It’s a fact that most people with digital cameras never print their photos to paper. It’s expensive to do, and inkjet technology has not reached the point where the colors stay vibrant and crisp on paper.

And yet, the technology to display photos has not really kept up with the technology to take the photos. Digital photo displays are still few and far between, and most options are a bit pricey. And their quality leaves just a bit to be desired.
Enter the Philips 7FF1AW Digital Photo Display.

I was a bit skeptical at first, when I was told I was going to be reviewing this computer-age objet d’ art, and not without good reason. I’ve seen a digital photo frame or two, and I usually find the colors too dark, or that the LCD can only be viewed from a specific angle, or that the thing is incredibly difficult to manage. In addition, manufacturers often try to copy the design of wooden frames, which just makes the whole thing look bizarre. So imagine my surprise when I received it.

It’s sleek, very sleek. The picture on the box got my hopes up. An image of a screen surrounded by glass, and a chrome stand. The image represented ont he LCD is bright, clear, and looks just like a photograph.

Reality was in some way less, and in some ways more, than what I expected. The frame surround is not glass, but polycarbonate acrylic (which, in retrospect is probably a good thing, as glass has a rather distressing tendency to break). The stand is not chrome, but satinless steel! Incredibly heavy, it’s shape lends itself to a variety of alternate uses, including (but not limited to): doorstop, paperweight, sap (for taking out enemies silently and efficiently), and thrown projectile (if an employee or pet irritate you enough). I kid, I kid (maybe). The truth is, I was pleasantly surprised by this little touch. Many frames have wobbly, often flimsy stands on them. And when you have an expensive piece of tech like this, you want to make sure it isn’t going to break on you.

There is a power switch on the back. It’s a slide-style switch, which, as I have expressed in other reviews, I find baffling. In addition, there are six buttons across the upper edge on the back,
The unit come with two cables, a power adapter, and a CD.

 

Even without reading the manual, I found operation a breeze.  The icons that appear on the screen mirror the functions of the buttons on the back, helping to guide your fingers when you are looking at the front of the unit.  I will point out, however, that both the hard-copy QuickStart Guide and the ‘Online’ User’s Manual contained on the CD are fairly concise, indicating what all the little functions are for, what all the little buttons and settings to.  I just didn’t feel a need to actually read them.

On to function.  The Philips 7FF1AW has slots to read CompactFlash, Sony Memory Stick and Memory Stick Duo, SD, MMC, and MS cards, which isn’t bad.  In addition, it also has a USB port to hook up directly to a camera and then detect and import all the images on the camera, or to a PC, which will then treat it as a removeable storage device you can transfer images directly to.  I’ve gotta say, I was impressed with the ease of operation in the various modes.  Even the mildly techno-savvy can figure it all out.  The internal memory unit is claimed to hold about fifty photographs, although I didn’t get a chance to test that.  However, it will also read directly from media cards, meaning your stored number of photos is, for all intents and purposes, limitless.

Menus are standard fare, similar to pretty much every digital camera on the market.  Rotate functions, slideshow speed and look, brightness and contrast, the usual stuff is all here.  In addition, you can choose the rate of rotation for your slideshow, so that you can have a new picture show every day, if you wish, as opposed to every few seconds.  I found this feature to be probably the most useful.

There is a Contact Sheet feature, that displays thumbnails of multiple images on the screen, so you can choose which images to transfer to the device or to display in the slideshow.  It works excellently, although as the number of photos increase, the responsiveness of this feature begins to dip as the unit slows down, processing through the images.  I can imagine that with a hundred or more photos, it can get a bit irritating.  Still, it’s not horrible, and if you use your PC to do this work for you, you’ll never see a problem.

If I had to point out one thing to criticize about the Philips DPD, it would be that in ‘Browse Mode’, the resolution of the photo is firmly displayed across the bottom, and the menu bar is firmly displayed across the top, with no apparent way to make them go away.  This means that there is no aesthetically pleasing way to just display one photo permanently.  You might not want to, of course.  In fact, I doubt that with this tasty device anyone would want to, but I’m nitpicky like that.

Image quality wasn’t exactly as described by the pretty picture on the box, but it was pretty close.  Images are bright and colorful, though obviously will only be as clear as your camera allows them to be.  Paired with a decent camera, however, there is no reason this cannot replace the ten pictures of your family that currently clutter your desk.  And if you want to show others your pictures, the internal battery will keep the frame running for about an hour before a recharge is needed.  You might complain about low battery life, but for a 7″ screen and a battery that small, I think it’s just fine.

All in all, I highly recommend this to those who want (and can afford) an alternative to the clutter of numerous picture frames.  I found very few things to complain about, and I’m a guy who likes to complain.  Though it is a little pricey (MSRP is $249.95), it can certainly be found for less.  And for what it does, it’s actually a very reasonable amount of money to spend on a gadget.

PROS

• Ease of use
• Excellent slideshow feature with the ability to change the delay between photo transitions
• Versatility of media, camera, or PC
• Durability
• Internal battery for showing photos without dragging the cord
• Bright, clear images
• Clean look

CONS

• No ‘Static Image’ Setting without leaving graphics on the screen
• Slide-style power switch
• Numerous photos can slow down the Contact Sheet thumbnail screen