An excellent new technology can replace the opaque projectors that projected images of documents, including pages in open books and magazines, and even 3-D objects. The older equipment was hot, had a clumsy movable bed, and projected a faint image. But this new technology comes at a price.
Take a look at the Toshiba MediaStar TLP651 live-action projector. It looks like a fat overhead projector. Its built-in color document camera can capture and project the image of any flat or 3-D) object placed faceup on the bed. The camera and projector can be controlled with a remote, including the focus, zoom, and so on. Toshiba rates the unit at 1,100 lumens, just barely high enough for projection in a normally lit room. The unit weighs fewer than 10 pounds, so libraries can use it as a portable or a permanently installed unit. The price is $7,995, though some units cost up to twice as much. If you are going to spend that much, consider purchasing individual components and installing them as a custom system.
Less expensive units are available, but they are light units (five to six pounds) designed to be used for traveling presenters. Most are rated at fewer than 1,000 lumens.
[Contact: Toshiba America Consumer Products; telephone: 800-346-6672; Web: www.toshiba.com.]
