What I'm looking for:
- At least 21", 1024x768 or better resolution;
- Able to play an MPEG on a loop;
- Ideally, able to get that file from wifi rather than a card.
I want to get a few of these to hang in the club to replace the big messy mess of posters of our upcoming events that are currently taped all over the walls. (Really, this conversation started with me wanting to put up some actual picture frames into which the posters would go, but picture frames are surprisingly expensive.)
I am aware that actual objects marketed as "digital picture frames" aren't what I'm looking for, because when those are bigger than 11" they are priced the same as low-end HDTVs. So really what I'm looking for is a cheap HDTV with the ability to play MPEGs.
I'd really like it to load data over wifi so that I don't have to pay an employee to walk around and unplug, re-fill, and re-plug half a dozen memory cards every few days. That would be a pain in the ass, and cards would get lost or skipped.
A few folks have suggested getting one of those solid-state "linux plug" boxes to drive the monitors with, but I haven't seen any of those that have both wifi and video output that are less than $300 each. Low-end HDTVs are in the $250 range, so that more than doubles the price, which is ridiculous.
Update: Jesus, people, please just answer the question I asked instead of hypothesizing about crazy multi-thousand-dollar Rube Goldberg schemes. If you don't know the answer to my question, I will not think less of you for your silence.