The 3-inch, high resolution monitor of the HP R967 makes
it very comfortable to use; an important thing, as the camera's
limited external controls require the menu to be accessed
often. Moreover, camera settings superimposed on the periphery
of the screen do not impede framing, and the fact that the
aperture and shutter speed in use is always indicated, irrespective
of the shooting mode, is valuable.
The menu system is as straightforward as the camera itself.
A mix of text and icons is used to identify each option, and
a short explanation of each function appears below, accelerating
the speed at which beginners become familiar with the terminology
of digital cameras. Moreover, the menu remains the same, whatever
mode is used, divided into five sections: Capture, Playback,
Design Gallery, Setup, and Help.
The Setup menus contains options for the basic configuration
of the HP R967:
Display Brightness controls the brightness of the
LCD monitor over three steps: Low, Medium or High.
Sounds Volume: controls all the sounds produced
by the camera. Three settings are offered: Off, Low or High.
Focus Assist Light decides whether or not the AF
Assist light comes on when there is not enough ambient light
for the autofocus to function reliably: Auto, or Off.
Display Timeout sets the time delay after which
the LCD monitor will turn off when the camera is not used:
Never, 15, 30, 45 (default), 60 seconds.
Instant Review sets the time an image or video
is displayed on the monitor after capture: Off, 1, 2 or
4 seconds.
Digital Zoom: decides whether or not the 10X digital
zoom takes over after the maximum magnification of the optical
zoom has been reached.
Date & Time: serves to set the time and date
on the HP R967.
USB allows selecting the USB protocol:
Digital Camera (PTP): allows for the automatic
transfer of images and videos to a computer running
HP's software.
Disk Drive (Mass Storage): allows the camera
to appear as a removable hard disk when it is connected
to a computer.
TV Configuration: serves to set the video out
signal NTSC or PAL.
Language controls the interface language: English,
German, Spanish, French, Italian, Dutch, Portuguese, Swedish,
Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Russian.
Reset Settings: returns all camera settings, with
the exception of the date and time, language, A/V out and
USB configuration — to their default settings.
Exit: exits the menu.
A very thin printed manual is included with the Photosmart
R967. While it is clear and contains easy to follow instructions,
it is a bit short on details.
Software
In North America, the HP R967
is retailed with a single CD called HP Photosmart Software.
It contains the following programs:
For Macintosh (OS X v10.3.9,
v10.4):
Photosmart Camera version 9.2.
For Microsoft Windows (2000, XP and XP x64):
HP Solution Centre, which acts as the launching
point for the following applications:
HP Photosmart Premier.
HP Photosmart Essential.
HP Photosmart Express.
HP Photosmart Share Setup.
The CD also includes PDF (Adobe Acrobat) versions of the
camera manual in English, French, Spanish and Portuguese.
Photosmart Express
is a simple program that serves to transfer images from camera
to computer, make prints, share images online, review images
in an automatic slide show, or even print images online using
a printing service.
All options offered in Photosmart Express are simplified
to speed and ease operations.
Photosmart Premier
is the more advanced application contained on the CD. The
program is an image viewer, presenting photos as thumbnails,
and also allows for image sharing and printing, and editing
with a variety of basic tools. Images can be rotated, and
corrected automatically for red-eye, contrast, brightness,
sharpness, or resized as needed.
Other possible corrections can be done to exposure, adaptive
lighting, colour temperature and saturation.
Images can also be converted
to black and white, or special effects can be used to change
the look of an image: sepia, retro, ink dots, solarize, posterize
amongst others. The program can also be used to create slide
shows with music and transition effects that can be seen on
a monitor or a television.
Photosmart Share Setup
is an application that serves to configure share destinations
in the camera's memory while it is connected to the computer.
Once these destinations are established, when the camera is
reconnected to a computer running HP's software, images/videos
that have been assigned destinations are automatically forwarded.
Photosmart Essential is similar to the Solution
Centre, serving to access the other applications of the
package, the major difference being that images are presented
in a simplified image browser.
Interface & Software
