Digital photo frames are modern electronic devices that not just replace the old paper prints photo frame but also offer many new ways to view those photos on your desk, your shelf or on the wall. Digital photo frames are a solution for viewing your digital photo albums when away from your computer. In their core digital photo frames are a color LCD screen with supporting electronic circuitry that allows the loading of digital photos and the displaying of digital photos. Digital photo frames are designed as thin flat devices that in many ways mimic their old paper ancestors. They are light and portable and can be placed on a desk, on a bookshelf, hung on a wall or in any other place that you might fit.

Their price varies a lot and is mostly driven by the color LCD size and quality. Prices start as low as $50 and go up to hundreds or even thousands of dollars. Philips is a popular maker of digital photo frames. They make good quality yet affordable devices. Before buying a digital photo frame like the Philips 9 inches digital frame you should familiar yourself with the basic features and things to check.

LCD size: It is not surprising that the LCD is the main thing to consider when buying a digital photo frame, after all at the end of the day the sole purpose of a digital photo frame is to display digital images and the quality of the LCD is critical for that. As a general rule you should consider the distance from which you are going to watch the LCD screen and based on that distance choose the LCD size that you should buy. The Philips 9 inches digital photo frame for example has a 9 inch LCD screen and is designed to be used on a desk at work or at home.

Where will it be used: There are many places where you can put a digital photo frame. Different digital frames are better suited for different usages. The Philips 9 inches digital frame can be placed on a desk or a shelf. Other frames are designed to be hung on the wall. When buying a digital photo frame always make sure that it comes with all the accessories needed for the intended usage. For example if you plan to hang it on a wall make sure that it comes with all the necessary brackets and screws. Otherwise you can spend both time and money trying to find compatible accessories.

Storage: Many digital photo frames do not have built-in memory. They do have slots that can accept many types of memory cards. This is done for flexibility and extensibility but also as a way for manufacturers to lower the basic product price. The Philips 9 inches digital frame supports many memory cards types including SD, xD, MMC, Compact Flash and memory stick.

Connecting to your PC: many digital photo frames can be directly connected to your PC. Such a connection can be temporary for the purpose of loading digital photos onto the digital photo frame memory, or it can be permanent for streaming those photos to the digital photo frame for display. Other usages are upgrading the digital photo frame embedded software and other maintenance tasks. The physical connection used can vary from a fast USB 2.0 to wireless LAN wi-fi. The Philips 9 inches digital photo frame uses a fast USB 2.0 to connect to a PC.