InkPoster Tela 28.5 Review: Luxe Home Digital Frame Features

InkPoster is not unique. The Aura Ink ($449) is a 13-inch option with the same screen size, right Smart home company SwitchBot has taken a different approach, introducing a new generation of AI graphics in a selection of 7.3-, 13.3-, and 31.5-inch displays, with prices starting at just $149. None of them feel as big or mainstream as InkPoster, but it’s clear that E Ink panels can be produced cheaply and could be the start of the next generation of home display technology.

Photo: Chris Haslam/WIRED

Smart Paper

InkPoster uses the Spectra 6 E Ink panel here, with a Sharp IGZO backplane, running at 2160 x 3060 across 28.5 inches. Its 131 dots per inch doesn’t sound very sharp compared to the latest OLED panels, but when viewed from a distance, it’s more than enough.

More importantly, from a presentation point of view, the team never recovered. Instead of emitting light, it appears to absorb it, which dramatically changes the way your eye reads the image. As a result, color tones are altered compared to the backlit display, with whites looking closer to warm grays. The contrast is also low, which is why it looks so impressive to display artwork and why it is difficult to photograph.

Give it the right features and the Tela 28.5 looks great. Text, images, and artwork all translate beautifully. The shapes read well, the colors look consistent, and the overall effect is much closer to the printed paper than the screen. Choose your artwork from InkPoster’s digital art gallery—everything is designed to look great—and it really stands out.

If you upload your photos, it’s important to take the time to adjust the image’s contrast and color density first. I tried to mix pictures with different colors, shades, and textures, and I realized that most of the time what makes a picture beautiful – the light of the eye, the light of the sea, the light of the sea – will look flat and boring here. But if an image has great color and strong contrast, it can render well, and a slight drop in clinical image quality can make even my iPhone snaps look good.

Wall pictures

Mounting the Tela 28.5 on a wall requires a little confidence since it weighs 16.5 pounds and measures – including the mount and aluminum – 35 x 28 x 0.98 inches. It’s a two-person job to hang it properly, and you’ll need a power drill, but InkPoster has included a clever rubber mounting bracket to make things easier.

The cable is nailed to the wall, and the frame is placed on it to make it fit. It took half an hour to unpack, turn it on, connect it to the software, and hang it up, and I estimate that half of that time was taken double checking the tape measures of my 11-year-old assistant.