What do we mean when we talk about digital frame capacity? Well I could get all technical and talk about bits, bytes and gigs (not the footballer) and hard drives etc but I think I will keep it nice and simple.
In simple terms if you imagine a tube 25 cms high which you have to fill with items that are 5cms high, simple math tells you that you would get 5 small items into the tube, the same principle applies to the digital picture frame; if your frame's capacity is 1000 bits and each picture is 100 bits then you will be able to fit 10 x 100 pictures onto the frame's memory because that is its CAPACITY.
OK so I will have to get a bit 'techy' here.
In reality the digital frame capacity in picture terms of a 128MB card is about 1020 photos, (around 26MB used by frame's operating system). If the frame's internal memory capacity is 1GB you will be able to store and display approximately 2000 images. So does it matter if the internal memory in a digital picture frame is 1GB or 128MB? Not really, I mean who is going to sit and watch 2000 images in one burst! Capacity hardly matters, its much better choose the right digital picture frame based on other criteria, such as image resolution and price.
So digital frame capacity isn't a deal breaker but if you really need or want to know this is really what you need to be asking, forget about the technicalities, here are some of the questions you might ask:
• How many pictures can I upload to my frame?
• Are they adjusted to size by the frame's software?
• Can the frame be rotated and will the images still fit the viewing area?
• How do I get them on and off the frame?
• Do I have to connect it to my PC or can I do it wirelessly?
NOTE: if you are using a digital SLR it may be slightly different because it produces images of much larger size, however some frames adjust the images on the fly when they are being uploaded to the memory so this is not an issue. Just remember to ask if you are using a digital SLR.
As an example the very cheapest digital picture frames start at about £30. These offer a very narrow feature set, with a tiny viewing area, rarely no larger than 4", with relatively low quality image reproduction. For something of this size, you're probably better off simply viewing with your existing digital camera, or viewing its image on your television, a task most digital cameras are capable of.
A decent frame will cost between £125 and £300 but these will give a good viewing area that can be seen without having to squint and offer lots of features that make presenting your pictures effective and relatively easy.
In a nutshell digital frame capacity is NOT the most important consideration when looking at buying a digital picture frame.
No comments:
Post a Comment