Big and Smart Raspberry Pi Picture Frame

In “ancient” times, one would take a photo, have it physically developed, then if good enough, put it in a photo frame to display to the world. Circa 2007, we advanced to using an SD card and digital frames. Without context and curation, or if the frame is too small, these devices can often become shelfware.

With cheaply available monitors and the power of Google Photos, Henric Huckabay decided to do something different. He converted an unused 24” monitor and Raspberry Pi 3 into a sizable display that can be updated automatically. No more spending precious minutes plugging in SD cards like a cave man.

The project started off with disassembling the donor monitor into its components, and soldering on extra buttons for control. A new frame was then designed on a real estate pamphlet — certainly appropriate if you’re looking to enhance your home’s appearance — and later built using distressed wood and HDF manufactured wood product. After quite a bit of work with a glue gun and zip-ties, the monitor and Raspberry Pi were ready to show photos. Going a step further, he also added an RGB sensor to calibrate the photos to the ambient environment.

It now hangs proudly on the wall, displaying appropriate photos properly tweaked to the environment. If you’d like to build your own, you can find software setup instructions here.