12 Megapixel Photoframe

Included with Microsoft Windows XP comes a "My Pictures" screen saver. I always liked this screen-saver because it randomly shows pictures from a configured folder. There are some other configuration options where I selected the optiomal configuration for full-screen pictures.



The screen saver executable is called "ssmypics.scr" and is located in the System32 folder of the Windows folder. I'm going to use a Windows 2003 server for the terminals through Remote Desktop. Since Windows 2003 does not have this screen saver installed, I just copied the single file into the System32 folder of the server and voia; the screen saver is now installed.

I found out that for each user the settings can be different. Because my terminals will log-in using a different user, I set the settings for the screen saver correctly by loggin in with the correct username.

I've also set the screen saver as default screen-saver and with a timeout of 1 minute. When a remote desktop session is started, the screen saver should kick in after a minute of inactivity and start showing pictures!

Now to configure the Eizo 630L-N terminals...

A dedicated piece of wall in my home is assigned for photo frames. I would like to put the digital photo frames up on the wall and hide all cables. To accomplish that, the photo frame should be a thin as possible. The only way to find out how thin it can become is to take the Eizo 630L-N apart!

1) To access all screws, the stand must come loose.

2) Then the backside, 5 screws

3) Before taking off the front, make sure to unplug the speakers. Also take into account that the powerswitch has a spring and can fall out of the frame.



4) Until now, all connectors that are needed for correct opertion are still in place. I've now found out that when I want to take it apart a step further, I'll need to disconnect some things. After removing all bolts that hold the screen into the metal casing, the power cable to the screen, two very-high-density flat cables (for screen data I guess) and a small very-high-density flat cable must come lose.



5) Because I think the metal casing takes too much room, I also removed all electrical parts from the metal case. I had to be careful not to forget how to re-connect all cables... To make matters worse, there are parts on both sides of the metal casing.







After I've measured the parts, I had to make sure the machine still works when put back together. So I assembled all parts again and connected it again (and hurray, it still works!)

Next, still software needed...

A couple of days after I've placed the order I received a big box with four well-wrapped Eizo 630L-N machines. I was curious enough to immediately put one to the test and connect a PS2 mouse and keyboard.



After the machine started up I found out that the Windows CE version that was installed is a bit different from the ones I've encountered before. No worries, because I don't want to do much with it anyway, except remote desktop.

The Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) functions just fine; I was able to login to a server and use a terminal session just like on any other PC. So far so good, but I was very curious about the quality of the screen itself. The brightness and contrast seems to be just fine, but the colors could be a problem because of the limited amount of video memory in the machine.

I fired up an Internet Explorer session and searched for a digital photo with descent quality. The picture looked amazing, very sharp, crisp and much better than any of the digital photo frames I've seen so far. That was big step in the right direction!

Now to find a way so that it will show my pictures automatically!...

In this first blog post I would like to state how the "12 megapixel digital photo frame" project started out.

Since the moment I've moved into my new home I was looking for a way to see the pictures I've made in the last couple of years. There are a lot of pictures, and I would like to switch them often to make sure I'm remembered of the good times...

With that in mind I found myself looking for a digital photo frame. At that time there were many different types with different sizes and prices. I didn't want to settle for a single frame so I started looking for the cheapest ones. I was frustrated that these still cost about EUR 80,- a piece and the screen size was small...

The idea then came to mind when I saw a second hand LCD monitor for about the same price of 15". With a couple of those things I could easily fill my wall and rotate the pictures. I didn't have any thought on how to display the pictures on the screens yet...

Searching through on of the most popular 2nd hand website in The Netherlands Marktplaats I stumbled upon the Eizo 630L "Windows Based Terminal". This nifty machine is basically a 15" LCD screen with a Windows CE computer attached to it.



The guy selling the machines upgraded it to Windows CE 4.1 .NET edition (the latest available) so that the specifications equal those of the 630L-N model.

I started reading on these machines and found out that these machines are capable of automatically logging into a server using the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP). If I could get these to login to a server and start showing pictures I was in business...

The seller could offer me a good deal for 4 units and then it all started...