[HN Gopher] Building an e-ink picture frame that displays an iCl...
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Building an e-ink picture frame that displays an iCloud photo album
Author : benborgers
Score : 206 points
Date : 2024-01-09 16:45 UTC (6 hours ago)
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| jer0me wrote:
| This is really neat! I have a receipt printer I've been meaning
| to do something cool with--I think it can even handle images.
| JKCalhoun wrote:
| > I bought this pack of 8x10 frames off Amazon
|
| Thrift stores (in the U.S.) are gold mines for picture frames.
| And they probably cost you only a few bucks.
| jmlim00 wrote:
| You are absolutely correct. When I built my eink display
| calendar, I sourced picture frame for $2 at a local Goodwill
| store.
| dt3ft wrote:
| I built something similar with raspberry pi zero 2 w. Instead of
| showing icloud album, I fetch a paper-edition newspaper frontpage
| using headless chrome and display it. The display is made by
| waveshare, quite on the pricy side.
| JKCalhoun wrote:
| > iCloud photo albums have no API. However, if you share an
| iCloud photo album to a public link, you can use the Developer
| Tools to inspect the API requests Apple is making to get the
| photos.
|
| That's clever. I tried something similar to get shared Calendar
| (Apple) events for the eInk project I put together. I wish there
| were a better, less hackish API I could have called.
| kridsdale1 wrote:
| Apple Calendar server uses CalDAV. If you could see the data
| after authenticating it should be quite parse-able. You could
| also share your iCloud calendar with an account that is logged
| in on hardware you own like an old Mac, and use the EventKit
| framework to send copies of the data to whatever custom server
| you wanted.
| dewey wrote:
| Yep, just switch the calendar to "public" and you can just use
| it with any CalDav client or icalendar libraries like
| https://github.com/pat/calendav. Nothing hacky about that, just
| a standard.
| livealight wrote:
| Very neat! Did a similar project with AI generated images. Fun
| for days with this kind of cheap hardware!
| acdha wrote:
| I'm mildly surprised that this isn't an official product. I have
| half a dozen relatives I'd give "AirFrames" to if Apple made them
| or let a third party do it, especially if they had decent
| handling of Live Photos.
| yetanother12345 wrote:
| The keywords that you would want to enter into your preferred
| search engine are: Digital Picture Frame
|
| At this point in time that is already a regular product
| category. The OP could just have bought one, but chose the DIY
| path.
| Thrymr wrote:
| But none with an official fruit logo!
| darknavi wrote:
| Show me one that hooks up directly to iCloud though. We got
| one for grandparents and its just full of proprietary crap
| specific to that app.
| wpsimon3 wrote:
| We kinda got something like this working for a relative.
| They have an "Aura" frame, and in their app you can set a
| watch folder/album. So we have a shared iCloud album set as
| the source and it automatically updates based on the images
| in that shared album.
| sfilmeyer wrote:
| Yeah, we use an Aura hooked up to Google Photos rather
| than iCloud, but I think it's similar from the Aura UX
| perspective. It's super easy to use, and the photos just
| show up in the frame rotation whenever we add a photo to
| the corresponding album in Google Photos (which we
| already use for backing up and organizing photos).
| eli wrote:
| The problem here is that iCloud _is_ the proprietary crap.
| They don 't offer an appropriate API to get photos out.
| It'd be easier if you were starting with pictures in
| something more accessible.
|
| That said, I think Aura frames will sync from iCloud via
| their phone app. Not sure how well it works.
| CharlesW wrote:
| > _They don 't offer an appropriate API to get photos
| out._
|
| There's this:
| https://developer.apple.com/documentation/photokit ("The
| framework provides access to photos on the person's
| device and in iCloud.")
|
| If you want to use undocumented APIs on non-Apple devices
| directly, there are projects like
| https://github.com/steilerDev/icloud-photos-sync and
| https://github.com/icloud-photos-
| downloader/icloud_photos_do... that appear to be able to
| do this.
| jmelloy wrote:
| I've got an app that uses that to upload to S3. It's
| pretty straightforward.
