Hdtv And The Ipod Photo
By Robert Armstrong, Sat Dec 10th
They may seem like an odd combination, but the iPod photo couldbe the perfect choice for anyone who wants to view photoslideshows on an HDTV. The iPod photo can store thousands of digital photos, and syncswith a Mac or PC via iTunes. It will read any slideshows you’vecreated in iPhoto on a Mac or Photoshop Album on a PC and copythem to the iPod. Alternatively you can tell it to copy a folderfull of images from your hard drive as a slideshow. Also, with the addition of an optional camera connector($29),you can copy photos directly from a digital camera andautomatically create a slideshow from them on the iPod photo.All slideshows can be set to music.
To connect the iPod photo to an HDTV you’ll need to first makesure that your HDTV has composite video and audio inputs andthen purchase the iPod photo AV cable ($19) from Apple. Connectthe iPod to your TV, select the appropriate input and heypresto, your slideshow can be seen in beautiful, brightwidescreen glory on your HDTV. It’s worth bearing a few things
in mind when creating slideshowsfor HDTV. First of all, the screen of an HDTV set has an aspectratio of 16:9 (length: height) so if you size your photos withthis aspect ratio you’ll be able to fill the screen withoutcropping the photo or seeing ugly black space around it.Secondly, the resolution required for optimal viewing on HDTV atfull screen is less than that needed for printing even an A4image. So if you only intend viewing your photos on-screen,whether on your computer or HDTV, you can save space on youriPod photo by reducing the capture resolution on your digitalcamera. If you set it at three mega-pixels, that will be enoughto allow you to crop photos to the correct aspect ratio andstill view them at the highest possible quality on an HDTV. Of course, the iPod photo can store more than just photographs.Anything that can be saved as an image file, such as JPEG, canbe included in a slideshow, so you could even use it to carryaround business presentations which can be viewed by anyone withaccess to a TV or projector. About the author:Robert Armstrong is a contributor to The HDTV Tuner - aguide to the kit, the technology and the programming on HDTV.
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