Making a Dynamic Wireless Digital Picture Frame
Y
are buying digital cameras now than film cameras. Because it’s
essentially free to take a digital picture, more pictures are being
taken than ever before.
But there’s a problem. You have a hard disk full of pictures—what do you
do with all of them? Printing is okay for the special ones. For the rest,
though, watching a slideshow sitting at the computer just isn’t convenient.
Hence, the digital picture frame. There are several on the market and many
more will follow, but only recently have they become wireless. Often it’s
only the high-price models that sport a Wi-Fi interface.
This chapter will introduce the digital picture frame and show you how to
make one for the cost of an old laptop computer and a few extra parts.
Figure 15-1 shows a digital picture frame that is updated over Wi-Fi.With
a simple screen saver program, the digital picture frame, or
cycle every 3 seconds or display a single photo for as long as you want.
Changing pictures is as simple as drag-and-drop from your desktop computer
to a network drive. The software automatically rescans the folder and
updates the slideshow without any manual intervention. You have to love
low-maintenance artistic expression.
Here’s what you will need for this chapter’s project:
➤
What is a Digital Picture Frame?
A digiframe merely stores pictures to display on a video screen.To make this happen, a few
things must take place:
1.
2.
3.
4.
The frame needs to have enough storage to hold some number of pictures. The amount of storage
on retail digital frame products in the sub-$500 price range varies from 10 pictures to
1,500. The frame you’ll build here will hold thousands and costs about $300 for the computer
and Wi-Fi card, and $50 for the frame and matting. Quite a bargain for an afternoon’s work!
The problem with most digital frames on the market is they lack a convenient way to transfer
pictures from the camera to the frame. The cheapest uses a dial-up network connection and a
monthly service. Others use built-in memory card reader to read cards directly from the
camera. A few have a wired Ethernet connection. Even fewer have a wireless connection, the
ultimate in convenience. Figure 15-2 shows some of these products.
This market is rapidly changing, but you can jump ahead with a dismembered, fully functional
laptop acting as a digital frame. And with Wi-Fi, your frame will be simple to use and manage.
Choosing a Digiframe Computer
Three features will come forth in your quest for a suitable laptop:
Obviously, a sweet new $1000 laptop would be more cost-effective as a war driving computer
than as cannibalized picture frame. And a tablet computer, while perfectly capable of filling this
position, would cost more than the best manufactured frames on the market.
The size factor is more flexible. A modest,Windows-capable laptop with a 12-inch LCD
screen goes for less than $300 on eBay.Twelve inches on an LCD screen is very close to a traditional
8 10 photograph. And it will fit well in a smallish 12 15 box frame.
Hackability will determine how easy or complicated it will be to convert the laptop to its new
purpose. Ideally, the laptop will be easily disassembled and will require a minimum of wire
management and re-routing.
Figure 15-3 shows the basic configuration used in this project. The laptop is split in two and the
screen is unscrewed from the hinge and rotated all the way back until it is flat against the bottom
of the laptop. The essential cables are re-routed or extended to keep the screen working.
The laptop is still fully functional, and can be used while still mounted in the frame, although
it can be really hard to see the screen and the keyboard at the same time.
Unfortunately, you may not be able to tell how hackable a computer is until you take it apart,
and internal pictures are often hard to come by. On the other hand, computers were made to be
worked on when they are broken.
With this simple screen-folding method of creating a digiframe, most laptops should be pretty
easy to convert.
Carefully disassemble the laptop as a computer technician would to change a broken part. You
should be able to get inside without doing anything destructive. Once inside, search for a way to
remove the LCD panel and run the cables the slightly longer distance to the bottom of the laptop.
Preparing the Computer
Before you make any irreversible decisions like cutting, twisting, or pulling, install the software
your laptop will be running. It’s a lot easier to get the laptop ready before mounting it in the
frame, than afterwards.
Perform the following on the laptop before any physical modifications:
5.
6.
These procedures are covered in the following sections.
Step 1: Installing Your Wireless Card
Chances are, the laptop you are using does not have a built-in Wi-Fi adapter, so you’ll need to
give it a wireless card. Figure 15-4 shows the laptop installed in a picture frame. There is
clearly limited space in the frame. Choose a wireless card that allows enough clearance for the
style of frame.
USB dongle adapters can extend up to 2.5 inches from the USB port on the laptop. Use a USB
extension cable to drop that distance down by an inch or so to about 1.5 inches (the length of
the USB plug) and reposition the dongle. Or, use a PCMCIA card. PC cards with external antennas,
like the DLink DWL-650 in Figure 15-4, extend out about 1 inch.
Step 2: Configuring the Network Adapter
By this time, you probably have an access point and a wireless network set up at home. The
digiframe computer will need to become a member of the network to be able to transfer files
from a desktop computer in the same network.
