We have a new DVD player for automatic slideshows from standard “jpg” photos.

What works?

CD-R, CD-RW: jpg files alone on CD or in folders. Maximum of 98 photos per disc or per folder. It appears there is no limit on folders. I tried 6 with no problem.

DVD+R, DVD+RW, DVD-R, DVD-RW: jpg files alone on DVD or in folders. I tried 648 photos (jpg’s) on a DVD+R with no problem. Again, it appears there is no limit on folders. I tested both DVD+R and DVD+RW.

This unit creates a transition between each photo and each photo is on the screen about 5 seconds. You can PAUSE or back up (PREV). The PLAY/PAUSE button appears to be the one that will be used most. It will create a menu when you first load a disc and will also allow you to see twelve thumbnails at a time if you are searching for a certain picture. I spent about 6 hours creating different types of discs and testing them and the first section of these instructions will deal with cautions in creating the disc.

Cautions:

• All file extensions for photos must end in .jpg; not .jpeg or .png. Make sure you don’t double up and have something like “IMG_0444.jpg.jpg”. I have not seen an example where the extension is “ .jpeg”. When using my burning software, I would see that some pictures I drug over had the double extension. My fault. Windows users can open a folder and then TOOLS, FOLDER OPTIONS, VIEW, and remove the check mark from HIDE EXTENSIONS FOR KNOWN FILE TYPES then APPLY. Now when viewing a folder in LIST, DETAILS, THUMBNAILS or any other view the extension will be shown. It appears that this will carry over to all your folders. Maybe I am the only one that didn’t know this, but this could be handy info.

· RW’s must be “finalized” or “closed session” and not “multisession”. Don’t know what that means? Don’t use a rewriteable “RW” CD or DVD disc.

• JPEG/ISO format– Maximum 14 characters display. Don’t know what that means? I don’t either. But I would suggest the name of the picture not exceed 14 characters including the “.jpg”. Same for file folders. This appears to only apply to CD’s.
• Numbering your pictures to keep them order: If you are selecting a number of photos instead of a series shot on one camera you can rename them “1, 2, 3, 4” etc. BUT “10” does not come after “9”, it comes after “1” therefore, I used a system on the demo disc starting with “10” and ending with “98”. When I needed to figure out what to do with “1-9”, I renamed them “10a, 10b, 10c” etc. When I needed to move 12 photos from the end of the show to the middle, I renamed them “55a, 55b” etc.
• DVD’s hold more and the menu loads faster. DVD’s also run smoother, especially if you have added text or titles to your photos. I used several means to create titles and one was taking a “black” photo, lens cap on, and then using Microsoft Paint to put text on it. Whatever photo software you have probably has a way to add text or titles to photos.

Basic instructions for using the DVD/CD player:

1. Load disc and wait for the menu. This may take 30 seconds or more for a CD.

2. If you have folders, v (cursor down) to select a folder and press OK, then cursor down to the first picture and press OK to start or do not press OK and follow #3 below if you want the slide show to repeat.
3. If you desire the disc or folder to repeat continually, while at the menu, press DISPLAY until the bottom left shows “repeat folder” then OK to start the show. This also applies if you don’t have folders.
4. You can PAUSE or back up (PREV). The PLAY/PAUSE button appears to be the one that will be used most, especially if you wish to narrate each picture.
5. While playing you can press DISPLAY and you will see 12 thumbnails. You can cursor around to select the one you want and press OK to display it. You can move forward or backward, twelve at a time using the PREV and NEXT buttons.
6. Need to rotate a portrait shot? Press PAUSE then <^v> will rotate a photo 90 degrees if needed.
7. To return to the main menu that shows all folders, press STOP, <(left cursor), and it will bring you back to your main menu.

If you hit SETUP in error, just press it again to clear the screen.

Please note that photo albums you have built using various types of software, probably will not play unless there is a folder with plain jpg files. The same especially applies to MAC users. Now if you save a photo show to a DVD as VOB files, it will play just like a commercial DVD. This Player can also play a Video CD, formats 1.0, 1.1 and 2.0. It will also play a Super Video CD. Since I have never used either of these, I am not qualified to discuss them. You can also add MP3’s to the disc and you can pick a MP# to play along with a particular folder of pictures. The file extensions must be .mp3 or .wma.