Custom made digital frame system based on Apple TV

As do many people, we have a ton of old digital photos that we never look at. I had the idea to design a system so that when the family is eating dinner we can look at all these old photos from time to time. After looking at the commercially available digital frames, I was unimpressed.

I designed and fabricated this nice little digital frame system. The electronics are a 21.5 inch LED monitor running off of a second generation Apple TV. I then built a custom frame assembly out of African Mahogany to camouflage the monitor and make it appear to be a picture frame. The frame moulding was cut using a single router bit from Rockler. The finish is just clear lacquer. Super simple.

This is a much more versatile system than the standard digital frames you buy at the store. It’s larger and easier to see with a better quality image. It streams all the photos wireless from my library to the frame (no SD cards to update). Moreover, I can create custom slide shows if we happen to have guests for dinner, etc. And to boot, you can watch netflix movies or Aircast from your iPad on it if you so desire…

Fun project and the wife loves it!

Richard

-- Richard