If you love art, the chances are you’ve considered getting a frame TV so you can rotate your favourite pieces on display in your living room. But the best Frame TVs are relatively expensive, and there’s only really one position where it makes sense to hang one: opposite your sofa, where it’s going to dominate the room.
An e-ink digital frame is more versatile since you can hang it anywhere, it looks more attractive, and there are battery-powered ones that don’t leave any cables trailing. One of our favourite ranges is from Switzerland’s InkPoster, whose Affresco screen starts at just $499 (for more options, see our guide to the best e-ink art frames around).
Why use an e-ink picture frame rather than a frame TV?
(Image credit: Future)
TVs demand attention, even if they’re designed to display art when they’re not in use for watching movies or series. An e-ink picture frame is more understated, more versatile in where you might place it, and it doesn’t emit a glow.
We were impressed when we reviewed the 28.5-inch InkPoster Tela model. It has the heft of a real frame and flex of a real canvas rather than the rigidity of a TV display. The matte surface and e-ink make the artwork feel more like a printed canvas than a digital reproduction.
You need to plug the screen in for the first install, but then you can unplug and rely on the battery. You choose your art via an accompanying app, which lets you select from a collection of famous paintings or upload your own files, which you can crop and resize on the app before sending to the frame.
Each image loads through a slow, deliberate transition as the display’s pigment microcapsules shift into place. It’s almost as if the frame were physically printing the image, which our reviewer found oddly satisfying.
InkPoster makes three sizes of frame: the 31.5-inch and 13.3-inch Affresco models and the mid-sized Tela. The latter is available in premium variations with high-end design accents like Alcantara passepartouts by Italian design house Pininfarina.
Estudio EA