Digital Photo Frame: HP DreamScreen 100

What Is An HP Dreamscreen 100 ?

Many years ago I envisioned the internet as a means to an end. The net would allow anyone to access vast arrays of music, video, knowledge, photos and more. All of this would be available via a non-intrusive appliance that was easy to use.

Fast forward a decade plus and you can find consumer devices that resemble the archetype outlined above. HP is positioning their Dreamscreen as a digital photo frame that also takes the role of internet appliance. Music, Internet Radio, Weather and more are available via a polished user interface that most anyone can use.

Dreamscreen 100 Specs

• 10.1″ diagonal TFT screen operating at 800×480 lines of resolution (15:9 aspect ration)
• 2 USB ports, 1 mini and 1 full size port
• 2GB of total internal memory with 1.5GB available
• Compact flash slot that supports Type I/II and Micro Drive
• SD flash slot that supports SD / SDHC / MMC / MS / MS Pro / xD
• 1/8″ mini stereo headphone jack
• Internal “High Fidelity” speakers
• 10/100 Ethernet and 802.11 b/g WiFi network connections
• IR remote control

There are a few things I find interesting about the HP Dreamscreen 100’s specifications. The 15:9 aspect ratio does not match the popular 16:9 ratio nor does it match the 2:3 ratio of many snapshots. The DreamScreen’s onboard flash memory support is excellent. I imagine that users will want to place an internet enabled photo frame anywhere he/she finds it aesthetically pleasing or useful. Because of this I find the inclusion of the 10/100 Ethernet port to be unnecessary. Finally, the remote is nice but where is the touchscreen?

Dreamscreen Text Input

Once initial setup is complete you are greeted with a slick user interface. The colorful icons contrast well against the black background and the icons flip left or right as you navigate through the  applications.

Some users will never get beyond the initial setup though. The text input via disappearing up/down and left/right arrows is annoying enough to make me want to do something else,,,,,anything else,,,,, whatever else.

HP – Please include a touchscreen in the next generation of this device. This goes for other manufacturers of convergence devices too!

DreamScreen Apps and Online Photos

Assuming you complete the DreamScreen’s setup you can access several small and well polished apps. Weather forecast information is available. A digital clock that syncs its time via online servers is included. The DreamScreen can even wake you to music but beware of a power outage as there is no battery backup.

The DreamScreen allows the user to access music and audio a few different ways. The popular web music site , Pandora, is available.  Internet radio stations are also available via HP SmartRadio. If you have Windows Media Player 11 or higher you can stream music to the Dreamscreen. iTunes users are sadly out of luck.

Facebook users will delight in the inclusion of a Facebook app. The DreamScreen’s Facebook app is simple and displays updates from friends as well as photo albums. Once a DreamScreen user selects a Facebook photo album a quick press of a dedicated button on the Dreamscreen’s remote enables an automated slide show. Sadly, the speed of the slide show is very fast and would only be suitable for users in their teens (neurotic). The DreamsScreen also supports Snapfish and it suffers from the same slideshow limitations as the Facebook photo albums. Display of photos from either service suffers from a picture quality issue that will be covered shortly.

Dreamscreen Software and Display Performance

In addition to online photo albums the DreamScreen can display images stored internally as well as images stored on removable flash. Mac users are left out in the cold though. The included software to configure the DreamScreen only supports Windows users.

Why do Mac users need this software?

Apparently the quality of the LCD used in the DreamScreen is not so good. In other words, it can’t display 16 Bit JPEG files without dithering. When viewing  photos with fine color and tonal graduations you encounter visual aberrations in the dithering. I suspect the included Windows software maps the color of the files down so they will display properly on the device. Without support for Mac I will never be able to find out.

Closing Thoughts

The HP DreamScreen does a good job in combining user interface eye candy with screen real estate at a competitive price. This convergence device delivers access to popular social media, multiple music sources and photos. However, there are to many areas where the DreamScreen feels half baked. The lack of a touchscreen and input options for Facebook will disappoint some. The battery , wait there isn’t one, could cause others to wake late from their slumber. The crummy display  and neuortic slideshows disappoint me most.

My primary application for the DreamScreen is the display of photos stored online.  The DreamScreen does not perform this job correctly. If a laptop manufactured a decade ago can dither colors correctly why can’t the DreamScreen? I could load up an instance of Windows under Parallels so I could configure the DreamScreen from my Mac. This sort of complicated maneuvering should not be required to use an appliance. Appliances are supposed to be simple. In fact, you shouldn’t need any sort of configuration software at all.

When HP releases a successor to this device that addresses the DreamScreen’s display shortcomings, user input challenges and allows me to display online photo albums correctly I will bite. Until then I will keep showing my photos the old fashioned way and emailing them for viewing on friends’ iPhones and Macs.