Widescreen Bridges IT and TV

Sony’s new 17-inch MFM-HT75W widescreen HT-Series PC/TV display lets you live beyond your computer. Bridging the worlds of IT and TV technologies, Sony offers an integrated television tuner, HDTV connectivity, SRS WOW 3D audio technology, and flexible TV/PC connectivity. The MFM-HT75W display can connect directly to cable and satellite boxes, DVD players, and VCRs, as well as PCs with standard and digital connections. Price: $600. www.sony.com.

Interactive Whiteboards Get Smarter and Smarter

The rear projection SMART Board 3000i interactive whiteboard from SMART Technologies offers interactive functionality with the shadow-free benefits of a rear-projection display and integrated true XGA projector. It’s housed in a slim, tapered cabinet, and can be moved to different rooms quickly and easily. Simply by touching the 66- inch display, users can access and control any computer application or multimedia platform, including the Internet, CD-ROMs, and DVDs. Price: $14,999. www.smarttech.com/3000i.

Rich Media Content

Sonic Foundry’s newest product and addition to the Mediasite line, the Mediasite LX Rich Media Server, has been designed to give unprecedented automated control over its rich media content. The LX expands any Mediasite recorder into a rich media communications system that enables live broadcasting, Web publishing, and content management. Price: $7,950. www.sonicfoundry.com.

3-in-1 is Better Than One!

JVC’s SR-DVM70US is a three-in-one digital video recorder that incorporates the all-digital formats of MiniDV, 160GB hard disk drive (HDD), and DVD in a compact size. The recorder can dub, edit, archive, and duplicate presentations quickly with high-quality images. Whether your application is dubbing, editing, archiving, duplication, or presentation, the SRDVM70US will maintain the highest, all-digital image quality. Price: $1,795. www.jvc.com.

For Walk-and-Talkers

For large-sized rooms and auditoriums, or small project rooms with front projection, PolyVision’s Interactive Panel enables educators to project and interact with a computer by either writing directly on the interactive panel display screen with a stylus, or by using the panel’s remote control. From anywhere in the room, users can present, collaborate, edit, and save annotations with a touch of a button. The 17-inch interactive panel features a spill-proof case, and its height and angle can be adjusted to meet the needs of multiple users. Price: $2,518. www.polyvision.com.

The Virtual Classroom Comes Alive

With DyKnow’s Vision, instructors can now import or develop course content and transmit it to student PCs during class, making the content available for immediate annotation. Instructors can also retrieve, display, and replay students’ work to spark class discussion, all while students collaborate, share work with the teacher, and even lead the class from their own seats. What’s more, users can access, replay, and modify their personalized DyKnow notebooks from any Internet-connected computer at any time.

“Potential future functionality may include audio streaming, capture, and playback technology, as well as integration with content management systems,” says a company spokesperson. DyKnow has partnered with schools like Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (IN), University of Central Arkansas, DePauw University (IN), Taylor University (IN), Southeast Missouri State University, and several K-12 districts and private high schools. Price: $60 per user, or $20 per user, based on volume discounts. www.dyknow.com.

From PowerPoint to the Internet

From desktop tool provider, Impatica, comes Impatica for PowerPoint—a great product for delivering PowerPoint presentations online. The desktop software (for Windows or Mac OS X operating systems) transforms Power- Point files into tiny, secure, Internet-ready presentations. The “impaticized” presentations stream and plug-in free via Web sites, e-mail, and learning management systems —even over dial-up connections. Users can communicate effectively with graphics, narration, animation, and interactivity, knowing that messages will reach the widest possible audience. Price: $499 ($299 for higher ed). www.impatica.com.

Good Things in Small Packages

The ELMO P30 packs a full-featured XGA output document camera and a professional digital-effects, slide-show producer into a compact package. The document camera is great for capturing live images or small details. Proprietary ImageMate software for presentation and movie creation makes possible storage and playback of still or moving image data. Price: $2,950 (MSRP). www.elmousa.com.

Customized Multi-Source Display

Leitch, a designer, developer, and distributor of video systems, offers NEO SuiteView, a highly scalable, modular multisource display processor capable of rendering multiple video and computer signals in real time to high-resolution computer monitors, plasma, or projection displays. Fully integrated with Leitch’s Command Control System (CCS), NEO SuiteView allows users to create a customized, system-wide monitoring system, tailored to their operation. Price varies by configuration. www.leitch.com.