| eli wrote:
| Yes, you have to build an app that runs on a device owned
| by someone with access to the album.
|
| Google Photos, by comparison, has a REST API.
| bradly wrote:
| I wanted to get a simple, high quality digital frame for some
| older relatives and I had a hard time coming up with many
| options to choose from. It seemed like there were two groups
| of frames. Amazon cheapies and $600+ art frames. If you just
| want a nice 10" inch digital frame of high quality and at
| least moderate privacy from random apps with photo access
| good luck.
| throwaway83242 wrote:
| Not really. Software for each of them is clunky. You have to
| first buy one which is wifi enabled. Then you have to
| download an app from manufacturer and create a login
| password. Then you have to manually move/upload photos from
| camera roll to the corresponding app. After this, you have to
| to back to digital photo frame interface, select the
| appropriate picture and then tap "display this photo".
|
| All of this should be one step. Ideally Like airdrop. I say
| "share" and it should magically show up on the photo frame. I
| should be able to download pics from reddit/imgur and display
| it on photo frame using a CLI/API.
| michelb wrote:
| Yeah, and almost all of them suck, in terms of build quality,
| features, privacy and software.
| acdha wrote:
| Which of those integrate with iCloud? Generic picture frames
| tend to either use USB or their own cloud services/mobile
| apps, and the exceptions are things like this guy had to do
| making the album public which many people aren't willing to
| do.
| carlosjobim wrote:
| The official product is E-Ink Spectra, as of 2023 it has a
| complete colour spectrum. Not cheap, though.
|
| https://myereader.net/e-ink-spectra-6.html
|
| https://youtu.be/TEqTg-Pjiag
|
| Edit: And I don't know of any consumer-ready solutions.
| germinalphrase wrote:
| I haven't dug into it enough to see if there's an iPhoto
| integration, but the Aura frames - generally - have good UX and
| image quality. They've universally been a hit with
| grandparents.
| afavour wrote:
| I wish Apple would let you do it with old iPads. I know there
| are apps you can use but it's a notably inferior experience to
| a dedicated frame.
|
| I have a second generation (I think) iPad mini that can barely
| run most web sites and has an OS version too old for most apps.
| Would be a great boost to Apple's claims for caring about the
| environment.
| CharlesW wrote:
| > _I know there are apps you can use but it's a notably
| inferior experience to a dedicated frame._
|
| Can you elaborate on how it's inferior? I was thinking of
| doing this and imagined it'd be straightforward with Single
| App Mode.
| afavour wrote:
| I'd love for someone to prove me wrong here but I have a
| Google Home that I'd like to replace with an iPad. One
| thing it does beyond just showing pictures is brighten and
| dim the screen according to ambient light. When the lights
| are off it dims entirely into a night mode-like display
| that just shows the time. I've not seen an iOS app capable
| of the same (I'm not even sure if API access allows it?)
| CharlesW wrote:
| Good point, this is important to think about.
|
| > _I 've not seen an iOS app capable of the same (I'm not
| even sure if API access allows it?)_
|
| I don't believe apps can change system brightness
| settings themselves, but iOS does have an auto-brightness
| feature, and the app can additionally dim images or
| change what's displayed based on brightness or movement
| (using Camera access), time of day, and other signals.
| jph wrote:
| If you're open to donating it, you can give it to an elderly
| care home of your choice, so the home can use it for WiFi
| FaceTime. For examples see https://BoldContacts.org.
| Shadowmist wrote:
| https://apps.apple.com/us/app/aura-frames/id990062908
|
| I didn't check to see if it can play from a photo stream
| directly, because I prefer to use the share button in Photos to
| send to the app. It handles Live Photos just fine, and will put
| vertical photos side by side.
| acdha wrote:
| The killer function for me would be a private shared folder
| so new pictures would automatically go to the grandparents.
| If the Aura software does that, I might have to replace the
| ones they have currently.
