FAQ for Multimedia Equipment Department of Computing Science University of Alberta

Summary of Questions

1. What is a SMART Board, what is a projector -- how are they related, and how are they different?
2. Where are the SMARTBoards located in Computing Science?
3. Where are Projectors located in Computing Science?
4. What can I use for a display machine with the projectors?
5. How do I plug my laptop into the projector/SMART Board?
6. How do I use the PC if one is connected to the SMART Board?
7. What do I project onto?
8. What is the resolution of the projectors?
9. Should the screen be put back up when I leave?
10. How do I turn the projector/SMART Board on?
11. If turning the projector on doesn't bring up a display what should I do?
12. What do I do when I am finished with the projector?
13. How do I turn the projector in the rear projection SMART Board units off when I am done?
14. How do I turn the SMART Board on/off?
15. How do I tune? the projector?
16. How do I tune? the SMART Board?
17. Where can I find SMART Board software for my laptop?
18. Do I turn the PC off when leaving?
19. Should I turn the power button off on the SMART Board unit?
20. Can I show a video somewhere?
21. Can I get sound with the projectors?
22. Where can I find more information?
23. Who can I contact for help?

Questions

1. What is a SMART Board, what is a projector -- how are they related, and how are they different?
   1. SMART Boards are interactive, pressure sensitive, surfaces (boards or screens) that aid in presentations or collaborations. They are made by SMART Technologies Inc. which is located in Calgary Alberta. They consist of the active surface (either a whiteboard style, or a rear projection display screen) that includes a processor which "reads" the X-Y coordinates where the surface is touched, and reformats these into a protocol over a serial port - similar to a mouse or tablet.
      The "screen" style SMART Boards are incorporated into the display screen of a rear projection unit that contains a built in projector and a computer. The other SMART Boards resemble whiteboards and are mounted on the wall similar to whiteboards.
   2. A projector is a unit that plugs into the "monitor" port of a PC and shows everything that is on the display.
   3. A SMART Board requires that a projector be used if you wish to display computer generated images on the SMART Board. A SMART Board can be used as an extra "mouse" or to make "written" marks over something that is being projected. The whiteboard style boards can also be used without a projector to "capture" the sketches produced during a discussion or collaboration.
2. Where are the SMARTBoards located in Computing Science?
   There are whiteboard style SMART Boards located in:
   CSC 2-15, CSC 2-49, and most research laboratories,
   and rear projection boards in:
   CSC 3-33 and CSC 3-49.
3. Where are Projectors located in Computing Science?
   There are projectors located in:
   Ath 3-32, CSC 2-15, CSC 2-49, CSC 3-33 (2 projectors - 1 in SMART Board unit and 1 on ceiling for projection onto a ceiling mounted screen), and a rear projection unit in CSC 3-49.
   The projectors that are not contained in SMART Board units are mounted on the ceiling of each room.
   The Electronics Shop has a portable projector that can be borrowed for presentations in other rooms.
4. What can I use for a display machine with the projectors?
   • CSC 3-33 and CSC 3-49 have PCs (running Windows 2000) inside the the SMART Board units. If you have a UNIX id with the department, then you will be able to log in to the PC and use it.
   • You can also bring your laptop and attach it to the SMART Board units in CSC 3-33 and CSC 3-49.
   • CSC 2-15 and CSC 2-49 do not have a PC so you have to bring your own laptop to use the projector in those rooms.
5. How do I plug my laptop into the projector/SMART Board? The rear projection units a standard VGA (HD-15) cable, a 9-pin serial cable, and an audio plug in a bundle near the laptop table on the right side of the unit. The other rooms have a VGA cable to the projector near the front of the room, and the SMART Board has a serial port connection at the bottom right of the board.
6. How do I use the PC if one is connected to the SMART Board?
   If you have a UNIX id, then at the login screen you enter your UNIX id and password and you should be logged in. If that does not happen then please contact someone in the Systems Support Group as soon as possible. Also, under "My Computer" your UNIX home directory should be mounted as the Z drive. Again, if this is not the case, then please contact someone in the Systems Support Group as soon as possible. If you do not have a UNIX id, then contact someone in the Systems Support Group and we will see what can be done in your case.
7. What do I project onto?
   1. For ceiling mounted projectors you can project onto either the SMART Board (or whiteboard) or onto a ceiling mounted screen. The ceiling mounted screen is brought down by a "button" on the wall (they are not always in the most logical place - look around).
   2. Projectors in the SMART Board units (CSC 3-33 and CSC 3-49) will always project onto the SMART Board screen in the unit.
8. What is the resolution of the projectors?
   The projectors all have a native resolution of 1024x768 (XVGA). They will accept higher (1280x1024 SXVGA) and lower (640x480 VGA and 800-600 SVGA), but the image will not be as sharp as the native resolution displays. pixels.
9. Should the screen be put back up when I leave?
   Yes, please leave the screen in the "up" (ceiling) position out of the way. This gives more space for user's and reduces the potential for damaging the screen.
10. How do I turn the projector/SMART Board on?
    You only have to turn the projector (on the ceiling) or the projector within the SMART Board unit on. To turn the projector on find its remote control, and press the "standby/on" button. Each ceiling mounted projector also has buttons on the underside of the unit that can be pressed if the remote control cannot be found. The SMART Boards should not be turned off (the power switch for the rear projection boards are difficult to locate, and they do not use much power). The whiteboard style bords are powered from the mouse (or keyboard) port of the computer or laptop.
