We all have no less than one technologically challenged relative. We can e-mail images or publish them on a private Web page for a few of our beloved ones, however there are others who want nothing to do with a pc, let alone the Internet. The right gadget for sharing photos with the computerless is the digital image frame. This is a system about the size and form of an peculiar picture body. It incorporates an LCD display screen, which shows a number of photos in a slideshow format, and it connects to the Internet via telephone line to obtain new photos and data to show on the display screen. The frames are pretty related in development, although they do supply some different options. In this edition of HowStuffWorks, we'll take a look at the Ceiva Digital Photo Receiver. Before we get into exactly how it really works, let's see what it does. The idea is that a one who does have a pc, a digital camera and laptop expertise buys the body, units up the account and passes it on.

As soon as the account is set up, you (the individual with the pc) add pictures to the Ceiva Net site. Each evening, the digital picture frame (within the computerless person's home) makes use of the phone line to connect to the Ceiva servers and download any new photos. You may also control all the body's settings via the net site. It has most of the same elements as the computer in your desktop, but they're so much less complicated in the body because they solely should perform a single task. The central processing unit (CPU) within the Ceiva digital image body is similar to the sort used in small, digital handheld games. The most processor-intensive job performed by this CPU is downloading footage from the online site. The remainder of the time, it does not break a sweat. It additionally has some Flash Memory Wave Experience, which is where the images, settings and among the operating software program reside.

Both forms of memory are persistent -- no data is lost if the unit is unplugged. The frame has a 33.6-Kbps modem, which it uses to connect to the Internet and obtain the brand new photographs you submit. The show is a 640x480-pixel, passive-matrix liquid crystal show (LCD) with a viewing area of about 5 by 7 inches (13 by 18 cm). This type of display is skinny sufficient that the digital body is not much thicker than an peculiar picture frame. The images are displayed in 12-bit colour, which signifies that roughly 4,one hundred totally different colours may be offered on the screen. The one user-operated controls on the frame are a black button, which adjusts the brightness of the display, and a white button that turns the body on when the consumer first plugs it in and can also be used to manually dial in. The Ceiva frame makes use of an embedded operating system known as PSOS.

This operating system is designed for devices like PDAs, electrical-testing equipment and set-high containers. Let's take a look at how the Ceiva body works. If the user presses and holds the white button on the again of the body, it dials up and connects to the Web. The $50-per-yr fee for the Ceiva service contains access to the Web by means of a local phone quantity. The connection to the Internet is used only to download the brand new images and settings to the body. There is no such thing as a interactivity, no Web access and no e-mail. The system is designed to behave like an image frame, not a computer. As soon as logged on, Memory Wave Experience the frame compares the pictures already on the frame to the ones ready to be sent, downloading any new ones. It additionally downloads any new settings. When it's finished downloading, Memory Wave the frame hangs up the telephone line and begins displaying the brand new photographs one after another.