| TwiztidK wrote:
| I have a Google Photos album (shared with a few close
| family members) that automatically adds photos of my
| daughter and syncs them with the Aura frames her
| grandparents have. We've had this setup for the last two
| years and it works really well. I think it's literally the
| use-case Aura is targeting.
| renewiltord wrote:
| I just have Google One or whatever, and have my photos synced
| to both services. Then I use the Google home assistant frames.
| They're pretty good:
|
| - big enough but not intrusive
|
| - go off automatically at night
|
| - doubles as audio assistant
|
| Overall, it works really well for us.
| konschubert wrote:
| I have been working on adding an image gallery wideget to the
| The Invisible Smart Screen (https://shop.invisible-
| computers.com)
|
| The images look surprisingly good, even on the relatively
| small, black-and-white display! It definitely has its own
| aesthetic.
|
| I need to hurry up and ship this! In the meantime, if you're a
| dev, you can probably use the image url widget to build your
| own image gallery: https://www.invisible-
| computers.com/invisible-calendar/image...
| threeio wrote:
| 10,000 times this. I've bought a handful of Nixplays for my
| family members, share pictures to them, etc... but an apple
| ecosystem solution would be great.
| trompetenaccoun wrote:
| It's a good gift idea but seems like a lot of trouble to build
| and maintain a consumer friendly version for what would be a
| relatively cheap product. Because I can't imagine people paying
| hundreds of dollars for that.
|
| What he build looks cool but he set it up for his parents and
| if you were to sell it to them directly it would have to work
| out of the box. They'd have to be able to share the pictures
| with the frame with airdrop or something like that. Or maybe an
| SD card slot for Android users. Anything beyond that will be
| too complicated for the average user.
| sequoia wrote:
| > Because I can't imagine people paying hundreds of dollars
| for that.
|
| We're talking apple customers here. I just spent $300 on "air
| pods." Would I spend $300 on a two pack of AirFrames? Very
| maybe! The value of sharing pics with grandparents is huge,
| especially for those of us without facebook.
| misterbwong wrote:
| This is really cool! I love pet projects like this. Although, I
| can't help but wonder why OP didn't put a frame around an ancient
| Fire tablet or something else with an LCD screen and web browsing
| out of the box.
|
| Seems like it would result in a better experience (color) with
| much less work and about the same price point.
| adtac wrote:
| Colour e-ink displays exist. We don't live in spaceships yet
| but this is just as good.
| ratg13 wrote:
| You'd have to constantly power an LCD display.
|
| With an e-ink device you could create something that only needs
| to be recharged 1-2 times a year, or that is passively charged
| off your WiFi.
| samb1729 wrote:
| > passively charged off your WiFi
|
| I had no idea this is possible. Is there a name for power-
| over-wifi?
| KomoD wrote:
| > Is there a name for power-over-wifi?
|
| Yes, the name for power over wifi is power over wifi (or
| PoWiFi).
|
| But doesn't look like it's used at all in anything and uses
| a special "PoWiFi router"(?)
|
| https://modernmobile.cs.washington.edu/docs/powifi.pdf
| benborgers wrote:
| I thought about this! An old iPad also wouldn't have to be
| rooted to show a website.
|
| But ultimately I wanted something that could be in a bedroom
| without glowing at night, which e-ink felt better suited for.
| jgrahamc wrote:
| I've built a few things with eink displays and I strongly
| recommend NOT using simple picture frames (unless they fit
| perfectly). One way to get a really good looking result is a
| custom frame. There are tons of custom framing company that will
| cheaply make you a frame that fits the display with the
| appropriate cut out.
|
| https://blog.jgc.org/2023/05/a-better-case-for-my-inkplate-1...
| sho_hn wrote:
| I did that for my Rust/LLM-based e-ink AI newspaper:
| https://imgur.com/a/NoTr8XX
|
| Custom frame by Halbe Rahmen, who I think make the most
| magnificent frames in the world, with the most loving team
| behind them. Not a shill; whenever I interact with the Halbe
| staff for anything I feel it.
| iamjackg wrote:
| This is an incredible project. I love every bit of it. Well
| done!
