BenQ_Royce

do a quick check that the screen hasn't been set to something like 'fit' or 'fill'. Almost all classroom boards will be using some form of IR sensors, but if the image isn't 1:1 then the touch will be out.

Whilst our boards have some of the lowest out of box wattage, you can get that IFP number down by 70% using tools that weren't possible with 'always on' projection, we had a white paper written (link below). @BenQ_Chris is off this week but he can be a bit more specific on latest numbers for anyone interested. https://www.benq.eu/en-uk/education/edtech-blog/8-ways-reduce-power-consumption-benq-boards.html

Hi, if possible can you PM me a bit more detail as to the demo you had from BenQ, and what didn't meet your requirements, as a long term sponsor of Edugeek we strive to give the best possible service, and feedback could greatly help my team. Thanks!

do you have interactive screens across the school? I know ours have X-Sign Broadcast built into the backend system, allowing interrupt of use with text, images and video. not sure on other brands, but we've examples of schools using this functionality. /Royce

sounds like its gone well, regarding brightness compared to other screens, we consider for front of class for pupil and teacher the EyeCare settings are activated, such as low blue light, ambient sensor etc. If it's in the library and you want to max the brightness start knocking off those settings so would be comparable to the quoted brightness. happy to help if you drop me and the team a PM /Royce

Thanks Barry. If you need any help setting up, or teacher training; just drop me or any of the team a PM. Always happy to help. /Royce BenQ UK&I Managing Director.

thanks for the detailed feedback, very interesting. If it's nits v nits shootout and brightness is key, if you've still got the demo unit, try disabling all the BenQ Classroomcare options, including Low bluelight, ambient sensor, motion sensor, as most of our panels have these on by default. There's an anti bacterial coating on the RM03 but wont be reducing the overall brightness output. if you go down the BenQ route, not only thank you, PM me as I can look to ship out an early EDLA sample based on android 13. thanks /Royce - BenQ UK MD

I've spent a lot of time working with the team on this project and unfettered teacher access to Playstore is not the aim, but controlled, secure, ICT managed deployment. When I'm back after this week I'll post some videos from BETT. With every panel vendor deploying EDLA this year, BenQ's in-house engineering are taking a managed approach especially from our Jamboard heritage.

Our EZWrite software is cross platform and allows export and has improved year on year as we design it inhouse, if you'd like we can arrange some training... however we also have 2 low cost plug in Google EDLA modules this July that will allow full Google Playstore access, making O365, Whiteboard, teams, and Google tools all fully accessible. If you'll prefer a fully baked in version that's manageable under our AMS control system then it will start appearing panels later this summer. its the system we showed at BETT earlier this year https://www.benq.com/en-ap/education/news/benq-launches-google-mobile-services-gms-certified-slot-in-pc.html (@Nic if you pic this up can you reach out pls)

looks like you've a great installer there, especially running through basic features. if you need any help or advice @Chris is in this thread and if your installer needs any help with pricing or contact with BenQ you should also have @Nicola's details. Edugeek is a long term partnership for BenQ, so want to ensure members are looked after. /Royce

Whilst I couldn't mention at the time, we showed our Android 13 with official Google Playstore integration with BenQ AMS solution at BETT. So yes this will now be possible across all apps, also looking to make this backwardly compatible to existing screens.

couldn't agree more, our stance is to offer as flexible a hardware platform that fits around how teachers teach, and how ICT support, not how a hardware developer wants you to teach by locking you in to their product. offering Microsoft & Google native but controlled environments is an ideal scenario, but they have to tie into that platforms services backend, being able to open and convert files is clunky and not intuitive. We also appreciate for many ICT Managers that these are no longer just displays but network resources and that's becoming more in demand, such as; cloud file access, monitoring air quality, energy consumption, remote messaging, scheduling & remote management... all we can do today. certainly recommending coming to see BenQ at BETT as we hopefully have some answers to the problems raised in this thread, one of which will be a first look. /Royce

absolutely on all models, both via remote (as we know how they disappear) and via the touch menu. (I developed the product in 2010, taking classroom projector functionality, so it's been a feature from almost the start.)

