Review on Enhanced Visual Experience with KODAK Auto Rotate Mountable Programmable Precious Slideshow 10", IPS by John Hoang

Surely you've read reviews that began with the words "I really wanted you to like this device, but..." and this is one of them. let me explain. Digital picture frames are by no means new, but the technology is getting cheaper and better over time. Combine that with a brand like Kodak and you have a very enticing model, at least on paper. I chose the 10-inch version because it's only $10 more expensive than the 8-inch version and they both offer the same 1280x800 IPS resolution. So let's first take a look at the screen, as this is arguably the most important feature of a picture frame. It is well known that in-plane switching LCDs have better viewing angles than standard LCDs. That's not a guarantee, however, and the Kodak screen makes it clear that cheap IPS screens can be just as bad as regular LCDs. The viewing angle and the associated black value are downright "bad". Blacks at perpendicular viewing angles are good, but degrade to washed-out grays relatively quickly, and certainly much faster than the IPS technology would suggest. A screen resolution of 1280x800 does not necessarily fit the description of high resolution. It's not too low, but high resolution looks different in times when smaller screens (e.g. phones) have much higher pixel densities. The screen is behind a reflective glass panel and in 2020 this is quite annoying even for a cheap model as reflections compete with the image. Color reproduction is far from the "simulation" of images in advertising. Real images are more subdued, also due to fuzzy "black" values. Since the screen is actually disappointing, the user interface is also not exactly convincing. Navigation via the hard button on the back of the screen is sluggish and sometimes pointless. While the remote allows direct access to some functions, navigation is still sluggish and doesn't have a really good feedback mechanism to know if a button was pressed or skipped. The button labeling and general usage is just not intuitive, and the UI is also very slow to respond at times. In all of this, the touchscreen is sorely lacking. Speed isn't a strong point, and in preview mode (folder view) the preview thumbnail will appear in about a second. It might not sound too bad, but there are 16 thumbnails and it takes the same number of seconds to fit everything on screen. There doesn't seem to be an easy way to push this forward. Navigating through a few thousand images is daunting on any of these screens, but even a hundred is a test of patience on this model. Even though it's powered by 5V at 2A, the screen doesn't rely on USB power, it's rather dated. with its own power supply. That might indicate the conceptual age of the device, but it doesn't matter as long as the power supply works. The device has no battery out of buffer to save time and settings and requires screen power to operate. We're testing an $80 device, and that mitigates some of the criticism, but not everything can be considered cheap. However, in 2020 I miss Wi-Fi connectivity (like cloud storage for external photo storage) or a convenient way to connect smartphones. Now it would be unrealistic to expect these features at this price point, but they seem to be missing, like a motion (or presence) sensor or a light incidence sensor to adjust the brightness of the screen. Overall it looks like the old model. which Kodak renamed to fill in the floor. That might be enough for some, but for me it's really quite disappointing. I could see that my two-star rating might be a bit harsh, but with screen quality flaws and a sluggish user interface, I really can't justify more than three stars (on a good day).