| chrisweekly wrote:
| cool project and writeup!
| c-hendricks wrote:
| The matte could be cut for any sized frame for another
| alternatively cost effective option.
| noman-land wrote:
| Got any names of good quality and reasonably priced custom
| framing shops?
| hammock wrote:
| They will all be local, or call your local Michael's, or else
| try Framebridge.com
| j45 wrote:
| It's relatively easy to cut your own frame from Michael's or
| haven't hem cut it too.
| hammock wrote:
| Have you considered MIP displays?(1) Memory-in-pixel displays
| are commonly used on watches, wearables and they can display up
| to 64 colors in theory. They have high-contrast even in bright
| ambient conditions.
|
| Example of a color MIP display is the Garmin handhelds:
| https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/553168
|
| The largest one I can find in production is only 4 inches,(2)
| but a tablet-sized one could be great as a display. They don't
| use much power (just like e-ink) as a MIP watch can last 11+
| months without a charge.
|
| (1)https://www.sharpsde.com/technologies-for/memory-in-
| pixels/m...
|
| (2)https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/sharp-
| microelectr...
| hammock wrote:
| AKA transflective, AKA Memory LCD. It neither looks as good
| as the ipad, nor does it use no power (at idle) or read as
| easily as the kindle. It still has to use a little power, but
| it has the advantage of the fast refresh of an LCD, and a
| million times better than the ipad in the sun
| rahimnathwani wrote:
| The device is running an Android app, rather than an OS and app
| optimized for an always-on device.
|
| I wonder whether the power consumption is much lower than that of
| a regular tablet?
| FirmwareBurner wrote:
| Come on, Isn't Android, _the_ mobile OS, optimized for always
| on devices?
| rahimnathwani wrote:
| I guess, but perhaps having an app in the foreground
| increases power usage? For example, if this app accesses the
| network a lot (not just when it's time to update the image)
| this would result in the wifi chipset being awake for longer.
| edent wrote:
| The device is an eReader. The majority of battery power on
| tablets goes to keeping the screen on and updating it 60 times
| per-second.
|
| The eInk screen is low power to change, and requires zero power
| to stay on.
|
| The device sleeps between screen refreshes, and the WiFi power
| use in minimal.
|
| My nook art screen lasts over a week with refreshes over the
| day. I don't know of a tablet which has a screen-on time for
| that long.
|
| https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2021/09/turning-an-eink-screen-into...
| rahimnathwani wrote:
| Awesome. I now see that the app's Play store listing explains
| this: When started, Electric Sign will
| download and display a user-specified web page, then go to
| sleep for a specified number of (minutes/hours/days). It will
| then wake up, re-download and refresh the web page, and go
| back to sleep again.
| mrhargro wrote:
| blahhh i really want to do a larger format one for art but scared
| of the hardware part of it not being that technical. seems like
| there are more people doing it.
| eli wrote:
| Visionect makes some excellent eInk displays that take care of
| all the hardware for you. The tradeoff is they're not cheap.
| dharma1 wrote:
| Nice! The wood frame makes all the difference. Any way to add
| auth so it doesn't have to be a publicly shared album?
|
| Might do the same with a cheap/used OLED android tablet, though I
| like the minimalism and power consumption of the e-ink tablet
| cchance wrote:
| I mean cool but... but really wasn't expecting shoving an eink
| tablet in a frame lol, was excited for a new big eink display
| with esp32 or raspi
| bageler wrote:
| very nice. Years ago I did something like this with an old
| broken-but-working macbook for showing photos and cinemagraphs in
| a frame. Similar matte, but I added a webserver so it would run
| offline.
| kkukshtel wrote:
| Small promo here but: the inability to make collaborative photo
| albums without some onerous signup/login/auth flow was one that
| that recently inspired me to make this really simple moodboard
| website:
|
| https://mood.site
|
| When you got to the site (a SPA) it generates a new view/edit url
| for you. You can immediately drag photos onto the page to add to
| the gallery, remove them, etc. If you share the edit link with
| someone else, they can do all the same things. However if you
| share the link without the edit portion, the site is view only.
