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Wow this is incredibly cool! I love the shy feature especially, to screw with the viewer :P

One question I have, though, is that since the aspect ratio of the screen is fixed, does that mean that all the photos have to be rescaled? That is kinda inelegant, I wonder if there's a way to fix it.

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Yes, I have to crop the images to the aspect ratio of the display. I considered doing a simulated digital mat which could change given the aspect ratio of the work being shown, but it wasted so much of the display that it was not worth it.

I end up not having to crop much, because the aspect ratio I chose lines up pretty well with those of many good paintings and photographs.

I think the mat around the photo is also rendered, so you can have whatever aspect you want - although a portrait image might look a bit lost in the middle of it.

Next step - mount the frame on a motorised bearing so it can rotate 90 degrees depending on the image aspect!

I don't think the mat is rendered. In the video with changing light conditions, you can see how the picture lags slightly, while the mat reacts immediately.

The mat is also used to make the aspect ratio less extreme, so it can't be rendered.

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