BrightLink Information and Resources

Grant's Perspective on ... the updated BrightLink website.

Epson has updated the information on their BrightLink website which outlines the six new BrightLink projectors (3 ultra-short throw & 3 short throw projectors).  It offers support information such as case studies, downloadable drivers, videos and webinar seminars. I also like the inclusion of "Cool Free Tools" links that allow you to explore websites that provide interactive content which can be added to a lesson.

 

Grant

Sharp 70" Interactive Touchscreen Winnipeg Demo Days

Grant's Perspective on ... The Sharp 70" interactive touchscreen demonstrations in Winnipeg.

Staff from Sharp Electronics of Canada were in our Winnipeg office for a couple of days this week demonstrating the PNL702B 70" interactive touchscreen monitor.  It would take quite awhile to go through all the features so I will touch on a few points today.

Computer and Monitor Control - The included infrared "pen" works like a PC mouse with right and left click buttons and as an annotation pen. You can also use your fingers instead of the pen. You can drag and tap your finger on the screen to open folders and documents, move them around the screen and even use two fingers to size documents. I feel like I'm in an episode of CSI when using the 70" touchscreen!

You can open up a keyboard graphic and type into any program that you have on your computer.

 In the photo below, Nick Hoxha, Sharp Digital Presentation and Signage Group has opened an excel spread sheet and updated some of the fields numbers. He has then highlighted his changes in two ways: yellow highlighter and circled in red.

 

The next photo has Nick playing arm-chair quarterback as he analyzes and annotates a football video posted on YouTube.

 BTW - You can see a copier in the foreground of the photos. Nick also demonstrated how the monitor can both send and receive information from the Sharp copier. 

I'm sure to be posting more on this product in the coming weeks.

Grant

Sharp 70" Touchscreen Press Release

Grant's Perspective on ... Sharp issues a press release on their new 70" touchscreen LCD monitor.

We have confirmed that Sharp is releasing a PN-L702B 70" touchscreen LCD monitor.

I found it interesting that a 70" monitor has 30% more area than a 60" monitor. The working area of the monitor is over 5 feet wide and more than 3 feet high which is close to the average size of a whiteboard!

This is as large an interactive surface that most people would want as users could only comfortably reach up to 7 feet off the ground (most whiteboards and monitors are mounted at 30"- 34" above the finished floor). A rule of thumb is that the monitor or whiteboard should be higher than the boardroom table or desk and the top should be below the top of a standard door frame of 7'. You want the board or interactive monitor above the table height so that it can be seen by the audience and under 7' high so that the facilitator can reach the top with their marker or interactive pen. This 70" interactive monitor is about as large as it can be and still fit this guideline.

The monitor and floor stand pictured above illustrates how this unit will be easily wheeled from room to room so it should always be in use.

Grant

StarBoardLink Makes a Dry Erase Board Interactive

Grant's Perspective on ... the new interactive Hitachi StarBoardLink.

Hitachi has long been a part of the interactive market with their StarBoard series of interactive whiteboards. They have now brought the StarBoardLink to market.

The StarBoardLink is a good fit for the teacher that already has a projector and a smooth hard surface (standard whiteboard or wall) and would like to make their classes interactive, on a budget. This is the same technology as the Hitachi StarBoard but now without the board.

The StarBoardLink has an Infrared Image Sensor that is mounted at the top of the surface. The reflective bars are then mounted in a U shape around the Infrared Image Sensor.

The Infrared Sensor  is pre-drilled so that it can easily be permanently mounted at the top of your hard surface. With the sensor being mounted at the top of the surface it would be a good solution for rooms that have very low ceilings.

The interactive area is scalable. it can be set up with a 4:3 ratio ( 45" - 77") and the HD 16:10 ratio can be 45" - 90".

This adds another option for people that have been looking at interactive whiteboards or some of the other interactive systems such as the Hitachi iP-AW250N interactive projector and the Epson BrightLink and BrightLink Solo.

I have just read the StarBoardLink literature and look forward to getting my hands on the unit and putting it through some hands on testing.

Grant

Hitachi Introduces the iPJ-AW250N Interactive Projector

Grant's Perspective on ... Hitachi iPJ-AW250N interactive projector.

Hitachi has announced that they will be soon adding the iPJ-AW250N interactive projector to their product line-up. This ultra-short throw projector is a 2,500 ANSI lumen projector with a resolution of 1280 x 800 (16:10).

Their preliminary information refers to this projector as being "software agnostic". This means that any software that you run on your computer will work with the projector. You are not restricted to using proprietary software that is licensed by the hardware manufacturer.

I was pleased to see that Hitachi has included an HDMI input. HDMI is a cable standard for high definition (HD) equipment that carries both audio and video signals.

Below are Hitachi photos of the projector and infrared pen.

We are anticipating the release of  this interactive projector soon.

Grant

Sharp 60" Touchscreen At Inland AV Winnipeg Show

Grant's Perspective on ... touching the Sharp 60" monitor.

At last week’s New Wave of AV event (Inland AV’s annual Open House) one of the products featured was the Sharp PN-L601B 60" Touchscreen.

This item is a 60” LCD monitor with built in touch screen – a fantastic tool for interactive communication.  It is designed for presentations, meetings, training seminars, videoconferencing, etc, etc, etc.

Pictured below is Mr. Joe Ng from Sharp doing a product demonstration of this unit.  

