Sharp Interactive Boards

[TechMonkey]

Just wondering if anyone has used Sharp Interactive Displays and have any opinions?

[FragglePete]

Just finished having one on site for several days as a demo. We also have an Iiyama as well but I've just put an order in for the Sharps.

 

The Sharps 'Big Pad' as they call it has specifically been targeted at Education, and it works well. What is worth pointing out, is that it is Full HD and NOT a 4K display - but this is by no means a bad thing. For us, they are a replacement for a standard projector where the teacher runs their machine in either Duplicate or Extend. And these work perfectly. It's software on the desktop PC that is driving the display and all the overlays, etc.

 

With the Iiyama, which as a display was lovely, it's run by the Android Module built into the display itself so to me it felt like the output from the teachers computer was almost a secondary thing. But it's pitched at running that way as stuff is loaded onto the module connecting to things like USB Sticks, or OneDrive to upload/download stuff. To run it in the way we wanted, would require desktops that have outputs that can do dual 4K display (ie. Mid Range GPUs), followed by 4K Monitors on the desktops. As soon as yoiu annotate on top of the display it freezes the output from the computer.

 

The other plus points on the Sharp was the buttons on the front, On, Off, Input, Volume and...... Freeze!!!! Genius! No remote control required (although it does have one!). As for the Iiyama, no buttons whatsoever, relies solely on the remote control which we found laggy to use and would go missing in a heartbeat in this place. The Sharp also seemed to not show up dirty finger/hand marks on the screen as much as the Iiyama. The Sharp was an instant on/off device, whereas the module on the Iiyama seem a while to boot before you could show a display on it.

 

We had them running side by side and the IIyama being the 4k monitor looked superior in terms of quality and colour, but for in a Classroom environment the Sharp was more than adequate.

 

Sharp have their own desktop software, which is simple but very effective. But it's free. No license restrictions once you have one device on site - can give copies to staff to use at home. It's no Smartbook, but it does ok.

 

Sharp offer we felt the better package. Installation included by Sharp themselves, and training also given by a member of Sharp's consultant team. And they are happy to keep coming back as required.

 

Any more questions, feel free to ask but worth getting in touch with a reseller as they are more than happy to let you use a demo unit for a week or so. They will also do a demo to staff as well.

 

I've just ordered 2 of the 70" displays from Sharp this week ready for a Summer install.

 

Pete

[mjk]

We rejected the sharp displays out of hand because they will not work with Chromebooks/Linux.

So much for being 'designed for education' when all others work fine with Chromeboxes. We did trial BenQ and Samsung and ended up with Samsung.

[mdrabble]

I've just ordered 30 x 65" Sharp screen to replace half of our projector/smartboard installs.

 

Like @FragilePete, we had a number of demo screens in for a number of weeks in our staff rooms and let staff play on them as they will be the ones who when them.

 

I did ask for feedback from staff on the different screens and the Sharp came out on top - staff loved the button at the front of the screen.

 

We will have a fixed desktop for use on them - staff can either use the Smartboard software or option to use the Sharp software.

 

 

Sharp offer their "SHARP Display Connect" free so you can view mobile devices etc (although I have not personally used this, some staff have and said it worked well)

[synaesthesia]

We rejected the sharp displays out of hand because they will not work with Chromebooks/Linux.

So much for being 'designed for education' when all others work fine with Chromeboxes. We did trial BenQ and Samsung and ended up with Samsung.

 

What makes them not work, out of interest; just the software? As full, standard HID devices they absolutely must be able to work with just about any OS out there...

[TechMonkey]

We rejected the sharp displays out of hand because they will not work with Chromebooks/Linux.

So much for being 'designed for education' when all others work fine with Chromeboxes. We did trial BenQ and Samsung and ended up with Samsung.

 

Can I ask why it wouldn't work with a Chromebox? Surely it is just an input to the screen, or do you mean the Sharp software?

[mjk]

We made an enquiry with the distributor who said:

 

Below is the reply from Sharp on the Google Chrome compatibility – which is a nutshell says that it is NOT natively compatible with Chromebooks.

 

Our Sharp Display Connect software, which is our wireless BYOD screen-sharing offering sort of does support Chrome now. I say “sort of”, since the support is through our Sharp American cousins.

 

Here in Europe we can’t support directly.

 

We didn't get as far as a demo - we ordered 26 Samsung devices instead. Spending upwards of £40k, we really want them to be compatible with our devices !

