As digital photo frames are becoming increasingly popular, more and more companies are announcing their own solutions of this type. ViewSonic is already one of the respected display solution providers, so it was no surprise when the company joined the trend.

One of the company's top contenders in the digital frame market is the DPG807BK, released back in October 2008. The device packs an 8-inch LCD screen sporting a 800x600 pixels resolution and one (disappointing) mono speaker. While the pictures will look pretty good on the 500:1 contrast ratio display, the music coming from that speaker might not be so impressive considering that there's only mono support.

ViewSonic thought about how users would showcase their frames and realized that wherever they set it up, the thing has to look good. So they integrated something called SwifTouch Controls, meaning that there are no visible controls on the frame until someone touches it. When touched, the controls become illuminated and allow users to choose between different photos and audio tracks.

The device is capable of running slideshows and music at the same time, but it can only read MP3 files, so if you use other formats, you're in for some bad luck. The image compatibility list is also pretty short, with support for JPG and BMP only. Since DSLR's are becoming more affordable, it would have been nice to see raw support on the specs sheet.

Compared to its lighter sister (DPG801BK), the device has two extra features. One of them is represented by the onboard 512MB flash memory, and the second is MPEG 1&4 support. The rest is pretty much the same, with the integrated 6-in-1 card reader also supporting CF cards (the DPG801BK was shy of CF cards).

As a side note, the device also also has a clock feature, alarm setting and calendar features.

The price? Only $119. Think it's worth it, compared to a classic frame?