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Building an e-ink picture frame that displays an iCloud photo album

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Re: Building an e-ink picture frame that displays an iCloud photo album

#91

Post by jwong_ »

LASR wrote: post #45

For those who want less tikering: Two 24 inch monitors bought from a design house auction connected to 3rd Gen Chromecasts. They automatically boot up and display a Google Photos album that contains pictures of the family and pets. These monitors are set to power on at 8 AM and off at 10 PM. Initially my wife hated the idea of having two monitors in the living room. But after I put them in place, we both found it is…

What is a "design house auction"?

It sounds like a museum auction or something? If so, that sounds like a nice way to promote an environment to enjoy things. Would make a great entrance/foyer hallway feature.

Re: Building an e-ink picture frame that displays an iCloud photo album

#92

Post by iamjackg »

sho_hn wrote: post #59
jgrahamc wrote: post #18

I've built a few things with eink displays and I strongly recommend NOT using simple picture frames (unless they fit perfectly). One way to get a really good looking result is a custom frame. There are tons of custom framing company that will cheaply make you a frame that fits the display with the appropriate cut out. https://blog.jgc.org/2023/05/a-better-case-for-my-inkplate-1...

I did that for my Rust/LLM-based e-ink AI newspaper: https://imgur.com/a/NoTr8XX Custom frame by Halbe Rahmen, who I think make the most magnificent frames in the world, with the most loving team behind them. Not a shill; whenever I interact with the Halbe staff for anything I feel it.

This is an incredible project. I love every bit of it. Well done!

Re: Building an e-ink picture frame that displays an iCloud photo album

#93

Post by chrisweekly »

sho_hn wrote: post #59
jgrahamc wrote: post #18

I've built a few things with eink displays and I strongly recommend NOT using simple picture frames (unless they fit perfectly). One way to get a really good looking result is a custom frame. There are tons of custom framing company that will cheaply make you a frame that fits the display with the appropriate cut out. https://blog.jgc.org/2023/05/a-better-case-for-my-inkplate-1...

I did that for my Rust/LLM-based e-ink AI newspaper: https://imgur.com/a/NoTr8XX Custom frame by Halbe Rahmen, who I think make the most magnificent frames in the world, with the most loving team behind them. Not a shill; whenever I interact with the Halbe staff for anything I feel it.

cool project and writeup!

Re: Building an e-ink picture frame that displays an iCloud photo album

#94

Post by j45 »

jgrahamc wrote: post #18

I've built a few things with eink displays and I strongly recommend NOT using simple picture frames (unless they fit perfectly). One way to get a really good looking result is a custom frame. There are tons of custom framing company that will cheaply make you a frame that fits the display with the appropriate cut out. https://blog.jgc.org/2023/05/a-better-case-for-my-inkplate-1...

It’s relatively easy to cut your own frame from Michael’s or haven’t hem cut it too.

Re: Building an e-ink picture frame that displays an iCloud photo album

#95

Post by hammock »

jgrahamc wrote: post #18

I've built a few things with eink displays and I strongly recommend NOT using simple picture frames (unless they fit perfectly). One way to get a really good looking result is a custom frame. There are tons of custom framing company that will cheaply make you a frame that fits the display with the appropriate cut out. https://blog.jgc.org/2023/05/a-better-case-for-my-inkplate-1...

Have you considered MIP displays?(1) Memory-in-pixel displays are commonly used on watches, wearables and they can display up to 64 colors in theory. They have high-contrast even in bright ambient conditions.

Example of a color MIP display is the Garmin handhelds: https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/553168

The largest one I can find in production is only 4 inches,(2) but a tablet-sized one could be great as a display. They don't use much power (just like e-ink) as a MIP watch can last 11+ months without a charge.

(1)https://www.sharpsde.com/technologies-for/memory-in-pixels/m...

(2)https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/sharp-microelectr...

