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Non streaming media player for photo slideshows with chapters

pixelpine

I am an advanced beginner when it comes to electronics and computing and I need some help to know if what I am looking for is indeed out there or not. I just started my own very small business and I have a client I am currently working with on a large archival project. I am trying to find or put together a specific media player or media box for his project. I know I can put together a Raspberry Pi that would work but it comes with extra components that aren't needed. It might still be the best way. I'm hoping to stay under $100 to make it affordable for my client as well.

PROJECT SUMMARY:

My customer has about 4000 family photos that I am scanning into Tiff and Jpeg and then creating photo slideshows.

THE PROJECT:

  • 19 different projects of 100-500 photos each.
  • Each project is a different family topic and a different slideshow.
  • Each project is broken down into smaller topics that are separate folders for the images and different chapters in the slideshow.
  • Customer will be ordering 11 of this item. (If I can come up with a good product, I foresee being able to sell more)

THE GOAL:

  • All of the images and slideshows onto one archival quality device.
  • Play the slideshows with the chapters from the device to the TV using HDMI - Plug and Play - no streaming or internet required.
  • The above could be done using VLC media player installed on the device and playing .iso files
  • OR I can create a custom .html file or simple program interface that will automatically open on the TV when the device is turned on and plugged into the TV using HDMI.
  • No other applications or apps visible to the customer. 
  • Ability to use a remote on the TV
  • Also able to open the scanned images on a computer, using USB, to alter, make prints etc. with the photos

SIZE: Raspberry Pi or Boxy gadget size

Okay to use Flash drive or SD Card as the storage device and plug into the Media Player. 

I'm looking forward to any input!  Thanks!

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    One possible option could be to make it a software-only project, by using off-the-shelf hardware. There is not a lot of profit margin since Pi computers are more expensive now too. However, I don't understand what archival quality means, is that image quality related, or something reliability related?

    For displaying images, generally in the business space normally you would look at devices called digital media players (and some people offer Pi devices programmed for that), but the consumer alternative could simply be a TV stick for movies; they run Android, so you could investigate how to write your own app. Some may have enough local storage for the 4000 JPEGs, but others will have a microSD card slot too (e.g. H96Max TV stick from a google search, but I know nothing about H96Max, I have never used it). It's very feasible for instance, to write an app for FireTV sticks, since Amazon provide the software development kit (SDK), but other TV sticks may be cheaper. If you don't fancy writing an Android app then investigate if you open a HTML file from local storage with a cheap TV stick.

    One other point: it's super-important to understand the actual customer needs, so it is worth drilling down into why the customer suggests local storage only. Sometimes it turns out there is a misunderstanding. They might well also want a backup in the cloud, and ability to pull images from there into several of the sticks maybe, and the convenience of uploading photos from anywhere. They can be extra services to provide and charge for. Plus, if you decide to go for different customers later, such as say small retail store owners, they may prefer cloud services they would rather pay monthly for, than to upload and configure manually. A store owner I know was very adamant they wanted a local database for some purpose, but once things were explained to them  they completely switched and wanted cloud, once they realized the feature benefits opened up to them, and time and cost saving. I'm not suggesting your customer definitely needs cloud, my real point is that you should drill down and intimately understand their real needs which you can then turn into specific requirements for your hardware/software, in case what they have told you is just their perceived translation of their needs into requirements.