Electronic Picture Frames – Can They Replace Photo Albums?

It’s not impossible that photo albums may soon be a thing of the past in the future thanks to digital photo frames. It seems unlikely that traditional photo frames will vanish anytime soon – they will always have a place – but, considering the extra options that digital frames offer, I could see the possibility of bulky photo albums falling out of use relatively quickly.

Electronic frames are now considered to be a mainstream consumer item. No longer are they thought of as a high tech gadget and, looking at the level of sales in 2008 – which show no signs of diminishing in 2009 – these frames are now part of the decor in many homes around the country.

The technology is fascinating for many of course, but the thing that will probably appeal to the majority of people, be they technophiles or technophobes, is the additional functionality offered by digital frames. Some things are expected – nobody is going to buy a frame that doesn’t have a good display with a sharp image and clear colours which are a true reflection of the object in the picture. The size of the frame selected will be a matter of taste and will vary from individual to individual. At the moment, the most widely selected frame size is 7″ or 8″. That’s quite a decent size for a desk or sideboard and will suit many people perfectly well. Larger sizes are certainly possible if you have the notion and the money.

The main selling points that might convince users to opt for a digital frame instead of a conventional frame or photo album are the facts that electronic frames have the ability to store and display large quantities of photos and that there are no processing fees required as no physical copies need to be printed.

Digital picture frames are able to store thousands of photos on a selection of different electronic storage devices – many frames have their own internal memory, but for those that don’t, inexpensive memory cards can be used as the storage medium. The photos stored in this manner can be automatically cycled through to display a slide show with preset timings between different images – or the picture on display can be set in static mode and then changed manually.

The option of storing such large numbers of photos, many more than could be stored in even the largest bound album, is a big bonus. No more hunting in the loft or rummaging through kitchen drawers in search of that photo you’ve suddenly remembered about.

Storing the images electronically is another big benefit. It means that there is no need to pay processing charges, or to cover the printing costs for your photo collection in order to either view it yourself or to have it on display for your family, friends and colleagues.

No doubt most people will still have their favorite prints, and they will probably keep on printing these out in future. It seems improbable that standard photo frames will become redundant. On the other hand, considering the many benefits offered by digital picture frames, it’s not inconceivable that photo albums might become much less widely used.

If you’re looking for a great gift idea the why not check out the wide range of digital photo frames available?