Set up the digiframe laptop as you would set up any other computer on the same wireless
LAN. Use the correct SSID, channel,WEP key, and so on. Make sure the laptop will be able
to get on the network automatically when booted and logged in. For example, if the card management
software needs to be running, make sure it’s set to start automatically.
Regardless of the wireless network mode (infrastructure or ad-hoc) the goal is to have the computer
boot up to the desktop with fully operational wireless without any mouse-clicks or keyboard
entries.
Step 3: Setting Up a Shared Digipix Folder
You will copy files from your desktop to the laptop by dropping them into a shared folder. The
exact mechanics of setting up a network share will differ for each operating system. But most
versions of Windows have this feature.
Ensure that File sharing is enabled for the wireless adapter (see Figure 15-5). In Windows
2000, the steps are as follows (other Windows platforms will use very similar steps):
FIGURE 15-4: Laptop mounted in the frame with a PCMCIA Wi-Fi card.
that “File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks” is installed and enabled (the
checkbox should be checked).
Now share the folder by following these steps:
pops up.
only the Administrator account is configured for access to the folder (see Figure 15-6).
Finally, test the link by transferring some pictures over to the laptop. From the desktop computer,
use Network Neighborhood to find the digiframe computer and open the shared folder. For a
recently shared folder, you may need to repopulate the list of neighbor computers. The easiest way to
do that is to reboot.Drag and drop some JPEG files from the desktop computer over to the laptop.
Step 4: Installing the Screen Saver Slideshow
The easiest way to handle picture rotation is to use screen saver software. That way, the laptop
can be configured to boot up to the desktop without logging on. The screen saver would be
configured to run a slideshow when activated.
Search the word “screen saver slideshow” in any search engine and you’ll find hundreds of
results. Although we didn’t test every program out there, we found one that seems to fit the bill
nicely. If you have a preference, by all means, try it out. It’s called “gPhotoShow,” available from
www.gphotoshow.com
The coolest feature of gPhotoShow that many other programs seemed to lack was dynamic
updating of the file list. That is, even while the screen saver is running, the file list is recreated and
displayed, so you don’t need to stop and start the screen saver when changing digital pictures.
Figure 15-7 shows the main setup screen for gPhotoShow. This simple interface allows selection
of the digital picture folder and, optionally, sub-folders from which to pull images. The
Recursive Search option tells the program to check subdirectories.
The Advanced Options tab holds the selection for updating the directories on a continuous
basis. Place a check in the Slide Show option for “At the end of the show rebuilds the full file
list.”When the Digital picture directory is updated, the screen saver will begin showing those
new files immediately in the rotation.
Step 5: The Case for a Remote Controller
While the computer is happily cycling through images,Windows is doing its thing in the
background. This invariably causes any number of popup windows, questioning dialogs, or
other nagging queries for your attention.
Using the computer while it’s mounted in the frame is quite difficult. So, for regular interaction
with Windows, your digital picture frame requires a remote control program.
PC Anywhere is a useful program to help manage the computer as if you are there using the
keyboard and mouse. There are several other remote control programs. If you don’t have access
to PC Anywhere, RealVNC (formerly WinVNC) is a free open source remote control program
that works with Windows.
Step 6: Configuring the Computer for the Role of Digiframe
Now that all of the network and picture settings are working, it’s time to automate the computer.
Remember that you are shooting for a hands-off boot-up to the desktop.
Exact details for a hands-off boot-up will vary by operating system. These are the requirements
for Windows 2000 and XP:
For Windows 98 and ME, select the “Windows family logon.”
If you are going to use the picture frame in an insecure environment, keep security in mind and
use a local computer account, such as administrator. Do not use a domain or server account.
Even though the keyboard and mouse are inside the frame and are more difficult for snoops, it’s
good practice not to use a server account when logging on automatically.
Check the power saver settings and ensure the LCD stays on:
To have a sure way of turning on the frame without flipping the switch in the laptop, adjust the
power settings in the
widely by manufacturer. Look up the information for your computer, or try these keys during
the boot-up sequence (before Windows starts to load): Esc, Del, F1, F2, F3, F10, and sometimes
Ctrl
If there is an option for your laptop, the BIOS setting would look something like “Power state
when AC is applied: On, Off, Last-state.” Set this to “On” to make sure the computer turns on
when the AC is plugged in. In addition, if you’recontrolling power through the AC, remove the
battery before installing in the picture frame.
There is a Windows registry hack that will activate the screen saver of your choice. The hack
details are different for each version of Windows. If you feel comfortable modifying the
Windows registry, give it a try. More details can be found at
for “logon screen saver.”