11. If turning the projector on doesn't bring up a display what should I do?
    This depends on what the problem is:
    1. If the projector light has not come on (ie the projector remains dark) then it is probably the case that the main power switch on the projector has been turned off and you need to turn the power on on the projector itself (usually a button on one side of the projector).
    2. If the projector light was on and then you shut the projector off, the projector will not come back on right away. The projector needs about 2 minutes to "cool" down before you can power it back on.
    3. If the projector light is on but nothing is transmitting from the PC to the screen, then there are a number of things to check:
       • Make sure that you have the video cable from the projector plugged into the monitor port on your PC.
       • If it is, then make sure you have rebooted your PC so that it syncs video properly to the monitor port.
       • [[[ do you want to say something about what to do if someone has selected a different input to the projector? I think that most of them have two computer and a video input.]]]]
12. What do I do when I am finished with a projector?
    You should turn the projector off using the remote control (the standby button). Some projectors will ask for a confirmation before turning off. Please confirm the action by [I don't know exactly what the confirmation action is - maybe pushing the Standby button again?] Under some conditions the projector will ignore the remote control, and will not turn off [[I think this happens with some brands of projectors if there is no video signal - confirm this and tell user's to turn off the projector before disconnecting the video cable or turning off the laptop.]] The projectors can tell when you unplug your laptop and will shutdown after 5(?) minutes [[Ask Charles for the number or time it]]. The projectors should be off when not in use as the bulb only has 1000 hours lifespan and they cost $500 - $750 (depending on the model of projector) to replace. If you cannot convince the projector to turn off please send email to the hardware group.
13. How do I turn the projector in the rear projection SMART Board units off when I am done?
    Use the remote control and press the xxx button. It is especially important to turn off the projector in the rear projection units as Windows maintains a video signal at all times so the projector cannot detect that the presentation has finished. Please make sure the projector in the SMART Board unit is off as the bulb only has a limited lifespan and those projectors DO NOT have an automatic shutdown.
14. How do I turn the SMART Board on/off?
    You should only have to turn off the projector off or on whether the projector is in one of the SMART Board units or ceiling mounted.
15. How do I tune? the projector? [[perhaps mention that they should set their laptop to display at XVGA resolution, and if there are display problems after that to contact SSG.]]
16. How do I tune? the SMART Board?
    [[I assume that you will tell user's how to start up the calibration tool for this answer. You might also mention here, or in a separate point that user's should not adjust the projector zoom and horizontal/vertical position on the rear projection units as that looses the calibration. It should not be necessary to adjust these as it should be set to fill the screen.]]
17. Where can I find SMART Board software for my laptop?
18. Do I turn the PC off when leaving?
    No, please leave the PC running, just log off the machine and turn the projector in the SMART Board unit (or projector) off.
19. Should I turn the power button off on the SMART Board unit?
    [[This is a very similar question to Q11 isn't it?]] No, turning the power button off with power off the PC and the PC should remain on.
20. Can I show a video somewhere?
    Yes, currently CSC 333 is set up for showing video (VCR or DVD). The VCR and DVD players are under the front podium. [[It is rather more complicated than this. The projector's NTSC video inputs (it has two inputs, one is an RCA jack and one is S-video) cannot be switched from the remote control. The projector senses the physical presence of the cables to determine which input to use. I think that if both are plugged in that it uses the S-video. The VCR is hooked up to the RCA plug and the DVD is hooked up to the S-video. One has to (carefully so that the alignment of the projector is not changed) plug and unplug cables on the back of the projector to switch between the VCR and DVD. I recommend that this is beyond training user's and that they should have someone from SSG/HSG assist with the setup. I have also found the projector needs to be carefully adjusted in brighness and contrast for DVD's to look good (I have only tried it once, but it took us 15 to 20 minutes to get it tuned up at that time).]] There are wireless remote controls for the DVD and VCR players on a shelf in the podium. The white one is for the DVD player and the black one is for the VCR. Ensure that the appropriate player is turned on before starting up the overhead projector. [[The order is not important I don't think.]] To get sound you will also want to turn on the amplifier in the podium. Remember to turn off the VHS or DVD player and turn off the amplifier when you are done. [The input (VCR, DVD, computer) level controls are reasonably well labeled, but you might point out that there is also a "main(or master)" volume control (I recall that it is at the right side of the amp.)]]
21. Can I get sound with the projectors?
    [[check it out, but I think there are audio cables that come out at the same place as the VGA cable.]]
22. Where can I find more information?
23. Who can I contact for help?
    Contact someone in the Hardware Support group or someone in the Systems Support group for help. [[consider changing the order of this contact. It has been HSG's opinion that SSG was the primary contact. We should discuss this if you don't agree.]]

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University of Alberta

Computing Science

Systems Support

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Steve Sutphen, Carol Smith