, it has been interesting to see how many images are not of the type "jpeg". Supporting a wide range of image formats is really important to many customers. Most frames only support one type, jpeg.

There are technical reasons why cheap frames have these issues and it has to do with balancing features with cost. Or, I should say, the imbalance...

Right Sizing the PhotoVu Way

The PhotoVu was designed to display your entire photo collection (all sizes, shapes, aspect ratios) and do this with very little user intervention.

You don't have to worry about the size of the photo collection, resolution of the photos, the image types¹, or the aspect ratios...all of these are handled automatically by the PhotoVu. Using our SmartResize™ technology, you'll get great looking, undistorted, full screen pictures every time. You can even use EXIF data to automatically rotate your photos!

Want your digital frame to use your local network and retrieve images from your computer? No problem. Use our built-in web administration program and select one or more folders to display. We even integrate with leading photo management software and RSS feeds. When you update the photos on your PC, so will the PhotoVu!

For those who want to use the digital photo frame stand-alone, just copy your images to a USB storage device and plug it into the PhotoVu. The photo show will automatically start and display your photos. Then, use the integrated track pad to navigate the on-screen menus. Set your photo show options and select one or more folders on the USB storage device to play.

Aren't you glad you own a PhotoVu? If not, looks like ACDSee has a great product for you!

1 - Supported image types include jpeg, tiff, png, gif, bmp