High-Performance Speakers Are Here

The new Tannoy V Net Series provides a complete sound solution by combining high-performance signal processing, amplification, networked control, and telemetry. Installers will be able to use customized PCinterfaced software to configure a number of V Series cabinets connected on an RS485 cable network. Tannoy’s high-power loudspeaker system is for live or fixed installation music and speech sound reinforcement applications. Price TBD by company. www.tannoy.com.

Virtual System

Virtual reality systems developer VizTek offers Xp1 Portable Wall, its most popular product for colleges, universities, and technical schools. The Xp1 is a single-screen passive-action virtual reality system, used to create environments and 3D images that can be manipulated by multiple simultaneous viewers through input devices such as haptic gloves, joysticks, and glasses. The product is a futuristic training tool affordable for even the smallest institutions, and it can be converted into three-, four-, and six-wall systems as well. VizTek provides software that can convert most 3D design files into a virtual presentation, or can create the presentation for the client, depending upon the comfort level of the user.VizTek partnerships include: McGill University (Canada) and the University of Tennessee. Price: Varies based on quantity. www.viz-tek.com.

New Projector for CAD/CAM Applications

Hitachi America has recently introduced the new CP-SX1350 model projector. With its high brightness and SXGA resolution, the CP-SX1350 model is ideal for command-and-control, engineering, and CAD/CAM applications where acute resolution of small details is important. The CP-SX1350 measures 6.3 x 16.5 x 12.6 inches and weighs 17 lbs. Its 3500 ANSI lumens and 650:1 contrast ratio are enough to meet the standards of even the most rigorous presentation applications. Price TBD by company. www.hitachi.us.

A Creative Package

For educators like Gloria Lee, associate professor in the Art Department at the University of Texas, Adobe’s Creative Suite 2 provides students with a valuable learning tool that can also help them in their career paths after graduation. Adobe’s Creative Suite 2 is software that encompasses full, new versions of Adobe Photoshop CS2, Illustrator CS2, Adobe Bridge, and Adobe Stock Photos. Instructors and students can use these tools for print, Web, and presentation projects, and now users can even create images for their cell phones. Price: $1,199 (premium) and $899 (standard). www.adobe.com.

Projection in Large Spaces

Making it easier for projection technology to be used in large spaces, the new InFocus LP860 projector features SXGA-plus resolution and 3500 lumens, to flood any room with clear, bright images.The LP860 is also wireless-ready, supporting the company’s LiteShow secure, wireless, digital projection system. Other features include motorized zoom, focus, and lens shift, and a 36dB whisper mode to reduce audible noise in smaller venues for minimal disruption. InFocus spokespeople say the company will continue to incorporate “The Big Picture” into the higher education market by providing “bigger, better, and brighter” ways to enhance the learning process with digital projectors and thin displays, that incorporate wireless and networking. LP860 price: $6,999. www.infocus.com.

Enhanced PowerPoint Presentations

TurningPoint from Turning Technologies is a student response system that integrates 100 percent with Microsoft PowerPoint, giving instructors the capability to author, deliver, assess, and report without ever leaving PowerPoint. TurningPoint is designed to provide maximum system flexibility and scalability—allowing instructors to choose from infrared, radio frequency, and/or TurningPoint’s Virtual Keypad, available to schools with Internet access. Price: Varies based on purchasing quantity. www.turningtechnologies. com.

No Wires, No Fuss

Komatsu TriLink’s family of AirProjector products provides a wireless interface between Wi-Fi-enabled computers and a display device, such as a projector or plasma display. The AirProjector products eliminate cables from the classroom, and create a highly interactive presentation environment, say company spokespeople. The included Moderator Software lets instructors orchestrate a multi-presenter presentation, with up to 50 invitation-only attendees and user-defined passwords. Price: $399 (standard model) and $549 (high-security model). www.komatsu-trilink.com.

Ideal Projector for Any Setting

Offering sharp, accurate detail with remarkable XGA resolution (plus a host of high-performance features), Epson’s PowerLite 81p is flexible to handle any type of presentation in any type of setting, large or small. Price: $1,699. www.epson.com.

Get Connected

MLC 226 IP MediaLink Controller with IP Link. The remote control panel provides universal projector and room control in any small-scale environment, such as classrooms and boardrooms. In addition, the MLC 226 IP is loaded with features that include Extron’s exclusive IP Link technology— a high-performance intelligent network solution specifically engineered to meet the needs of professional AV environments. Price: $1,145 to $1,195. www.extron.com.

