Kodak unveils world’s first OLED photo frameOLED promises thinner and brighter digital frames
17 September 2008
Kodak has launched the world’s first digital photo frame using Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) technology. Boasting greater color depth and saturation, and a thinner frame than traditional LCD screens, it has a 7.6-inch widescreen display with 800x480 resolution, and 2GB internal memory.
Another benefit of OLED frames is the 180 degree viewing angle, meaning that the picture is clearly visible regardless of your viewing position in the room. The Kodak OLED wireless frame requires no backlighting, and incorporates an ambient light sensor that optimizes the viewing experience by adjusting display brightness based on the surrounding light. This could also mean the frame uses less energy than LCD screens.
The frame also showcases proprietary Kodak technologies such as ‘Perfect Touch’, which automatically processes images to improve exposure, brightness and color, and ‘Image Science’, which optimizes image quality for display on OLED panels.
It also features Wi-Fi to enable the display of pictures as well as access to videos and music stored on a PC elsewhere in the home. The wireless feature also enables connectivity to online photo and video sharing sites such as Flickr and YouTube, plus news, weather and sports websites.
TV technology
OLED technology isn’t restricted to photo frames. Which? experienced Sony’s OLED TV screen technology at the German IFA technology show, where they wowed us with their ultrathin 3mm thickness. At present, however, OLED screens are only manufactured in small sizes compared to LCD and plasma screens.
Which? digital imaging expert Al Warman said ‘this is an exciting next step in the evolution of digital photo frames. Although OLED technology isn’t affordable just yet, LCD frames are predicted to be very popular Christmas presents in 2008. We’re testing a range of LCD frames at the Which? labs and will recommend our Best Buys in December’.
The OLED frame has a predicted retail price of £499, and is likely to be launched in November.