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6 Things You Need To Know
About Document Cameras

Remember the days when high-tech presentations were limited to overhead projectors and transparency sheets? Today, technology has given birth to a wide variety of options such as document cameras. Also known as visual presenters or Elmos (though Elmo is a specific brand name), document cameras allow educators, court room attorneys, or anyone who wants to give an effective presentation the right tool to do so. Read below for more information on how to choose the perfect document camera option for you.

Connections

ELMO HV110XGHow do you want your presentation to be viewed?

Portability

Resolution

The resolution of the document camera you choose will determine the quality of the image that is portrayed.

Measured by

Document cameras are categorized by their resolution in the same manner as data projectors.

It is important to match your document camera resolution, or input resolution, with your output resolution, whether it is a data projector or a computer monitor.

While not directly related to resolution, frame rate has a great impact on the overall appearance of the image.

For example, a presenter that refreshes 30 frames per second will have much smoother movement than one that refreshes 15 frames per second.

Zoom

There are three ways to make objects appear larger when using a document camera.

Lighting

Many document cameras are equipped with lights that allow you to brighten the subject and dispel shadows. The type of lighting you need will depend on the room in which you plan on doing your presentation. In a bright, well-lit room, lighting may not be needed; however, in a dark room or room with uneven lighting sidelights can be used. A special type of light is a backlight, which allows you to use transparencies, X-rays or slides.

Image Storage

A growing number of document cameras / visual presenters allow you to actually capture and store images for later use. Some more elaborate presenters use memory cards for storage but most utilize internal memory that can later be downloaded into a computer.

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