Interactive Presentations

Xcelsius X4 from Infommersion allows users to create engaging, interactive presentations directly from Excel spreadsheets. With simple point-and-click technology, users can export the results, with one click, to Power- Point, Outlook, or the Web. Xcelsius X4 enables users to perform visual, real-time, what-if analyses using graphical sliders that link back to Excel formulas. Xcelsius X4 is a critical innovation that bridges the gap between data analysis and visual presentation, creating presentations that engage the audience. Price: $195 (standard), $495 (professional), and $1,995 (enterprise suite). www.infommersion.com.

Broadcast Solutions

Kramer Electronics’ SP-11D broadcast solution features proc amp (processing amplifiers) controls, standards conversion, signal format conversion, and time-base correction—all in one box. The SP-11D will accept an input signal in various formats, including composite, Y/C, YUV, RGB, RGBS, or SDI, and can output all of these formats simultaneously. SP-11D will convert signals to any video standard (NTSC, PAL, SECAM), and the output can synchronize to an external video reference. Alternatively, the SP-11D can synthesize its own timing to provide a fulltime- base-corrected (TBC) output. The unit also has a genlock/sychronize input, and genlock outputs and a split-screen output. Price: $3,895. www.kramerelectronics.com.

Simple Presentations

Power Converter Lite, a PowerPoint plug-in from Presentation Pro, is designed for simple presentations that need a quick and inexpensive conversion to Flash.Works well with PowerPoint 97. Supports non-continuous audio and on-the-fly text animations. Price: $149. www.presentationpro.com.

Multi-Channel Recorder

Worth noting is Sonic Foundry’s Mediasite VL, a multichannel recorder for videoconferencing applications. Available as a rackmount or tabletop system, Mediasite VL can capture and synchronize audio and video, as well as all graphics and visuals, including annotations presented during a two-way videoconference. Conferences can also be recorded and burned to a CD for offline viewing, or streamed for live and on-demand desktop access. In the “What’s Next” department, the company has announced it will soon release a powerful new tool that gives users complete control over the editing, finalization, and publishing of rich media content. Not surprisingly, Sonic Foundry has partnered with schools, such as Arizona State University, Drexel University (PA), University of Texas, et al. Price TBD by company. www.sonicfoundry.com.

Wireless Presentation Pad

GTCO CalComp’s InterWrite SchoolPad from is a Bluetooth wireless pad that gives the instructor the ability to teach from anywhere in the classroom, up to 300 feet away. Touted as the first interactive wireless pad for the classroom, SchoolPad allows instructors to turn any surface into an electronic interactive whiteboard, with a computer and projector added to the mix. Up to seven SchoolPads can be active in the classroom, giving individual students or groups of students the ability to fully participate in the classroom without having to leave their seats. “We are perpetually enhancing our product line to meet the needs of our customers,” says Rob Meissner,VP of Marketing for GTCO CalComp. “We have just released the InterWrite School- Pad 400, which provides greater range, a smaller footprint, and a longer battery life than the SchoolPad 300, which it replaces. In the near future, you’ll see further enhancements to both our InterWrite software as well as our PRS software.” Price: $497. www.gtcocalcomp. com.

Digital Visual Presenter

AVerMedia Technologies, the digital multimedia and presentation technology provider, will soon release the next-generation AVerVision530, a digital visual presenter that displays printed documents, photos, slides, Xray film, or 3D objects onto any LCD/DLP projector, monitor, or TV set. The AVerVision530 will feature a 1/3-inch CCD progressive-scan image sensor with 850K pixel count. Additionally, it will boast advanced functions such as 12X optical zoom, 8X digital zoom-andpan, smart auto-focus-and-zoom system, and a unique CCFL lighting system that eliminates glare effects and distortion. Between hi-quality images, image capture capabilities, and superior optical/digital zoom, the AVerVision530 is ideal for any auditorium, classroom, or boardroom presentation, say company spokespeople. AVerVision530 will be available in Q3. Price: $1,999 (MSRP). www.avermedia.com.

Hussshhhh…

Soon to debut, Mitsubishi’s XD110U and SD110U projectors boast DLP technology and blast 1600 ANSI lumens (bright enough for most office and classroom environments), and a 2000:1 contrast ratio for detailed dark areas. At 32 decibels, the projectors are also extremely quiet, allowing educators and presenters to keep their audiences’ attention with vibrant and colorful lessons in a quiet environment. Price: $995 (SD110U0) and $1,395 (XD110U). www.mitsubishi-presentations.com .