Entered CNET Catalog: 12/03/2008
SKU: 0041771612597
Manufacturer: Eastman Kodak Co.
Manufacturer description
Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) technology uses substances that emit red, green, blue or white light. Without any other source of illumination, OLED materials present bright, clear images and video that are easy to see at almost any angle. Active Matrix (AM) OLED displays stack up several thin layers of materials, including cathode, organic and anode, on top of another layer - or substrate - that contains circuitry. The displays operate on the attraction between positively and negatively charged particles. When voltage is applied, one layer becomes negatively charged relative to another transparent layer. As energy passes from the negatively charged (cathode) layer to the other (anode) layer, it stimulates the organic material between the two, which emits light visible through the outermost layer of glass. The pixels are defined by the deposition of the organic material in a continuous, discrete "dot" pattern. Each pixel is activated directly by a corresponding circuit. AM OLED pixels turn on and off independently more than three times faster than the speed of conventional motion picture film - making these displays ideal for fluid, full-motion video. The substrate - low-temperature polysilicon (LTPS) technology - transmits electrical current extremely efficiently, and its integrated circuitry helps to cut down AM OLED displays' weight and cost.Product summary
The good: Excellent display quality; sleek design; built-in Wi-Fi; zippy performance; easy to set up; supports MP3 and video playback.
The bad: Expensive; glossy finish is a fingerprint magnet; relatively small screen; Mac owners can't wirelessly connect to their computers.
The bottom line: Kodak's OLED Wireless Frame offers excellent image quality and features for a rather preposterous price.
Editors' review
- Editors' Choice: No
- Reviewed on: 12/05/2008
Let's get this out of the way: Kodak's OLED Wireless Frame costs $1,000. Who the heck would pay that much for a 7.6-inch digital frame that usually costs closer to $200? Well, Kodak would be quick to say that this is more about proof-of-concept than creating a mass-consumption product. The company developed the technology behind OLED (organic light-emitting diode), which has come to embody the future of flat-panel display technology. And this little photo frame, like Sony's $2,500 XEL-1 OLED TV, are at the cutting-edge--and you usually have to pay a serious premium to play there.
Whenever people talk about OLED, the first thing they mention is how thin the display is, and this frame measures only about 0.4 inch at its thickest point. But the base, which measures about an inch high, extends about 3.5 inches back, so some of the thin factor is lost. That base houses much of the electronics: built-in speakers (yes, there's sound for MP3 files and video), a multiformat slot for adding photos (no CompactFlash, though), and both mini and standard USB ports. There's also an audio input and output, both of which accept mini jacks.
OLED is also known for delivering a bright picture with eye-popping color and deep blacks. And in this regard, the Kodak frame lives up to the hype. While the image quality isn't perfect, it's probably the best we've seen from a photo frame to date. Pictures appear sharp, the color is rich and well saturated--and also very close to accurate--and the contrast is excellent. The one issue is that the frame isn't very high resolution; it's 800x480, so you will see some slight stair-stepping on curved edges, like on the ears of the dog in the test images that Kodak included with the frame. To notice the flaws, you do have to move in very close to the frame; from a few feet away everything looks great.
We also noticed another small flaw: ghosting of images when playing a slide-show image with a lot of white in it (like the aforementioned Dalmatian) transitioning into a darker picture. For a moment, you can see the faint outline of the brighter image before it quickly fades. Kodak says this shouldn't happen, and we're awaiting a second frame to confirm its claims.
As for features, the frame is loaded. For starters, it comes with 2GB of internal memory and built-in Wi-Fi connectivity. This frame, like several other new frames, is a touch-border model, which means that you touch the bezel of the frame to access menus and settings. The various touch points along the bottom and right side of the frame light up when you touch the bezel; unfortunately the finish of the bezel is glossy, so it's a fingerprint magnet. We're not sure about the whole touch-panel concept, but this is one of the best implementation we've seen of it, particularly because the touch points are sensitive and the frame is very responsive.
That's another one of the frame's strong points: the performance is quite good. Pictures and movies, even those with large file sizes, load quickly, and menus open and close with limited lag. This is a zippy frame.
We're not going to go into too much depth on all the features, but obviously the wireless connectivity plays a key role. Once you connect to your Wi-Fi network (you input any security keys through a virtual keyboard) and install the Kodak EasyShare desktop software on your Windows PC, you can wirelessly transfer photos from your computer to the frame. You can also access photos you've stored on your online Kodak Gallery account, as well as access friends' albums that are linked to your account. You can also tap into Flickr and FrameChannel and subscribe to Photo RSS feeds. FrameChannel also provides RSS feeds for news, weather, and sports scores. Mac users can't transfer photos from their PCs to the frame wirelessly, but they can take advantage of all the online services. The interface isn't quite Apple-like, but it is pretty easuy to ise. No major complaints there.
All of these features are in addition to the more standard features (slide-show transitions, automatic image resizing) that are offered on Kodak's regular LCD wireless photo frames, the 10-inch W1020. They, too, play back most videos (MOV, AVI, MPEG 1, and MPEG 4) shot with popular digital still cameras. However, the frame will not display video from Flip Video cameras.
The truth is Kodak's cheaper LCD wireless photo frames do a perfectly good job of displaying images and offer the same functionality, including the same Quick Touch Border interface. No, the picture isn't as good (though it is the same resolution). And no, the LCD models aren't built as well or have upgraded built-in speakers. But they cost about a quarter of the price of this model.
That said, if you want the Ferrari of photo frames, look no further, and by all means, drop a grand on this baby. You'll probably be the first on your block with one.
User opinions
Select a User Opinion to view: 1out of 1 user reviews
I OWN THIS FRAME I CAN TELL YOU IT REALLY IS AWESOME!
Pros: STUNNING VIVIDLY LIT SCREEN PLAYS MOVIES SO PERFECT FOR OFFICE WHEN HAVING OFFTIME LOOKS ARE SLICK AND VERY EASY TO SET UP. ONLINE STORES HAVE THESE NOW.
Cons: A BIT PRICEY BUT YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR THE GLOSSY LOOK ATTRACTS TONS OF DUST VERY FAST AND I WISH THE SCREEN SIZE WAS BIGGER FOR STICKER PRICE.
