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Notes about picture frame designs
🕑 Added 2023-02-27 06:00:49 +0000 UTCSome tips and such for those designing frames:
1) Please make sure that at least one USB port and the SD card port are accessible. The recovery of a Dynaframe can require that you have to remake an SD card if something goes catastrophically wrong. There are SD card extenders available on amazon and other places to help if you are trying to make the SD card port more accessible.
2) Please make sure that at least one USB port is accessible. This is handy if you have to plug in a Keyboard or do any kind of troubleshooting.
3) Ensure that if you're using wifi, the frame design isn't somehow wrecking the wifi signal. It's best to test with a 'dry fit' before enclosing to ensure that you have plenty of signal from the pi. We're looking into support for external wifi devices which may come with this release (stay tuned!).
4) Watch the temps! You don't want to restrict airflow to the pi. Dynaframe can push a pi4 very hard, and if you don't allow for cooling and airflow the pi will hit a thermal limit. When it hits these limits, it will slow down the CPU to compensate, which will hurt performance. If you switch the infobar to 'performance info' you'll see your current running temperature in Celcius...the goal is to keep it below 65C, ideally below 60C. Higher than that and you may start to see stuttering.
5) If you're picking a monitor, try to find an 'IPS' monitor. These have a greater viewing angle, so if you're 'off angle' it'll be bright and visible. Non IPS monitors can work fine, just try to test it by standing to the side and ensure it doesn't 'drop off' in brightness and that it looks acceptable. Remember Dynaframe runs at 1080p, so no need to spend on a 4k unless you plan on repurposing it (4k monitors will typically support a 1080p signal over HDMI.
I know that a fully solid frame is aesthetically pleasing, but if you give yourself a way to access both of these it makes things SO much easier.
Just a note as we see more and more frames get built! We're finalizing this month's release, I'll post more about that tomorrow. Tonight we're in a final testing phase.