 

I noticed there was a lot of interest and many questions. It quickly became a common topic of discussion throughout the event.  Some of the topics, in no particular order of popularity, were:

• Everyone liked that it’s a monitor and touch screen all-in-one.
• The unit looks really good and it’s not bulky.
• It’s impressively large yet everything is within arms reach.
• The image quality is amazingly sharp (no pun intended).
• Very bright!  “It’s bright enough to work in our boardroom with the blinds open!”  And on that note, this unit is Mercury Free – no fluorescent tubes. think Green.
• People took note of the energy savings – cool how so many attendees are concerned about this.  This is accomplished by the backlighting (where these units get their light from) done with a full array of LED’s.  That’s where the energy saving comes in as LED’s use way, way, way less energy
• Everyone liked the technology involved in the interactive abilities. There are multiple infrared sensors that detect one infrared LED light in the pen.  This means the system can precisely detect detailed touching points. It also works with your finger!
• Everyone liked the simple and intuitive user interface.  Some mentioned that the folks back at their office would be able to use it with ease, and therefore be more effective in their presentations.  In the photo, on Joe’s left, you can see that Joe moved his selection of favourite tools to the left side of the board.
• It was asked if this unit was shipping now, and it is!

So definitely a winner product – and a one of a kind in the market place.

Thanks to Joe for his stamina with answering all the questions all day.

Grant

Sharp 60" Touchscreen at New Wave of AV Show

Grant's Perspective on ... Sharp PN-L601B Touchscreen coming to Winnipeg January 28, 2011.

I was privileged to have been invited to a sneak preview of the Sharp 60" touchscreen monitor, A.K.A. an LCD Whiteboard, at the 2010 InfoComm last June and again more recently at the Canadian introductory event.  Now this impressive unit will be featured at the Inland AV New Wave of AV event.  It will include a seminar for the PN-L601B touchscreen conducted by everyone’s pal Joe Ng from Sharp.

The touchscreen will be on demonstration all day and our clients will love the opportunity to get their hands on this interactive  monitor - literally get your hands on the pen and take it for a test drive! (no digital obscenities please - LOL)

I think the unit will be a huge hit for boardrooms.  The monitor when wall mounted will look quite elegant and with the excellent video image will be worthy of any high-end décor.

They can also get their hands on the Epson BrightLink interactive projector that will be on display as well.

Grant

BrightLink Awarded a Buckaroo

Grant's Perspective on ... BrightLink Earns a Buckaroo Award.

I noticed a press release this week that the Epson BrightLink earned a Buckaroo Award from Pacific Media Associates.

The press release noted “At PMA, it is imperative we provide the projection industry with information on the most advanced and cost-effective multimedia solutions available in the market today,” said Dr. William Coggshall, founder and president of PMA. “The Epson BrightLink is a perfect example of innovation at its best, deeming it worthy of a Buckaroo Award.”

It is great to see the AV industries premiere research firm acknowledging the BrightLink as a breakthrough in interactive projectors. Even our shipping department recognizes the significance of the BrightLink based on the number of units coming in and going out.

Grant

Epson IU-01 Interactive Module Available In October

Grant's Perspective on ... Epson IU-01 will be available in October, 2010.

My July 9th post talked about the Epson IU-01 demonstration at InfoComm. The IU-01 is the interactive part of the Epson BrightLink and enables any projector to become interactive.

I said that I would let everyone know when it would be available. Epson posted a news release yesterday announcing that the IU-01 will be available this October and will be priced at an estimated $599.00 USD.

Grant

IU-01 Interactive Demo At InfoComm

Grant's Perspective on ... IU-01 demonstration at InfoComm.

Epson had a demonstration of the IU-01 at InfoComm. This makes any existing projector interactive. The picture below shows the Epson representative with the infra-red pen doing an elementary school exercise. She gave a short demonstration to show the audience how intuitive and user-friendly the IR pen is and then let her audience try it.

The IU-01 is the same system that is the interactive heart of the BrightLink. It is not for sale at this time so we will stay tuned for a release announcement

BTW - The BrightLink has been getting a warm reception be it at InfoComm or the demonstrations that have been happening at Inland AV locations.

Grant

BrightLink - Product of the Year

Grant's Perspective on ... BrightLink Named Outstanding Product of the Year.

It is only the end of May but ProjectorReviews.com has named the Epson 450Wi BrightLink as  their Outstanding Product of the Year. It is very rare to find a review that positively gushes about a new product. This is if interest to everyone involved in teaching and training!

BTW - My ticket to InfoComm is booked and I'm really looking forward to seeing the new audiovisual products. I'm sure that I will be sharing pictures and comments from the show.

Grant

Epson BrightLink Video & Review

Grant's Perspective on ... Epson BrightLink information update.

I noticed a great Projector Central review of the Epson Brightlink 450Wi.

I also like this quick video overview of the BrightLink  posted on YouTube.



We have been busy hosting BrightLink demonstrations across Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. They have all been well attended as people in education and training see the value of interactive projectors.

Grant

Epson BrightLink Canadian Pricing

Grant's Perspective on ... the Epson BrightLink Canadian pricing is announced.

 Epson Canada has announced the pricing for the Brightlink 450Wi interactive projector. Educational pricing under the Brighter Futures program is also available.

Contact your closest Inland AV location for pricing and then you can complete your own "Do the Math" worksheet I posted last week.

Grant