Smart Panels: 4065 vs 6065

[jmak]

Hi

 

I'm hoping for some feedback from people who've used Smart 4065 and 6065 interactive boards. Obviously the price pushes strongly in favour of the 4065s, but don't want to buy cheap and regret it. (I know there are lots of other options which we're also considering, but this is about which Smart Panels I put on the proposal for consideration.)

 

From what I can see, there's the resolution - but I can't imagine having any 4K sources anytime soon never mind having anything to display where the resolution would make a significant difference. The other difference confuses me a bit more: the 6065 has "object awareness", "Pen ID" and "Presence detection"and uses a different touch technology (DViT vs Infrared). Does this make much difference in day to day use? The cheaper board has a lot more mulit-touch points according to the specs, which also confuses me a bit...

 

Thanks in advance.

[mrwoberts]

Hi Jmak

 

I have seen the 4065 boards in action, and although I was originally not a fan of SMART, these boards seems pretty good and stable. I've also used and seen the Promethean boards, which I quite like.

However, in answer to your question, here are some of the differences I have found - assuming you will be purchasing 6065-v2 ??

 

Response time: 6.5ms (4065) vs 8ms (6065) lower is better

Brightness cd/m2: 300 (4065) vs 338 (6065) higher is better

Contrast ratio: 4000:1 (4065) vs 1200:1 (6065) higher is better

 

You may also want to keep in mind that displaying non-4K content on a 4K screen can, depending on the PC and screen technology, may leave you with a poor quality image - I've definitely seen this on a non-interactive panel.

However, if the 6065 panel doesn't suffer from such problems, although you don't have much 4K content now it is always good to consider long term, bearing in mind you want this panel to last 8+ years.

 

On the note about DViT vs infrared, I can only imagine that infrared is better, since the SMART boards with the DViT (camera sensors) technology that I have seen, have all caused problems along the way - even a dusty sensor ledge can knock out the calibration...

 

EDIT: I think both of those boards have 8 point multi-touch, but I believe you only benefit from within the SMART software - I may be wrong.

Edited April 28, 2017 by mrwoberts

[mrwoberts]

SMART spec sheets

 

4065: http://downloads.smarttech.com/media/sitecore/en/support/product/sbfpd/4000series/specs/specs_spnl4065_29sep16.pdf

6065-v2: http://downloads.smarttech.com/media/sitecore/en/support/product/sbfpd/6000series/specsheets/specs_spnl6065v2_15mar17.pdf

 

Comparison pdf: http://downloads.smarttech.com/media/sitecore/en/support/product/sbfpd/6000series/guides/edu-ifp_comparison_27jun16.pdf

 

Oddly, the comparison pdf spec for the v2 isn't consistent with the spec sheet!

Edited April 28, 2017 by mrwoberts

[mrwoberts]

Also, be sure that you get the full 5-year warranty as an education establishment. Even SMART documentation keeps suggesting 2 years, but I think edu get 5 - check with the supplier!

[TechMofo]

Make sure you get either External Speakers, or a Soundbar with them - the built-in audio is very tinny.

[jmak]

I did go through the spec sheets, but they're not consistent and it would be easier to compare between ranges if they were in columns - Smart have chosen to organise in a range per table - so they have three columns with virtually identical information because the only significant difference within a range is the screen size. Lots of scrolling or printing required to compare 4000 vs 6000. They also don't tell you how many inputs they have and there's different information in the brochure. Windows 10 touch drivers support 8 points, so with general software and Windows 10 both boards should give at least that - you'd hope that the Smart drivers would be at least as good...

 

From the brochure:

 

Object awareness™ automatically differentiates between a finger, pen or palm on the board to let you touch, erase and edit with ease.[/Quote]

 

Pen ID™ enables writing in different colours at the same time to encourage collaboration.[/Quote]

 

Presence detection automatically turns device on when people are near/off when no movement is detected.[/Quote]

 

None of these features are available on the current Smart Boards we have, so they won't be missed as such - just wondered how valuable they are, because as you point out we would hope to use these boards for quite a few years.

[jmak]

Make sure you get either External Speakers, or a Soundbar with them - the built-in audio is very tinny.

We have amps and speakers mounted next to the current boards, so i can leave them. I'd hoped to tidy up the installation by ditching them, but sounds like that's not an option.

 

Going off topic on my own thread.... Is that true for all of the flat panels, or is it just the Smart ones?

[mrwoberts]

Going off topic on my own thread.... Is that true for all of the flat panels, or is it just the Smart ones?

 

It's safe to say that most touch-panels with built-in audio will never be as good as a good quality, dedicated amp with good speakers. You can 'adjust' the sound profile to your preference on some panels, for example to increase bass, but you'd really need louder speakers (20w upwards). As TechMoo states, a decent soundbar is a much better option, they are way better than the built-in speakers, fit neatly underneath, and can cost under £ 100.