The digital frame was the gadget par excellence of the early 2000s, to be given as a gift at Christmas and then forgotten on a shelf. The quality was what it was, few pixels, sad colors, very low memory capacity, and so its success did not last long.
But someone must have thought that there is a market even today, twenty years later, and so on the one hand smart displays were born, such as Google’s Nest Hub or Amazon’s Echo Show, which can show personal photos but also works. of art, on the other hand televisions like the Samsung The Frame, which imitate a painting in design and have functions on purpose to reproduce images when they are not used as a TV. The third way is that of Meural and a few others, who produce digital frames whose sole function is to reproduce images as faithfully as possible. The American startup has been acquired for some years by Netgear, which has included its products in its catalog. Like the Canvas II, the newest model of Meural digital photo frame, which we tried for a few weeks.
Canvas II can be mounted both horizontally and vertically: however, the weight is quite high, almost 9 kg for the larger model
How it is made
Available in two sizes, 21.5 or 27 inches, right out of the box it actually looks like a frame, with real wood edges (light, dark, black or white) and a white mat to make the contents stand out. Not oil, ink or watercolors, but pixels: a display with an anti-reflective finish that has the ambitious goal of reproducing paintings, drawings and photographs in a realistic way.
On the side is a power button, a dock for an SD card and a micro USB input. They are hidden enough to go unnoticed, but if you do, you will notice the unexceptional quality of the plastics. Then there’s a white fabric-covered cable that leads to a generously sized power supply, and you’ll have to hide it somehow to actually give the impression that Canvas is a frame. There is also an Ethernet connection on the back, to transfer data when wi-fi is not available.
The assembly is possible both horizontally and vertically: note, however, that the weight is quite high, almost 9 kg for the larger model. There is a spirit level on the back to make sure it is parallel to the floor, and an optional rotating stand is available if desired. A sensor detects the position, so as to show only suitable images or cut them properly. This and other settings are available in the Meural app for iOS and Android.
From the Meural app you can manage the loading of images and their organization in playlists
Meural app and subscription
The app also allows you to adjust the time zone, interface language, OS update. More specifically, you can set the time for which each image is shown, the overlay time, the sensitivity of the sensor that adjusts the brightness of the display in relation to the environment, as well as the stop when it is dark. But above all, from the app you can manage the loading of images and their organization in playlists: they are transmitted directly from the phone to the memory of the frame (8GB) or downloaded from the cloud.
Canvas comes with 100 curated images from Meural’s collection of artwork, ranging from classic to modern. Some images are preloaded, and you can download additional playlists. Then there is a subscription streaming service with a wide selection of paintings (about 30 thousand) to choose from to create your own playlists. Playlists are classified by artists, such as Whistler or Seurat; color, such as blue or yellow; moods for events, such as Christmas; and museum galleries, such as the Uffizi or the Louvre. There are images of Marvel superheroes and scenes from da Game of Thrones, but as vast as the library is, several names are missing, including famous names like Cy Twombly and Rothko. There is not even Dali. Of Andy Warhol there are only some photos (of the artist, not of the works).
A subscription costs € 34.99 per year, and can be used on two frames. Some works and playlists are also available for single purchase, with a discount for members. Netgear explains that 60 percent of what it earns on art goes to artists. Membership also allows you to create mixed playlists with personal images and artwork, and expands cloud space from 4GB to 20GB, as well as giving you access to 24/7 technical support.
On the side is a power button, a dock for an SD card and a micro USB input
Millions of colors
Both with the images of the paid collections, with the free ones, and with the photos taken from smartphones, the yield is always excellent. The display is only full HD (1920 x 1080 points), but the AHVA (Advanced Hyper-Viewing Angle) technology allows excellent viewing even off-axis. The reproduction is very natural and perfectly imitates paper or canvas, thanks to the matte finish and the True Art technology patented by Meural, capable of generating 16.7 million colors. By carefully adjusting the brightness it is possible to obtain surprising results, even managing to increase the contrast between the light and dark areas: the effect works very well with the Caravaggesques and with Rembrandt, for example. The digital photo frame is compatible with popular formats, such as JPG, GIF, PNG, BMP, SVG, MP4 and MOV, so it can play videos as well.
There is a skill to control the Canvas II via Alexa, but it is not available in Italian; However, a sensor is integrated in the frame that allows you to change the image simply with a wave of the hand. Alternatively, you can use your smartphone as if it were a remote control, browsing through the playlist files. Always with a gesture, you can navigate the Canvas II menu and select the various items; swiping a finger up while an image is displayed opens a window with a short explanatory text that talks about the work (only for the paid ones).
In fine
In times of closed museums and difficult if not impossible journeys, Meural’s Canvas II digital frame is a saving window into the world of art. Built with care, however, it deserves to be updated to the most common standards (the USB-C connection instead of the Micro USB, for example, or the Mini-SD card instead of the standard SD). The power supply did not completely convince us, and also for the cable we have seen Samsung and LG TVs do better. The subscription is expensive, but offers points of interest for both beginners and true enthusiasts, who will find several little-known artists there. The catalog is constantly expanding, but it remains too small, and with unacceptable shortcomings. In the list, the price of the Canvas II is high: from 649 euros for the 21.5-inch version, from 849 euros for the 27-inch version. Comparable, if not superior to that of its competitors, and sometimes even the smaller The Frame from Samsung, which offers similar functions and plus is a TV (and very good). But the Canvas II is for images a little bit what the Kindle is for eBooks: it has only one function, and it does it best of all.