Why Ultra Short Throw-based Devices are Ideal for Schools

Projectors are not products of recent origin. Though commercial projectors have been in the market for over 5 decades now, the very first idea of projection was conceived as early as 1646. It was in Germany, where a priest who went by the name Athanasius Kircher projected the images of paintings over a white wall with the help of a natural illuminant – a candle or a lamp. 

Drawing inspiration from this idea, a dedicated device to enlarge visuals for viewing called the projector was developed. Without going into the timeline or their evolution, let’s just understand that we have come a long way in the evolution. Not just in their shapes and sizes, projectors have advanced in their features and functionalities as well.

Today, there are projectors that eliminate the need for ample space for projection and use advanced imaging technology to offer optimised projection quality. At Cybernetyx we take this very seriously and because we are dealing with education, schools and children, it becomes all the more critical for us to develop a projecting device that serves this purpose (and beyond) and fosters a healthy ecosystem to everyone part of it.

That was the idea behind us cracking the ultra short throw based projecting devices for classrooms. Though there are ultra short throw projectors in the market, they have limited applications in the form of home entertainment and conference room accessory. We realised their functionality and wanted to package them for schools.

But for the uninitiated, this might not be a big deal unless you actually understand the technology and its benefits. So, this post is all about shedding light on what an ultra short throw technology is and why we recommend it to schools as part of smart classrooms.

What is an Ultra Short Throw Projector?

In layman’s terms, ultra short throw projectors are those that do not require ample space to project visuals over a screen. If you notice, the conventional projectors (long throw models) need to be placed at a distance from the wall for projection. Placing them close or too far would result in the loss of visual clarity. In this process, they end up occupying more space.

However, this is not the case with ultra short throw projectors. They can be placed as much close to the wall as possible and they would still give you a projection of approximately 100”. This is mainly due to the build of the projector.

In other models, the lens mechanism is designed in such a way that light is emitted directly on the screen or wall. In ultra short throw projectors, light from the lens is reflected off a mirror that is mounted inside the device’s imaging mechanism. This allows the device to produce an image quality that is impeccable regardless of its distance from the wall. This also eliminates the need for the projector to be placed right in front of the wall or screen.

Their Benefits

No Hindrances Due to Interventions

When a conventional projector is placed in a room, it is either suspended from the ceiling or placed on a table in the middle of the room. This gives space for shadows to crop up when students or teachers come between the projector and the screen. This distorts the image quality on the screen and makes visual too difficult or layered to understand. 

However, that’s not the case with ultra short throw projectors. With their ability to be placed as close to the wall as possible, these projectors eliminate the emergence of shadows – not even that of your hand or stylus when operating them.

Perfect for Small Rooms

Classrooms are unlike convention centres or halls that have the luxury of space. Accommodating up to 50 students, classrooms are built to save as much space as possible within their dimensions. That’s why ultra short throw projectors become very practical.

Zero Exposure to Blinding Light

As far as standard projectors are concerned, they are placed right in front of the presenters. In a classroom, this is usually the student or the teacher. The projection from these conventional devices have beams of high-intensity light emitting out of them. So for as long as the presentation or session runs, presenters are exposed to such blinding light. This is not just discomforting but harmful as well. 

In ultra short throw projections, because they are very much close to the walls, presenters have zero exposure to the light projected out of the projectors. This means no distractions and zero irritation to the eyes.

Apart from these, they are also wireless, portable, lightweight and best for interactive purposes.

For long, projectors with lesser benefits have been part of smart classrooms. But once it became evident for us the potential of ultra short throw projectors, we were  laser-focussed on leveraging their potential for classrooms. We invented specific ultra-short focus optical devices that turn an ultra-short throw projector into a complete interactive system. Further, some of our solutions like Spark Touch even include a full-blown computer to work with the ultrashort throw projectors for usage in classrooms.

Want to know more about how ultra-short throw optical devices and projection systems can transform your classrooms? Click here.