I need an easy way to get image files to view on a digital tv, not through a camera?

Question

My parents have poor vision and a big LCD tv that I would like an easy way to let them view family photos. I have seen devices that allow some control over showing images that plugs into the tv like a camera would.

Answer 1

I found this devices that will display photos on a TV.



SanDisk Digital Photo Viewer

It supports 8 kinds of flash memory and also USB drives. This might just be what you are looking for.



However, I think there would be a bit of a learning curve. Introducing new technical devices to those who are not used to working with them everyday can be frustrating for everyone. If your parents already have a DVD player, I would suggest putting together a DVD slideshow of the pictures. There are quite a few programs out there that will help you to do this. Probably software that comes with an DVD burner would have this capability, but also here are some programs that I found that will help you with this:



http://www.topshareware.com/DVD-Slide-Show-download-13796.htm

(free)



http://www.sonic.com/products/Consumer/PhotoStory/

($19.99)



http://www.photo-to-dvd.com/index.html

($39.95)

Answer 2

If you have a digital camera with a TV-out capability (like s-video or composite video) you can plug the camera directly into the TV's inputs and view your pictures that way simply by turning on your camera and reviewing photos. Most of the time that's the easiest way to do it, and you can control the picture viewing directly from the camera.



Or, if you have a DVD player hooked up to the TV, you can also burn a CD-R data CD containing all of the pictures you want them to see, throw it in your DVD player, and hitting 'next chapter' on the remote would flip through the pictures. But you'd need to make sure your DVD player supports CD-R data CDs.



Also, depending on your cable provider, if you have a STB (set top box) from Motorola or DirectTV, you can insert digital camera memory cards into the box, and the STB will output directly to your TV just like you were watching a TV show.



Otherwise, like you said, you might need a 3rd party device that allows the insertion of an SD memory card with pictures on it or something of that nature.



Hope this helps!

Answer 3

Check out the owners manual that came with the TV. It will define all the inputs for a particular model and what type of cable they accept. A reasonably easy solution is to use a laptop computer connected to the tv - the tv becomes another monitor. Another solution may be to burn the images to a disc and play from a dvd player connected to the tv. You would have to look at the dvd player to see what type of discs you can play. Not all player will play CDs, etc. Some TVs even accept memory cards or thumb drives directly. So the key will be looking at the TV owners manual.

Answer 4

This device is basically a card reader with a tv out.

Answer 5

PS3's are coming down in price, and your photos can be loaded onto a USB memory stick or cd rom and then loaded onto the PS3 That's how I show pictures at parties at my house