| The API is also public and just uses the edqit key query string
| for auth (check the network traffic), so I've been building a few
| apps on top of this as a sort of ad-hoc collaborative CDN thing.
|
| I'm also working to build something similar to OP for my own
| grandparents and use mood.site as the image backend.
| afhfah834 wrote:
| To me the interesting part of an e-ink frame is that it wouldn't
| require any battery/cables (otherwise you might as well just get
| a regular digital frame)
|
| I would love if there were a product where you just program the
| frame with a picture once by plugging it into your phone and
| using an app
|
| Then you never worry about batteries/cables and you can always
| change the image later
|
| To me that is the killer app
| ghaff wrote:
| At that point, why not print a few photos, put one in an easy
| to change photo frame, and spend a couple minutes swapping them
| out now and then?
|
| My brother tried to get my dad setup with Apple Music which he
| spent an afternoon frustrated with. OK, the UI isn't the best
| but I'm not sure anyone else's is better. I ended up getting
| him a desktop CD player, gave him a bunch of CDs I don't need
| any longer, and he's very happy. Sometimes the old (OK not
| quite) analog approaches are better.
|
| ADDED: My (younger) brother rolled his eyes a bit and was a bit
| surprised CDs even existed any longer but sometimes simpler
| approaches really are better. And I'm the one with engineering
| degrees :-)
| paxys wrote:
| While I'm sure this is great as a nerd project, I can't imagine
| giving someone this as a gift over, say, a $30 digital picture
| frame which is better and more functional in basically every way.
| apwell23 wrote:
| what about battery life, picture that looks like a printed
| photo, a thin frame and something thats not yet another screen
| to look at.
| fnordpiglet wrote:
| As a parent your perception of value changes. I would much
| rather have a pile of garbage my daughter spent hours creating
| than something drop shipped from China at any price point or
| functionality. I can imagine the authors parents showing all
| their friends and family the frame their nerd child made for
| them and explaining that while it's not as functional as the
| $30 frame from China their child made it from a used nook and
| was so excited about how it uses e-something that uses less
| battery or something.
|
| The $30 frame would go in the corner until the plug unseated
| and then a few years later into a drawer.
| ghaff wrote:
| I think it depends. My dad would absolutely prefer something
| that just worked. He certainly appreciates things I make and
| do but, even the books I've written, he appreciates that I've
| written something and leaves it out in his apartment but I'm
| quite sure he's only flipped through the semi-technical
| content.
| fnordpiglet wrote:
| I bet he leaves it out in his apartment more reliably than
| if you gave him a book off Amazon. The fact he can't access
| the contents of the book isn't the point. It's that he
| takes pride in something he wouldn't normally read is
| because it's yours. That's why a DIY project for your
| parents is better than a shrink wrapped piece of future
| garbage.
| ghaff wrote:
| Sure. And a book has a cover with the author's name on
| it.
|
| But he really wouldn't thank me (not that he'd say so)
| for some DIY project that wasn't as transparent to use as
| commercial versions--and he'd end up not using it. He
| appreciates that I've put together the photo collections
| given that I've scanned and kept a lot of photos he
| wouldn't other have access to but he'd like actually
| displaying them to be as easy as possible.
| fnordpiglet wrote:
| Yes, but that's your family where you write books. If
| you're a nerd that makes eink displays of photos, I bet
| their family appreciates their children just as much as
| your father appreciates you. The nice thing about eink
| for this is once your family member eventually unplugs or
| somehow disconnects the device from the network; it'll
| continue to display the last photo.
| troyvit wrote:
| This is really cool! How many photos are in your album? Do more
| photos slow it down?
| k8svet wrote:
| Random memory/story, when I was a junior in highschool (so 2007),
| my friend and I coverted two old laptops to picture frames, using
| shallow shadow boxes.
