Teaching, training, or talking—no matter what you’re using your conference room for, visual aids are valuable communication tools. But what if you could transcend the typical visual aids and offer your employees or students an even better way of learning by interacting with your presentation?
Interactive displays are trending in AV system design, and rightly so. They’re a tech-forward, tactile addition to any great AV system. Especially helpful in instructional environments, an interactive display might be just what you need in your conference room design. Whatever your use case, there’s a product with a unique feature set that’s right for your space.
To help you select the best interactive display, we offer a comprehensive list of our favorites, and a guide to choosing.
Interactive Displays That Wow
Based on our experience, below are some of the best displays for every budget and need.
Panasonic makes a line of interactive touch-screen displays perfect for organizations that want a more minimalist, reliable piece of equipment. Their touch-screen displays rarely include lots of bells and whistles, but that can be to your advantage. A no-frills interactive display typically offers:
A lower price as compared to other interactive displays
The ability to attach higher-grade microphones, cameras, and other features to the display
Quicker integration with the rest of your AV system
Combine your interactive display with other clever video and audio designs to achieve a more advanced conference room that’ll be sure to impress employees and clients alike.
Newline is one of the gold standards for interactive displays. They have several lines of products, each tailored to fit specific use cases.
This Newline series of displays is built for enterprise-level security. It doesn’t have an operating system built in, making it easy to keep this display sequestered from your business network (and that network’s increased cybersecurity risks). It keeps your data secure while still offering great touch features, a sharp display, and an OPS port for you to plug in a separate computer if you need to.
Newline has also entered the education arena with a series of displays built for instruction. These screens include an easy to manage, plug-and-play USB-C power connection; Wi-Fi capability; collaboration tools; and an app store for additional educational programs. It’s a line of displays meant to enhance instruction, not distract from it.
Well-known, reliable, and easy on your wallet, Samsung’s line of interactive displays includes the necessary features while keeping prices reasonable. They include some computer functionality (meaning they can run some computer software independent of an attached computer), and several of the displays in this line are aimed directly at educators with features like shatterproof glass, passcode-protected information, and lesson delivery software bundles. These displays are the perfect choice for the conference room that sees lots of training and on-the-job certification.
Despite Samsung’s powerful (yet streamlined) approach to interactive screens, they frequently run sales on these displays and offer programs like Samsung Business Financing, giving you more bang for your buck.
Newline’s RS+ Series is a great top-of-the-line interactive display choice, providing great touch responsiveness, stunning resolution, and integration with all operating systems (for casting smaller screens to the big one). You can even wirelessly present with this type of display from a laptop or other computer.
If you’re seeking an all-around good choice made by a company that specializes in interactive, seek out Newline RS+.
We can’t leave this discussion without mentioning Newline’s state-of-the-art computer and display combo. The X Series of displays isn’t just interactive—it has an integrated OPS computer that allows you to run Windows and tap into programs like:
Microsoft PowerPoint
Microsoft Teams
Google Meet
Zoom
Best of all? You can run these programs directly from your display. Newline combines this feature with two built-in cameras and a microphone array, allowing you to harness interactivity and connectivity all in one screen.
How To Choose Your Interactive Display
One of the display brands listed above may already be calling out to you. If so, great! You’re on your way to securing the best interactive display for your conference room.
But if you need some additional guidance, read on. We’ve compiled a couple of key factors to look at when you evaluate interactive displays for a business space.
First, think about the type of space you run.
It’s imperative to think about your use case and what it means for your display. All interactive displays allow you to draw on them and manipulate objects, and all provide a high standard of color and image sharpness. So, you need to dig deeper and decide which features are right for your conference room.
Is your conference room running training every day, or are you part of an educational institution? If so, you’ll want a display that caters to educators, like the Samsung display whiteboards or the Newline Q Series. They often include extra features like proprietary lesson planning programs, collaboration software, and even games for grade schoolers. All these tools help make interactive teaching a breeze.
Are you a government entity or a military contractor? You need high security for your data. Choose a product from the Newline IP Series to ensure you’re buying the best in enterprise-level secure displays.
Or are you a video conferencing powerhouse, collaborating with distant clients regularly (with some projects that require drawing abilities to demonstrate)? Displays like the Newline X Series are right for you. With cameras and microphones included, you don’t have to worry about adding and troubleshooting third party video conferencing equipment; you can even place your display on a cart and create a mobile conferencing station without worries.
Next, think about your integration needs.
You might be surprised to learn that the simplest interactive displays are often best for integration with a larger AV system. You’ll need to check that your chosen display has the right kind of connection ports, of course—like the Panasonic and Newline RS+ displays with their HDMI and DVI-D ports—but once you do, integration favors simplicity.
If you have external cameras, computers, and gadgets meant to connect with your conference room display, don’t worry about grabbing a screen packed with features. Just choose something simple and reliable that offers your room the interactivity it needs.
If, on the other hand, you want an all-in-one package with no risk of losing remotes or cords, choose a line like the Newline X displays.
Is interactive conferencing right for your space?
Ultimately, interactive displays are great for education and for collaborative spaces. The best way to teach someone a concept is to have them experience it, not just listen to an explanation. Interactive displays are a great way to encourage your employees and students to retain information by using all their senses.
However, interactive isn’t for everyone.
Say you’re regularly conferencing with a room full of company experts. You don’t need to teach this type of group; you just need to provide them with updates or review numbers. In this case, a larger, non-interactive display is best for you. Spend your budget on visuals that will help you accomplish your goal.
If you’re still mystified, contact us here at Aspen Custom Electronics. We’re knowledgeable audio visual integrators who install displays from the best brands every day, and we can help you determine which display is right for your unique conference room.