with BETT just round the corner, it's an ideal opportunity to try out other brands, as there are so many out there now it can be bewildering, especially if you're not fixed to one software platform as the OP suggests. Obviously I'm biased, I would recommend choosing a brand that's been around a while and has learnt a lot about UK education needs, pop by the BenQ stand right at the entrance, can't miss us, the tour bus will be back again, and the coffee is always decent! /Royce

thanks for the support, we've learnt along the years to keep investing in development, not just for new boards but existing, (where the platform allows) There's some exciting new UK lead partnerships & training resources in the pipeline, on top of what we did with Oak National Academy. As it sounds like your BenQ boards are online you'll get these automatically, as well as the global partnerships BenQ have. Any questions just reach out, Chris posted in thread above and he's part of our expanding pre & post sales team.

86" is a tricky size if you want front of class interaction, height for visibility against average height teacher reaching the top, so maybe mix it up a bit depending on room, if that effects the price then it says something about the flexibility of the supplier. For agnostic software BenQ support for Google classroom natively as well as MS Azure without needing an OPS, although that route may work for some rooms where a laptop isn't needed. as an edugeek sponsor for many years for both projection and panels, we're quite a helpful bunch and I'm sure can make it affordable with the long term commitment, I'll ask a colleague to drop his details in thread for a demo.

have you tried their support? from our own boards I would cautious in bricking the unit at this point, as a short term fix can you get round the android system to use HDMI inputs?

Whatever brand route you go down, from experience we are seeing more demand on teacher & ICT training, both hardware and software training IMHO is now a must, as a brand that has come from they days when a touchscreen was a like-for-like PRJ/IWB replacement we've seen every stage of IFP evolution. As a manufacturer and edugeek sponsor (so can mention it) BenQ offer training packages from a dedicated team, ranging from remote to onsite with or without the BenQ Bus, as well as ongoing training commitment for new staff and new features. PM if interested in find out more. If you're still indecisive, Edugeek members can also request a bus visit from here>>>> https://www.benq.eu/en-uk/business/campaign/education-roadshow.html

Hopefully those of you who got to BETT last week saw and got a tour of our bus?.... it wasn't just for the show, and has spent the past year during lockdown visiting schools to share hands-on with the latest in classroom tech. The BenQBus will continue it's journey around the UK until next summer at least, so if any of you are interested in it visiting your school or college you can find out more and book it here http://www.benq.eu/en-uk/business/campaign/education-roadshow.html mention edugeek when booking and I'm sure you'll be looked after. /Royce

BenQ is 20 years old this year and as a long time edugeek sponsor, I would personally like to invite you to our birthday drinks reception on the now longer, Thursday afternoon. Pop by to discuss the latest classroom tech, see how we can support you and have a drink on us. you wont miss our stand /Royce

if you're just looking to mirror, assuming it's a newish BenQ screen, have you tried using the HDMI Out? you can select the resolution in the OSD so configured to your secondary display. drop me a PM and I can get someone to help you.

no USB B on the rear cluster? I know when BenQ did front USB A connectors it was for ease of walk up users, but still had hard connections on rear for faceplate extensions.

probably not new boards in the UK at least, but we still have a healthy business in projector replacements for existing boards, and ensuring we can offer as close to an IFP experience in the classroom, to a points some sites mix and match our IFPs and projectors. If anyone is at BETT and want to know more, we'll be hard to miss as usual.

as mentioned in thread BenQ have as standard, remote and screen, to a point we firmware upgraded very early IFPs (we're an education display brand so spec of projectors and panels often match), I would suggest any screen missing this is probably a flag that it's not intended for education use, and to dig a bit deeper.

quite a few solutions we've worked on in the past......... projecting the dual screen would give larger second image for the cost, some panels have HDMI out so could would also mirror the interactivity/annotation. another option for very detailed work is if the board's software can broadcast its image to devices (if the students are using tablets/laptops) BenQ have a team of field engineers and EdTech consultants who have worked as teachers in this environment, so I can get someone to message you for some help that isn't going to be a hard sell. /Royce