We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember "John"
saying something like:

I have been tasked with putting some digital photos into a presentation - on
DVD to be presented on a digital projector. My only experience of doing this
was with a Microsoft package which seemed to reduce the image sharpness. Any
suggestions as to what I should try - preferably free software.

irfanview does a slideshow, but I've no idea how good it is.