Edited June 12, 2018 by mjk

[synaesthesia]

That's what we were asking, what part wasn't compatible So they'll connect to a chromebook fine physically, just wireless sharing isn't quite there. Which you could resolve instantly with any £10 dongle

[mjk]

Well I don't know if they will physically connect to the chromebook because I didn't try it. I read the sales leaflet and there was no mention of chromebooks when Samsung, Iiyama, Benq did mention them - soI assumed they wouldn't connect if they needed a driver. I double checked with sharp and they said not supported, so I didn't bother getting a demo.

So are you saying they definitely do work with touch when you plug a chromebook in? And why wouldn't the distributor/manufacturer know this?

[MatthewL]

The Sharp at the end of the day is just a monitor so anything should work weather connected on VGA or HDMI.

 

Those of you who have the Sharp, do you have a separate speaker setup as the inbuilt 10W ones I don't think are loud enough for a classroom.

[FragglePete]

During the time we had the demo unit we had the sound up and was impressed by the volume it could reach without distorting. Even the music teachers who these are being aimed at were pretty happy with the volume levels for the classrooms. However, time will tell when they're installed and we'll see how it goes. It we feel they are lacking it's not much to get an amp and some speakers, even possibly a sound bar instead.

 

Pete

[gumbygaz]

Just finished having one on site for several days as a demo. We also have an Iiyama as well but I've just put an order in for the Sharps.

 

The Sharps 'Big Pad' as they call it has specifically been targeted at Education, and it works well. What is worth pointing out, is that it is Full HD and NOT a 4K display - but this is by no means a bad thing. For us, they are a replacement for a standard projector where the teacher runs their machine in either Duplicate or Extend. And these work perfectly. It's software on the desktop PC that is driving the display and all the overlays, etc.

 

With the Iiyama, which as a display was lovely, it's run by the Android Module built into the display itself so to me it felt like the output from the teachers computer was almost a secondary thing. But it's pitched at running that way as stuff is loaded onto the module connecting to things like USB Sticks, or OneDrive to upload/download stuff. To run it in the way we wanted, would require desktops that have outputs that can do dual 4K display (ie. Mid Range GPUs), followed by 4K Monitors on the desktops. As soon as yoiu annotate on top of the display it freezes the output from the computer.

 

The other plus points on the Sharp was the buttons on the front, On, Off, Input, Volume and...... Freeze!!!! Genius! No remote control required (although it does have one!). As for the Iiyama, no buttons whatsoever, relies solely on the remote control which we found laggy to use and would go missing in a heartbeat in this place. The Sharp also seemed to not show up dirty finger/hand marks on the screen as much as the Iiyama. The Sharp was an instant on/off device, whereas the module on the Iiyama seem a while to boot before you could show a display on it.

 

We had them running side by side and the IIyama being the 4k monitor looked superior in terms of quality and colour, but for in a Classroom environment the Sharp was more than adequate.

 

Sharp have their own desktop software, which is simple but very effective. But it's free. No license restrictions once you have one device on site - can give copies to staff to use at home. It's no Smartbook, but it does ok.

 

Sharp offer we felt the better package. Installation included by Sharp themselves, and training also given by a member of Sharp's consultant team. And they are happy to keep coming back as required.

 

Any more questions, feel free to ask but worth getting in touch with a reseller as they are more than happy to let you use a demo unit for a week or so. They will also do a demo to staff as well.

 

I've just ordered 2 of the 70" displays from Sharp this week ready for a Summer install.

 

Pete

 

If you don't mind me asking, what sort of price you getting these for installed?

I've got a couple to do in the summer, but still trying to decide whether to go back to projectors (interactive ones) the last couple of 65" screens (Genee ones) the staff don't like the size or the software (They liked the software during the demos & training though!) So wondering for cost to go back to Projectors and give them an 80" image.

[Alis_Klar]

Sorry to ressurect an old thread!!

 

I have been poring over the variuos Sharp models spec sheets. Havn't had any demo yet.

 

Even the basic Sharp moel has a bonded LCD and front glass so there is less parallax effect when tapping objects on screen from an angle.

 

Also the high end models offer Superior Projected Capacitive touch (same as smartphones , cheaper screens always use infrared which will sense your sleeve or anything that breaks the beam of light as a touch)

 

Also the Sharp screens don't have all the IMHO useless android stuff (which will date quickly and not be updatable) The OSD looks responsive and the remote is not terribly designed like some other makes.