Picture This…

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About 3 of 4 U.S. homes now have at least one digital camera, according to Consumer Electronics Association (CEA). That means that digital photos are packed into computers and memory cards across the country. Luckily, today’s digital photo frames are more capable than ever before when it comes to storing and showing your treasured moments. It’s enough to make you smile without even saying “cheese.”

What’s better is that prices for digital photo frames have dropped in the past 3 years. The average price for a digital photo frame was projected to be $76 in 2010, CEA says. That’s down $20 from 2008. Prices are expected to drop another $5 this year.

As is typically the case when it comes to electronics, the technology that’s behind digital photo frames has improved as prices have dropped. Thanks to light-emitting-diode (LED) technology, more of today’s digital photo frames deliver better-quality pictures, even those that are downloaded from the Internet.

GET CONNECTED. Wireless connectivity—specifically, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth (for cellphone transfers)—now can be found in digital photo frames that cost as little as $100. Just 3 years ago, you would have had to pay almost twice that price to get either wireless capability.

Wireless connectivity allows your digital photo frame to get images from your computer or, as we predicted 3 years ago, through e-mail or websites instead of from an inserted photo memory card, as is typical.

Models that start at about $120 even have their own dedicated e-mail address, which allows you or others to send photos directly to your digital photo frame. Manufacturers typically don’t charge for the first image downloads, the number of which varies by manufacturer. But some charge a subscription fee, which typically is $10 for each additional 100 images after you’ve used up your initial batch.

You should be aware that many digital photo frames are promoted as being Wi-Fi- and Bluetooth-ready. These models start at about $80, but you have to buy a dongle—a small radio transceiver that plugs into a USB jack on your digital photo frame and connects you to your home wireless network—to deliver wireless capability. These dongles are priced at around $25. So if you want Wi-Fi, you might not save money with a Wi-Fi-capable digital photo frame, compared with a model that has built-in Wi-Fi, and you will have to jump through hoops to achieve wireless connectivity.

BRIGHT IDEAS. Amassing photos is only part of the point of a digital photo frame. You want those images to be as pretty as a picture too. To that end, manufacturers have introduced LED backlighting, which increasingly is found in high-end liquid crystal display high-definition TVs, to digital photo frames.

LED backlighting delivers brighter images that have enhanced contrast. That combination translates into photos that appear to be more lifelike. At least 12 models have this feature, and manufacturers tell us that you can expect to see more this year, particularly in the 7- and 8-inch screen sizes. Those sizes account for more than 75 percent of digital photo frame sales, according to market-research firm NPD Group. You can find LED backlighting on digital photo frames that start at about $70.

However, organic LED (OLED), which seemed to be a promising display technology, has fizzled. OLED technology delivers deep blacks and high contrast ratios, which results in purer colors on the display, but prices for the technology are well beyond what most consumers are willing to pay. Kodak introduced a 7.6-inch OLED digital photo frame late in 2008—since discontinued—that was priced at a whopping $1,000. Experts tell us that until there is a manufacturing breakthrough to drive down costs, OLED digital photo frames likely will remain relegated to tiny models, which measure under 3 inches, for the foreseeable future.