Sharp Electronics is known for its line of high end displays for primarily watching TV. But the company is branching out of its consumer electronics shell and has developed an interactive display unit that will compete with whiteboards, traditional dry-erase boards, and flip charts.
Called Aquos Board, its a digital flat-panel display that can be used to edit data on the fly as well as facilitate remote collaboration through a webinar or video conference system. This product will be made available to Sharp Canada’s network of channel partners and distributors this summer.
The target market for the Aquos Board is the business market with boardrooms. The company’s Canadian subsidiary told CDN that Aquos Board replaces the traditional analog whiteboard.
New features include:
- Simultaneous writing that recognizes up to 10 points of contact, allowing up to four people to write on the screen at the same time using Sharp touch pens or their fingers;
- Ability to communicate to mobile devices, which can push out content directly to connected mobile devices. Users can securely overlay their notes and messages directly onto presentations and save for future use without affecting original content;
- The new LCD multi-touch displays provide a more natural experience with nearly zero delay by refreshing the position information of the Sharp touch pen up to 200 times per second; and
- New display technology that minimizes glare and fingerprints with an anti-glare film that works to reduce glare and reflections while minimizing fingerprint marking to protect the screen.
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In addition, there are an expanded number of digital interface ports, an on-screen touch menu and front facing-speakers. The included Sharp touch pen has also been updated.
Brad Wardell, director of sales and marketing at Sharp Electronics of Canada, said the Aquos Board technology helps people collaborate and share information. The features in the Aquos Board help business and education users connect in a way that facilitates more interactive communication and learning.
The new lineup includes two 70-inch class (69 1/2-inch diagonal) and two 60-inch class (60 1/16-inch diagonal models, with two different configurations available in each screen-size class to increase versatility for users. The first configuration (which includes model numbers PN-L703B and PN-603B) features an open platform model, requiring a connection to an external PC. This allows users to operate any Windows-based application they choose with the unit. The second configuration (which includes model numbers PN-L703A and PN-603A) features a built-in, embedded controller with pre-installed Sharp Pen Software for instant start-up and Touch Display Link 2 functionality. A PC is no longer required to use these displays as an interactive whiteboard, making this configuration suited for transferring from room to room, or for AV rental applications.