In a slightly higher price tier ($200) than the USB media players we looked at ($30) are mini-PCs (e.g., the Asus Vivo). These are small, fully functional desktops. A few hours work could get most of the Windows 8 crap and bloatware off of these so they could do something simple like accurately loop a GIF in an art gallery for 8 hours. You might get through a few shows before they start to break.
There is an open-source, Raspberry Pi version of a mini-PC called Vero (hat tip JS). It's advertised on the classic startup website design of the current era -- lots of large type and bold graphics and scrolling but no "about" page that gives you detailed biographical information regarding who's behind it, or in-depth specs or photos of the product (just a couple of images and a short list of attributes that don't answer all your questions).
The intrepid new media artist of the present era only has one question: how does this baby handle animated GIFs? So the email below was sent to the company sales team -- that was yesterday -- will update if a reply is received.
Hi,
I have been trying to find a media player that will play animated GIFs accurately, for looping in an art gallery setting.
Can Vero do this?
If I were using a PC or Mac, I would load the GIF in Firefox and let it loop from there.
Does the Vero browser respect the file, for example, not adding antialiasing, or resizing it or slowing it down, etc?
You have very little detail on your Vero website about the browser, and I'm concerned it's just a web connection for accessing the app store.
If not in the browser, how does Vero display a "picture" and does a picture include an animated GIF (subject to the above concerns)?
Any information you can give me would be appreciated.
Best, Tom Moody
Update: Vero replied to my email:
Vero ships with Chromium, so yes, your GIF should just be fine.