|
| I took Dillo? Linux, and customized the squashfs (or whatever it
| was at the time) to run a wifi setup script from outside the
| squashfs that configured wifi, connected as a samba to their
| desktop computer with photos in folders, and then would loop
| through photos with, feh, I think? Definitely my first real use
| of Linux and probably another pivotal moment in setting me up for
| the 16 years since then.
|
| Thing ran up until a few years ago when the home wifi got
| replaced with Unifi and the house got re-decorated. I think I
| even took the CF drive (because yes, I even got CF->IDE adapters)
| out and imaged it about 6 months ago, for nostalgia's sake.
| Anyway, this is a super neat project - re-used hardware, eink,
| and I'm getting to start to really appreciate glancing around and
| thinking of friends/memories. And though I know I'd end up giving
| it away if I built one, I am regretting giving away my old Kindle
| now!
| garrickvanburen wrote:
| A couple years ago, I did this with an old Chromebook.
| robluxus wrote:
| > iCloud photo albums have no API. However, if you share an
| iCloud photo album to a public link [...]
|
| How do folks feel about the security vs. convenience aspect of
| this? I almost talked myself into doing this for our shared
| family albums, but I know I really shouldn't do it.
|
| Some of our older family members run Windows and iCloud sharing
| is just horrible there. Basically, the photos keep disappearing
| from their computer. It looks like we're not the only one with
| the issue:
| https://www.reddit.com/r/iCloud/comments/150nq4i/icloud_wind...
| gigglesupstairs wrote:
| Apple should just pull that windows app/feature if they're
| being this shitty with their users. That thread was
| infuriating.
| rockooooo wrote:
| The iCloud file syncing on Windows destroyed my files twice
| and I never touched it again.
| podviaznikov wrote:
| I even have build a small product to show apple shared albums
| online https://public.photos/
|
| also wanted to add API on top so that people can show photos
| however they want. But didn't have a time to finish it yet.
| Lord-Jobo wrote:
| Its actually damn near impossible to retrieve all of your
| photos/videos from icloud for a backup if you are using a
| windows machine to do so. It will constantly fail to sync
| fully, duplicate files, takes eons to download even on a fast
| connection, and there are bizarre file format conflicts with
| certain types of images. Very infuriating, and its been an
| issues for at least 5 years. 'Buy a mac if you want to actually
| adhere to proper backup standards' i guess this is the apple
| stance on the issue.
| aksss wrote:
| A workaround is to use OneDrive with Camera Upload feature
| turned on, and then sync this back down to your PC. You can
| choose how to sort (e.g. folders by year and month).
| GloriousKoji wrote:
| I've been using icloudpd to get photos off of icloud. It took
| a while the first time but after that I set it up to only
| download the latest 500 photos (total number downloaded is
| usually way under) and run it every few months.
|
| https://github.com/icloud-photos-
| downloader/icloud_photos_do...
| GauntletWizard wrote:
| I feel really okay with this, but I'm not okay with is that
| there isn't language to talk transparently about it. Facebook
| does the same thing (or did, because I haven't used Facebook in
| a long time), if you copy link to image, you can just forward
| that, even if the post is private.
|
| This is pretty inherent in image sharing, though. You can just
| download the image, or if the website limits that you can take
| a screenshot (let's not get into the debate about DRM and
| assume that it doesn't work).
|
| Where should you draw the line? Time limited link sharing?
| Login based doesn't work because you can't share with Grandma -
| she doesn't know how to login.
|
| We need words and descriptions of these basic patterns, and
| better ways to Intuit which is in use.
| gigel82 wrote:
| I'm curious how long the battery lasts. Since it's Android based
| I presume it doesn't have a deep-sleep option. Ideally I'd want
| it to wake up once every 10-30 minutes, fetch a frame to display
| from a LAN server and go back to sleep.
|
| I know it's doable with a custom e-ink display and something like
| an ESP32 but reusing an e-reader that already has a nice frame
| and everything is so much nicer.
| LASR wrote:
| For those who want less tikering: Two 24 inch monitors bought
| from a design house auction connected to 3rd Gen Chromecasts.
|
| They automatically boot up and display a Google Photos album that
| contains pictures of the family and pets. These monitors are set
| to power on at 8 AM and off at 10 PM.
