viewing digital photographs

[Marilyn]

Can anyone tell me how I can view my digital photos on a tV? Not from a memory card with the camera hooked up to the TV. Rather, from a CD. What type of dvd player and what type of CD do I burn? Or is there some other kind of program that will work. I have a Canon D30 and I know I can view the photos directly from the picture card but that means I have to keep them on the card. Thanks.

[bigdave]

Well Marilyn, just about any name brand dvd player purchased within the past year will play a vcd that was burned on a computer. I think a video compact disk is the format you'll probably need to use.

I use a program called Nero to burn data on cds, but any cd writer software should be able to do what you want. Typically, to create a VIDEO cd, you'd use the wizard that came with your burner, then add the movie you want to the compilation. Instead of adding a movie, just select all the pics you want to put on the disc.

There is one caveat with my technique tho. My only dvd player is a dvd-rom on my computer, so any high resolution shots have a high resolution monitor to display them. With a tv, the resolution is significantly less, so it's possible that you'll only see part of your image if you use the originals. If there is a problem displaying the whole image onscreen, you can just use photoshop or some other image editing program to resize the high resolution photos.

good luck.

[octathlon]

I got a Dazzle CF card reader that came with a program called onDVD. I haven't tried it yet, though. It is supposed to let you select all the pictures then save them to the CD in the correct resolution in VCD format for viewing on a DVD player.

I also saw onDVD for sale separately and another program in the store that does it but I don't remember the name.

[Eric F.]

Hi Marilyn,

Yesterday I purchased a new program called "DVD PictureShow" by Ulead. I burned a CD of my latest vacation, complete with background music on my first try in about 30 minutes. I put about 90 pictures on it and it was very fun to watch on my big screen TV. I played it on my DVD player. What was interesting is that you can put up to 1900 photos on 1 CD and have several different shows.

The only drawback at this point is that the program automatically sizes and compresses the picture so the quality is reduced from what you would want for archival, but for making a show to send to a friend or watch at a party it is ideal.

I am going to have a lot of fun with this program. The cost is $29 for downloading from Ulead.com. They even have a trial version that is free, I didn't try it but you might want to. :)

Hope this was the type of answer you were looking for.

[Marilyn]

THANK YOU FOR THE INFORMATION BUT WHAT KIND OF DVD PLAYER AND MODEL DO YOU HAVE BECAUSE IT WON'T WORK IN MY BRAND NEW TOSHIBA DVD PLAYER. MAYBE I NEED TO TAKE IT BACK AND GET ONE LIKE YOU HAVE.

[Eric F.]

Marilyn,

I would think that your new Toshiba DVD would be compatable. When you start the process of making the slide show you must select the VCD, not the DVD format. This is your first selection screen.

The first time I used it I chose the DVD and when I got ready to burn the CD it gave me a warning that it would not be able to be read on a regular player. So I backed up to the first screen and sure enough, I had selected the wrong box. If all else fails, then I read the directions. :p

Hope this helps.

[Marilyn]

Thanks so much I finally got it to work but one more wuestion...My photos are not too clear when playing the CD in the DVD player. At what resolution did you burn? Does it make a difference? They are clear on my computer.

[soft]

sup, peoples

hey, i'm gonna offer a roundabout backwards solution that's more expensive, but fun. i'm a videographer, so i use a g4 w/final cut3, but there are a lot of cheaper video editing softwares out there, especially for some of you "resourceful" people. anyway, i like to make slide shows by loading pics into a video editing suite...that way you can really customize transitions, effects, titles, timing etc. i generally like to cut my pics to the beat. Then you can export your slideshow straight to a regular dvd format, (along with mini-dv, whatever).

also, i don't alter any resolution settings on the pics, just resize them to fit in the screen in the video editing program. i've been reallllllly happy with the image, and have used pics from a kodak dc4800 and a canon d60

[octathlon]

Question: When you make a VCD and play it, do you have the ability to control switching between pictures with the DVD remote control? As in: go forwards, backwards, faster or slower. Or do you have to passively watch while it goes through the pictures at a pre-set interval?

[slejhamer]

I used a demo of Ulead DVD PictureShow to burn a VCD slideshow on a CD-RW and played it in my 2-year old Sony DVD player, which isn't supposed to read CD-RWs but it apparently does...

Anyway, yes the remote worked fine, and is essential for navigating through the rudimentary VCD menu while sitting on the couch.

However, images appear to be highly compressed in the VCD format and looked very soft on my TV screen. Okay for viewing on a small computer monitor but otherwise I was not thrilled with the final product.

Best of luck,