Re: Building an e-ink picture frame that displays an iCloud photo album

#96

Post by CharlesW »

afavour wrote: post #50
CharlesW wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I know there are apps you can use but it’s a notably inferior experience to a dedicated frame. Can you elaborate on how it's inferior? I was thinking of doing this and imagined it'd be straightforward with Single App Mode.

I'd love for someone to prove me wrong here but I have a Google Home that I'd like to replace with an iPad. One thing it does beyond just showing pictures is brighten and dim the screen according to ambient light. When the lights are off it dims entirely into a night mode-like display that just shows the time. I've not seen an iOS app capable of the same (I'm not even sure if API access allows it?)

Excellent question.

> I've not seen an iOS app capable of the same (I'm not even sure if API access allows it?)

I don't believe apps can change system brightness settings themselves, but iOS does have an auto-brightness feature, and the app can additionally dim images or change what's displayed based on brightness or movement (using Camera access), time of day, and other signals.

Re: Building an e-ink picture frame that displays an iCloud photo album

#97

Post by sequoia »

trompetenaccoun wrote: post #85
acdha wrote: post #7

I’m mildly surprised that this isn’t an official product. I have half a dozen relatives I’d give “AirFrames” to if Apple made them or let a third party do it, especially if they had decent handling of Live Photos.

It's a good gift idea but seems like a lot of trouble to build and maintain a consumer friendly version for what would be a relatively cheap product. Because I can't imagine people paying hundreds of dollars for that. What he build looks cool but he set it up for his parents and if you were to sell it to them directly it would have to work out of the box. They'd have to be able to share the pictures with the frame wi…

> Because I can't imagine people paying hundreds of dollars for that.

We're talking apple customers here. I just spent $300 on "air pods." Would I spend $300 on a two pack of AirFrames? Very maybe! The value of sharing pics with grandparents is huge, especially for those of us without facebook.

Re: Building an e-ink picture frame that displays an iCloud photo album

#98

Post by hammock »

noman-land wrote: post #89
jgrahamc wrote: post #18

I've built a few things with eink displays and I strongly recommend NOT using simple picture frames (unless they fit perfectly). One way to get a really good looking result is a custom frame. There are tons of custom framing company that will cheaply make you a frame that fits the display with the appropriate cut out. https://blog.jgc.org/2023/05/a-better-case-for-my-inkplate-1...

Got any names of good quality and reasonably priced custom framing shops?

They will all be local, or call your local Michael's, or else try Framebridge.com

Re: Building an e-ink picture frame that displays an iCloud photo album

#99

Post by jamez »

So great to see interest in ePaper screens. Picture frame projects specifically seem to be gathering steam. Shameless plug: I built a solar ePaper frame that displays Google Photo albums or loads pictures from an sd-card. https://jamez.it/blog/2023/05/16/version-2-of-my-solar-power...

Re: Building an e-ink picture frame that displays an iCloud photo album

#100

Post by hammock »

hammock wrote: post #95
jgrahamc wrote: post #18

I've built a few things with eink displays and I strongly recommend NOT using simple picture frames (unless they fit perfectly). One way to get a really good looking result is a custom frame. There are tons of custom framing company that will cheaply make you a frame that fits the display with the appropriate cut out. https://blog.jgc.org/2023/05/a-better-case-for-my-inkplate-1...

Have you considered MIP displays?(1) Memory-in-pixel displays are commonly used on watches, wearables and they can display up to 64 colors in theory. They have high-contrast even in bright ambient conditions. Example of a color MIP display is the Garmin handhelds: https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/553168 The largest one I can find in production is only 4 inches,(2) but a tablet-sized one could be great as a display. The…

AKA transflective, AKA Memory LCD. It neither looks as good as the ipad, nor does it use no power (at idle) or read as easily as the kindle. It still has to use a little power, but it has the advantage of the fast refresh of an LCD, and a million times better than the ipad in the sun
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