Remember those old overhead projectors where the presenter used transparencies? Usually they'd be upside down and/or backwards, but they would eventually get it right so that you could look at a typed page that you couldn't even read. Or maybe some hand-drawn graphs. When things went really high-tech, they'd use Powerpoint and print their slides on transparency paper. Oohh... ahhh...
Well, times have changed. Those Powerpoints are shown directly on projectors with animations, sound, even video. But what if somebody shows up to present with a folder full of transparencies from the Eighties? Or a book? Or a map? Do you roll out an overhead projector or give the presenter some thumbtacks for his map?
There is a better way document cameras. With a document camera, you can show those transparencies just like the good old days, but you project the images through the same projector you're using for Powerpoint. You can also project a page out of a book, or a drawing. You can even project 3-D objects, like a circuit board or an actual product. You can zoom in to see the finest details in a piece of jewelry, or a piece of text. You can even capture those image into your PC!
The principle is quite simple: Just mount a camera pointing down onto a surface, provide lighting, and you have a live camera feed going into your projector. If you have backlighting, you can show those transparencies. There are a lot of different options, but suffice to say that there is a doc cam for every application and every budget, from fold-up portable units to high-resolution automated systems.
If your presentation needs require a lot of flexibility, a document camera may be just the ticket to complete your presentation system. Of course, Spectrum has several models on display at our showroom, so if you'd like to see one in action, just give us a call!
