 "Vu DPF SK-DP720")
What I really appreciate about the DPF (Digital Photo Frame) industry is the evolution that it’s going through. Sure there are those who are still redundantly transfixed on the feature set but companies like Vu, that have recently entered this market, are make changes quite sufficiently with respect to the technology and features-set of an otherwise straight forward device.
Form Factor
The DP720 is a pretty sleek-looking DPF but a finger magnet, not that you’ll have to ever keep touching the screen for anything though. The 7-inch display’s resolution is relatively clear making viewing very easy on the eyes. A set of controls are located on the top just behind the display.
On one side is a memory cad slot. The DP720 supports SD, MS and MMC cards as well as USB drives for which a port is positioned on the other side. A mini USB port is also placed under the pen drive port; you can connect the device to a PC to access the internal 256MB of internal memory to transfer data. The DP720 also has a 3.5mm socket that can be used as Audio Out of course. The best part about this device is the fact that it has a 7.5V Lithium Polymer battery on board so you wont have to worry about dragging wire around with you for placement. The only time you’d use the DC charger is for charging the battery.
As sleek and quite stylish as DPFs go, but also quite generically designed as in there are no colors of graphics on the frame portion. Nevertheless it’s still somehow an eye catcher.
Features and Performance
Interface
The UI is simply laid out with no complications. The format of the same makes for easy navigation using the full function remote. The problem is that the remote itself doesn’t seem to have too much of range so you wont be able to use it to its optimum efficiency as you’d have to be within range all the time. Brightness, Contrast and Color of the display can also be adjusted, although you won’t find the options in a conventional location like the settings so read the manual in case you need to make a change.
Images
The DP720 can support images files of up to 8000 x 8000 mega pixel in JPEG format. Photos look really good on the display. The display itself has a contrast ratio of 300:1 which is not bad at all. You can adjust the transition effects for changing images and even have them run on a slideshow. There’s also an option for running a slideshow with audio playing in the background. From the settings menu you can change how images would appear on the display with options like Crop (adjust to fit the entire display) or stretch. Honestly the difference between stretching the images and cropping them is negligible. A Zoom function allows you to get a little more up close and personal with images displayed.
Audio
The audio player is very basic i.e. there are no settings to control the playback aside from skipping tracks or forwarding and rewinding tracks. The two built in speakers manage to throw a decent amount of wattage, but don’t expect a thump in the bass line. Via the earphones, the music is not bad. There’s a slight scratch in the tone but not as much as the larger model, the
DP1046 DPF
from Vu that we recently reviewed. It reads MP3 and WMA audio files.
Video
MPEG4 files, depending on the frame rate, are acceptable formats for video files. My test videos played quite well and are comfortable to watch on the 7-inch display. In the File section, the device actually displays a preview of the video playing.
The only other feature that the DP720 is equipped with is the Alarm Clock, which is quite loud and a Calendar which also has a preview of the various images stored on the drive running. The watch is permanently formatted to a 24 hours clock. I was unable to find a 12 hours option to switch to.
The Bottom Line
Some DPFs tend to get a bit expensive irrespective of features. The DP720 comes with a price tag of Rs. 4,990 which is not too bad especially since it comes with 256MB of internal memory, which is not too much but it’ll do, and the on-board battery, which makes it an extremely portable DPF. It doesn’t come with the necessary tether of a DC adapter and the locked-in placement option of it being in the close vicinity of a wall socket.
Shayne has an exceptional love for superheroes, action figures, comics, retro music and movies. His love for the 80s is also very evident in his lingo which is populated with words like 'Yes Siree Bob', 'Scooby-doo', Howdy and lots, LOTS more. As the Deputy Editor of tech2, Shayne stays fit by running back and forth between his desk, the tech team or some other department.