|
| Initially my wife hated the idea of having two monitors in the
| living room. But after I put them in place, we both found it is a
| constant reminder of good times - which was helpful in many
| subtle and unexpected ways.
| vineyardmike wrote:
| ...or buy a cheap digital picture frame from <mass market
| retailer>.
|
| When my g-parents passed, and the family moved away, we bought
| everyone a cheap digital frame linked to a shared family album.
| They're like 50-200$ depending on size. My grandmother was
| always bringing the family together, and we wanted to honor
| that with way to see each other across geographies.
|
| Our chosen company's albums have an email address that you
| email a photo to, and it displays on everyone's frame. Very
| easy for everyone to contribute.
| riotnrrd wrote:
| What brand and model did you buy? I've been looking for
| something like this for my family.
| meowtimemania wrote:
| I got an "Aura" one. It works well and supports connecting
| a google photos album.
| ska wrote:
| This is basically the main value prop behind Samsung's "Frame"
| series of TVs (but you also use it as at TV). People who love
| them love them.
| jwong_ wrote:
| What is a "design house auction"?
|
| It sounds like a museum auction or something? If so, that
| sounds like a nice way to promote an environment to enjoy
| things. Would make a great entrance/foyer hallway feature.
| LASR wrote:
| Design firms frequently upgrade their hardware. So you can
| frequently find great hardware at very low prices. Also
| snagged a fully loaded Mac Pro trashcan for $1200 back in
| 2017 when they all went for the iMac Pros.
|
| I spent $50 for each monitor and additional $50 for 2 x
| Chromecasts.
|
| Net out, 2 x 24" auto-updating photo frames for <$200.
| nelgaard wrote:
| Interesting. I have an old nook in the drawer.
|
| I made a picture frame project a long time ago (> 15 years
| according to file timestamps)
| https://agol.dk/elgaard/picframe.html
|
| I think it is overkill to use a browser just to show images. feh
| still works great if you are running linux/unix
|
| I also still would prefer to sync pictures using ssh and maybe
| rsync on top.
| viralpoetry wrote:
| I have tried to build one out of the PocketBook Basic Touch
| e-reader last October. It has way less functionality tought...
|
| https://www.malgregator.com/post/pocketframe/
|
| https://hackaday.com/2023/11/13/obsolete-e-reader-gets-new-l...
| spuz wrote:
| I want to do something similar as a gift for my brother. Did you
| consider removing the bezel of the nook? How hard would that be?
| boringg wrote:
| Can someone explain to me what the obsession with e-ink is on
| hackernews?
|
| I understand that it has a lot of great qualities to it but it so
| far out of price range that it negates the upside. Or am I
| completely misreading the benefits?
| boringg wrote:
| Why did I get downvoted - I am asking a legit question. I don't
| understand.
| ska wrote:
| I suspect because you came across as judgmental and
| opinionated more than questioning. I'm not saying you meant
| to, just that is how it could read.
| rmccue wrote:
| For anyone who wants a hackable e-ink display, the Inkplate
| combines a recycled Kindle display with an ESP32 (which also
| supports the Arduino framework). You can also buy them with both
| a 3D printed frame and a battery already attached, so all you
| need to do is program it.
|
| (No affiliation, although I recently bought an Inkplate 10.)
| j1elo wrote:
| This made me think... it would be awesome to build for my parents
| a picture frame that could show family photos, and was integrated
| with an LLM, such that e.g. my mother could say "now I want to
| see a photo of us during last years's vacations in Italy" or
| where a given person appeared, or things like that.
|
| It would be quite a bit of work, though! Something to add to the
| pile of personal projects that never seems to progress :-)
| jamez wrote:
| So great to see interest in ePaper screens. Picture frame
| projects specifically seem to be gathering steam. Shameless plug:
| I built a solar ePaper frame that displays Google Photo albums or
| loads pictures from an sd-card.
| https://jamez.it/blog/2023/05/16/version-2-of-my-solar-power...
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