Low resolution can also impact classroom readability. So how to projectors compare to smart boards like the award winning BenQ Board? Pixel density is an easy way to look at how resolution can impact readability in the classroom. According to Futuresource, over 80 percent of LCD projectors sold to education customers have much lower resolution than the vast majority of interactive displays sold during the same period. Why is this important?
Let’s take a look at a typical smart phone and tablet that most teachers and students own. The current iPhone 14 delivers 460 pixels per inch, while the iPad Pro delivers 264 pixels per inch. But how about a classroom display that is seen by the whole class? The BenQ Board 75 inch TV style smart board with UHD resolution has about 58 pixels per inch. So how about projectors? In 2022 about 80% of projectors sold to schools in the United States have less than 1 million pixels. A typical WXGA projector on a 100 inch screen delivers less than 15 pixels per inch. If that same WXGA projector is used on a smaller 75 inch interactive whiteboard, it still is still less than 20 pixels per inch. The reality is that even 10 years after the first 4K projectors were introduced, some of the largest projector brands selling to schools don’t even offer an affordable UHD 4K model for use in the classroom.
Interactive displays like the BenQ Board and Promethean Titanium deliver nearly 4x the pixel density of a WXGA classroom projector on a 100” screen – creating a more detailed image that makes it easy to read.
LCD projectors use a system that has three panels. With the use of a prism, lamp, mirrors and filters, the projector displays the image on a computer monitor onto a large screen by separating the white light from the lamp into a series of combined red, blue and green colors that look natural. The sharpness, or resolution, of the image produced by a projector depends upon the number of cells, or pixels, it contains. Projectors with larger amounts of pixels have better image resolutions. You can use a projector to display a movie or slideshow or to share computer items with a group of people. To use a projector, you need to hook it up to a DVD player to show movies or a computer for a presentation. If you wish to add an audio component to a presentation, you may need to connect the computer or DVD player to speakers.