(ARA) - With the holiday season upon us, consumers are starting to break out their gift lists to buy friends and loved ones the best gifts possible. This year, shoppers are projected to spend $21 billion on consumer electronics, up from $17 billion last year, and savvy consumers are demanding technological convergence like never before.

Digital cameras, camcorders, plasma TVs, iPods and other gizmos are topping the gift lists for many and according to the Consumer Electronics Association, these popular items will account for more than 25 percent of all holiday gift spending this year.

In the spirit of convergence, picture taking has rapidly evolved from prints to digital images, and now to high definition picture shows on plasma televisions. However, consumers need to know the basics in order to ensure technological harmony between digital cameras and flat screen televisions. Some tips include:

Brand Compatibility – It’s best to purchase your high definition television and your digital camera from the same manufacturer to ensure easy compatibility and added feature sets. For example, if you shoot a series of horizontal and vertical images with a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ50 digital camera and then you go to view those images on a Panasonic plasma, the television will intuitively know to rotate your photos in the correct direction for optimal viewing. In fact, Panasonic has also started including SD Memory Card slots directly on the front of their flat panel televisions to allow for better convergence.

Get the Blur Out – When displaying your photos on up to a 65-inch high definition plasma television, image clarity is even more important. This is a major reason why Panasonic made MEGA Optimal Image Stabilization a standard feature on all of their digital cameras.

Slideshows Have Never Been Cooler – Once you are finished snapping away with a point-and-shoot camera, there is no better way to showcase your photos than through a slideshow. All you need to do is remove your SD Card and slide it into the slot on your notebook computer, projector, photo printer, DVD player or television for a memorable high definition slideshow. Certain slideshow applications will even allow you to add music or captions to your photos.

Sixteen by Nine is Number One – Most digital cameras on the market today shoot in the traditional four-by-three or three-by-two formats, which are more like a square on the screen. Unfortunately most high definition televisions and wide screen laptops display your photos (and new high-definition broadcasts) in the 16-by-9 widescreen format. This doesn’t stop you from viewing images on these high definition televisions, but most televisions will either stretch your 4-by-3 or 3-by-2 format images to fit the 16-by-9 inch format screen or use letterboxes, which essentially black out portions of your screen. To avoid this, consumers should make sure the cameras they purchase shoot in 16-by-9 inch format, such as the Lumix DMC-LX2.

The Instant Art Gallery – If posting your own photographs on your plasma television isn’t enough, there are plasma artwork solutions like GalleryPlayer. This service allows you to enjoy some of the world’s finest high definition art and photography on your high definition plasma TV by using free software to purchase and download the images you like and then play them on your HDTV right from your PC. If that’s not enough, certain companies like Panasonic even offer high quality 42-inch plasma picture frames that will have your plasma looking like a Picasso for as little as $399.95.

Courtesy of ARA Content

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