The picture frame runs for years, unlike their web site. "502 Bad Gateway"
Appearing on HH's front page can put quite a load on an usually low-traffic website and put it on its knees quickly.
I built a picture frame with a greyscale e-paper that runs on battery for years
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Re: I built a picture frame with a greyscale e-paper that runs on battery for years
#12I actually built one myself, but used raspberry pi so it needs usb cable for power. It works well but contrast on the display is not that good for photos. Would work well for text or like smart home panel. https://imgur.com/a/HraSGsj
Nice work. Getting rid of the cable was actually the most important feature for me. It is almost impossible to spot that this is actually an electronic device if one doesn't notice the small button at the bottom.
Re: I built a picture frame with a greyscale e-paper that runs on battery for years
#13Nice idea and cool how you made it into a product. Could you provide us with a tad more technical specs? Since the website is down and it isn't archived yet would be good to see some of that tech specs here.
Re: I built a picture frame with a greyscale e-paper that runs on battery for years
#14Until the page is accessible again, here are some pictures and a picture transition: https://www.instagram.com/framelabs.eu/
Re: I built a picture frame with a greyscale e-paper that runs on battery for years
#15If you can get an old Kobo eReader it actually had software built in for an image based slideshow that was accessible. It's a good but small eink screen.
I had a few set up for it. But the dream would have been to have them networked and remotely accessible to update the content. I believe they were running on Linux so it would probably be doable.
Re: I built a picture frame with a greyscale e-paper that runs on battery for years
#16[deleted]
Re: I built a picture frame with a greyscale e-paper that runs on battery for years
#17Nice idea and cool how you made it into a product. Could you provide us with a tad more technical specs? Since the website is down and it isn't archived yet would be good to see some of that tech specs here.
It is a 9.7" screen with 1200x825 pixels, which make it 150 ppi. It has WiFi built-in to load pictures from remote sources and also features a small local storage for up to 100 pictures. The battery should last for around 7000 changes of the picture. The frequency of picture changes can be adjusted and also defines how many years it will take for the battery to run out.
Pictures are dithered and contrast/brightness can be adjusted during upload, which can be done via the device's WiFi hotspot. Or you can configure it to connect to your local WiFi for easier access.
Re: I built a picture frame with a greyscale e-paper that runs on battery for years
#18This is cool! How hackable is this? I'd love to get one and maybe hack it a bit, and try few other use cases
Re: I built a picture frame with a greyscale e-paper that runs on battery for years
#19I wanted to make something like this, I think it's a great idea. People might be in for a rude awakening if someone figures out how to hack it remotely though, lol
I am working on providing feeds with "Picture of the day" for the device. I agree that that service should run hardened software to prevent your scenario from happening. If you run the device in local mode though, WiFi is never enabled.
Hey! I’ve wanted to make (or buy) one of these for years! (A battery-powered eink picture frame with no power cord.) I hope you get your site back up soon! And eventually branch into color eink and larger (wall-hangable) sizes!
Re: I built a picture frame with a greyscale e-paper that runs on battery for years
#20I am building something like this, but the pandemic has prevented me from collaborating with my frame maker. The e-ink panel I have has a fairly fragile ribbon cable we are trying to hide inside the frame with some clever cuts. I am not sure how the panels for Kindles allow them to have such small margins.
The biggest problem I have is fitting a battery into the frame -- I was trying to find a low profile USB battery pack that could output 5V for RPi Zero. Maybe I should wire up some battery cells directly to evenly distribute the weight?