Homebrew Digital Picture Frame w/Remote

feagle814 writes "I've always wanted to create one of those digital picture frames out of an old laptop, and on the heels of a recent slashdot story, I've written up my Digital Picture Frame project. What's unique about this particular incarnation of the digital picture frame is that mine includes a homebrew remote control recognizer made out of a programmable IC, the Microchip PIC16F628. The article discusses everything from design considerations to custom slideshow software, all the way to final presentation, with lots of photos along the way."

Comments

Really narrow viewing angle?

[Zorilla]

I've heard of projects like these before, but isn't there the huge problem of only being able to view the picture from directly ahead, seeing as it's usually a passive matrix screen? It seems like it defeats the purpose of having one as a background decoration.

Analog

[Icarus1919]

Digital is cool and all, but when I was in boy scouts we built an analog picture frame. Man, you should see the technical specs on it, amazing.

Re:Analog

[ikea5]

some more details on this, please?! thanks!

The boy scout or the frame?

Re:Analog

[mdamaged]

Analog picture frame

It's a trick!

[anamexis]

Watch out!
" I'd seen do-it-yourself picture frames on Slashdot before,"

He's trying to trick us into Slashdotting Slashdot through a link back!

IR control

[RedWizzard]

What's unique about this particular incarnation of the digital picture frame is that mine includes a homebrew remote control recognizer made out of a programmable IC, the Microchip PIC16F628.

Perhaps it's unique because it's unnecessarily complex? I'm using LIRC under Linux on my home theatre PC for remote control with a homebrew receiver that connects to a serial port. The reciever is very simple (see circuit diagram on this page). I guess if you're determined to use Windows you might need to build this sort of PIC-based solution, but surely the LIRC based solution is cheaper and easier? No wonder his "Linux loving friends" gave him a lot of flak for going with Win 98.

Re:IR control

[Rolo Tomasi]

Heard of WinLIRC?

So yes, the IR receiver wasn't really necessary (maybe he did it for the learning experience though, or maybe he can use the code for something else).

But Win98, WTF? This is probably the first picture frame that has to be rebooted daily.

Why not?

[CodeYoddler]

Why not just take a portable dvd player (7" for $129) and put a DVD into it filled with all your favorite pictures, then it'll display them. Then you just mount the thing in a frame.

Re:Why not?

[Snard]

Why not just take a portable dvd player (7" for $129) and put a DVD into it filled with all your favorite pictures, then it'll display them. Then you just mount the thing in a frame.

Have you tried this? (I did.) The picture quality on the low-end 7" DVD players is crap. Even an 800x600 LCD screen would look wonderful compared to one of the cheap DVD player screens.

IMHO.

From the article about batteries.

[Saven Marek]

The final battery connection
Of course, we all know that messing with Lithium-Ion batteries is just asking for a chemical acid explosion.

This is actually urban myth. Only old first style lithium batteries from earlier in the 1980s would explode or be capable of igniting on touch with the atmosphere.

Lithium Ion are exactly that, the Lithium are stored as IONS in the solution and are not reactive.

Re:From the article about batteries.

[YggdrasilOS]

I think you have your terms confused:

Isotopes are stable atom configurations which have an electically neutral charge, differing only in the number of neutrons.

Ions, on the gripping hand, are chemically excited atoms which have gained or lost valence electrons (according to their electronegativity) and become reactive.

This is, in fact, what makes Li+ ions useful for battery cells in the first place. Whether alkaline, NiCad , NiMH, or LiIon, chemical batteries all work on the principle that the sustained chemical reaction will produce a useful amount of electricity.

When we "recharge" our batteries, we simply apply current to the battery in such a way as to reverse the chemical reaction.

What they've done is introduced stabilizers to retard the rate of reaction, so that rather than exploding upon atmospheric exposure, the battery solution simply gets warm.

The easy, or hard way?

[zippity8]

The funny thing is that I've been meaning to do a project just like this.

Except, unless you're looking for a reason to make your life more difficult, Windows IR software is abundant. Hardware is even cheaper, and not very complex. I remember using Girder (back then it was free, there might still be some sites around that offer the older version), and this captures IR codes from a COM port, and feeds specific keystrokes to a program of choice. MUCH easier than the route that the submitter mentioned.

Look up the LIRC project (in the FAQ somewhere) for schematics on a IR receiver if you really want to put the work in, or you can even buy some pre-made receivers. I bought one for $5 including a remote a few years back.

To get this running under Linux is easy enough, and well documented throughout the web. But to get it under windows can be just as easy.

Basically, to get this going under Windows (as the submitter chose, for some reason), you need to just load Windows XP and use the preloaded My Pictures screensaver (or some other alternative, I'm sure that they are abundant). Take an extra 10 minutes to mount a frame on a LCD (removed from the cover), and then set the screensaver to kick in 1 minute after booting (no password, not that it really matters). And you're done, ready to enjoy the rest of your christmas break with family or friends.

Perhaps these aren't a good idea

[nsuccorso]

Folks, I realize that digital picture frames are "cool", but may I please present another perspective?

Until we figure out a way of generating clean, renewable power, perhaps this isn't the time to be coming up with more and more ways of consuming power for trivial applications, such as digital picture frames and blowup lighted Christmas figures that run an electric blower motor all night(!) Just consider it, please.

It's just as interesting to come up with ways of reducing household power consumption.

Only a 1 on the coolness scale

[codepunk]

1. Modification For Direct Power +2
2. IR Controller made with a PIC +8
3. Powered By Windows -9

Total 1 Point on the coolnes factor

Tech Note: 1 additional point could be gained
farily easily with the addition of a blue led.

Re:It's not scapping a laptop

[grahamsz]

Well the laptop in question has a failed battery, no networking capabilities, and is maxed out with 8MB ram. They keyboard is flaky and i think the floppy drive has failed.

A system of that spec is of limited use to anyone given that a desktop would be more useful and work better. However it's an ideal photoframe project since it has a 800x600 active-matrix lcd.

I've donated odd computers to schools or needy friends, but if i'm going to have to support it i'd rather give away something good.

I agree that it's no great hardware hack, but consider how difficult it is to interface with a mono lcd, i can't imagine investing that kind of effort for a digital picture frame.