Frame photos the digital way
When families gather for major events such as the upcoming Chuseok harvest holiday, they often drag out thick photo albums, brush off the dust and take a trip down memory lane. Whether the photographs within are in black and white or color, faded or discolored, they rarely fail to entertain.Several decades ago, photos were a privilege of the rich, but the widespread availability of digital cameras has lowered the cost and made it possible for more people to take photos.
Among the young generation, the digital camera has become somewhat ubiquitous, along with mobile phones, and the digital photo collection of a single person can number in the hundreds and thousands.
The problem is how to organize all those photos for viewing. Developing them all and pasting them into a photo album requires a lot of time and energy. However, simply keeping them in the computer does not make for easy viewing, and it is certainly not as convenient as having them in a photo album.
That’s where digital picture frames come in. Unlike a conventional picture frame, which has a slot for developed photos, a digital picture frame is a small LCD panel into which a memory card is inserted. It can store thousands of still images, plus video clips.
Digital picture frames look similar to their conventional cousins in their shape and size, often 18 centimeters (seven inches) by 25 centimeters. But there are other options.
Earlier this year a Korean company developed a large LCD TV panel that can be used as a digital photo album or frame when the television is turned off.
In fact, digital picture frames were first introduced here back in 2000. But it is only recently that consumers have taken an interest in them, which has prompted the businesses to come up with more diverse designs and prices.
Technically speaking, digital picture frames are not groundbreaking. All that’s needed is LCD technology, which was developed in Korea some time ago. But the biggest hurdle in popularizing them was the price tags.
When digital picture frames were first introduced in the market, they were sold at between 200,000 won ($166) and 300,000 won, which was too expensive for most people’s purses. Today, however, the newest models by Samsung, LG and Sony hover around the 100,000 won range, making it a good Chuseok present.
One of the things to consider when selecting a digital picture frame is the size of the panel, industry experts suggest. For household display, the 18 centimeter by 25 centimeter size is recommended. But for schools and companies, there are bigger sizes.
Memory cards also come in a wide range of sizes. If the size of the memory card is small, the picture frames can also be hooked to USB flash drives, SD cards or even the hard drive of a computer.
It’s also important to examine what functions are offered. These can include slide shows, voice recording and MP3 players, voice and text messaging capability, clocks, alarms and calendars, among others.
By Joo Jung-wan [hkim@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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