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The Show Goes From PC to TV
X10 may have created a
wireless monster with its ShowTime.
The same breed of amateur photographer who tormented friends
with photo albums of boring vacation trips in another era will
delight in this wireless system for digital photo viewing.
The $70 system uses
radio frequencies to transmit images from a computer to a
television screen. It's designed to handle most digital picture
and video formats.
After downloading the
software and hooking up the transmitter to my computer, I used
the provided coaxial cable to connect the ShowTime receiver to
my TV. You can also connect through A/V inputs on a cable box or
other component system.
In my case, it was a
bit of a hassle to set up. It took a while because I had some
unidentifiable problems with the original transmitter, which
finally cleared up after switching USB connections. In general,
though, the setup for the ShowTime system shouldn't take more
than an hour.
My computer sits about
10 steps down a short hall and around the corner from my
big-screen TV. The signal got through my thick plaster walls
okay, but cranking up the microwave in the next room made the
image flicker and the TV buzz. Cell phones, cordless phones, and
even other computers can (and do) interfere, too.
ShowTime let me set up
photo albums by browsing through digital pictures stored on my
hard drive. I categorized by subject, using a pre-set list of
topics like birthdays and vacations, and also made up my own
collections.
I liked the remote
control. It let me zoom in and out, page through albums and
switch from full-screen to partial-screen images. Too bad
there's no automatic play feature, like the one on Microsoft's
TV Photo Viewer. It would be great for a party if you could run
entire albums without clicking each picture.
The ShowTime package
includes an e-mail function for sending pictures to friends and
family. Completing the online product registration form, which
pops up the first time you access the software, automatically
signs you up for ShowTime e-mail.
Final word: My lousy
pictures didn't improve by beaming them to my 42-inch projection
TV. In fact, picture clarity suffered noticeably in comparison
to the display on my 21-inch CRT computer monitor. Still,
ShowTime provided a relatively inexpensive wireless option for
moving images from PC to TV.
Think I should invite
the neighbors over to see snapshots of my Washington vacation?
Frank Thorsberg
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