It's not AI or photoshopped, it is this bright and clear! 

Full HD resolution and high contrast in a high ambient light environment. This is a recent install we did at Merriwa Primary school. 

This is a 3120mmm x 1620mm 1.5mm pitch Absen NX LED screen. 

On a wall that wasn't flat or even our team were able to install this flawless display. It pairs perfectly with their Triple PA system they purchased last year. If your undercover area needs a PA upgrade or your projector just can't compete with the sunlight coming through you need to call me.

Designing AV Systems Teachers Can Use in 30 Seconds

 

One of the simplest tests for any classroom AV system is this:

Can a teacher walk into the room and start using the technology within 30 seconds?

If the answer is no, the system is probably too complex.

Teachers are under constant time pressure. Lessons move quickly, and technology needs to support that pace rather than slow it down. You only get today once, and we have very little time to waste.

Designing AV systems that are quick and intuitive to use requires careful planning.

Start With the Teacher Experience

Every classroom technology system should begin with a simple question:

What does a teacher need to do most often?

Typically this includes:

• displaying content from a laptop
• draw or write on screen
• playing video or audio
• adjusting volume
• switching between sources
• connecting to student devices

These tasks should require as few steps as possible.

Reduce the Number of Controls

One of the biggest usability problems in classroom AV systems is too many controls.

Multiple remotes, separate audio controls, and complex switching panels create confusion.

Instead, systems should consolidate control wherever possible. Simple touch panels or clearly labelled wall controls make systems far easier to understand.

Even better, when they are integrated into the Interactive screen – where everything is in one place.

Consistency Builds Confidence

When teachers encounter the same system across multiple classrooms, their confidence grows quickly.

Consistency reduces the learning curve and allows teachers to focus on teaching rather than troubleshooting.

Visual Clarity Matters

The physical layout of controls also matters.

Inputs should be clearly labelled, cables easy to identify, and connection points located where teachers naturally expect them.

These details make technology feel approachable rather than intimidating. There is nothing worse than a mess of cable hanging of a piece of technology.

Training and Support

Even the best-designed systems benefit from short orientation sessions.

Schools that invest time in teacher training often see far greater adoption of classroom technology. Not just tech training but how to use the technology for teaching, including sample lessons and classroom management. This is where we see most of the failures – yes, you will have some gun teachers who will take the technology and run with it and explore – but most will not have to time or the background and end up using it for YouTube and PowerPoint at best.

Designing With Educators in Mind

Great audio-visual companies place a strong emphasis on usability during the design process.

By working closely with schools and understanding real classroom workflows, they create systems that are intuitive and reliable. Their focus on simplicity, consistency, and thoughtful installation helps ensure teachers can walk into a room and start teaching without needing technical support.

In education environments, simplicity is not a limitation, it’s the design goal.

Training in both the technology and the pedagogy is vital for effective use of your investment that improves outcomes for both the teachers and the students.

When classroom technology works in seconds and teacher feel confident using it, it then becomes a powerful tool for learning rather than a distraction.

 

Hybrid Work in Perth - What Your VC is Telling Your Employees and Clients

Video Conferencing Installation to Enhance Hybrid Workplaces?

Living and working in Perth has always shaped how I think about connection. We are one of the most isolated capital cities in the world, yet we operate in industries that demand constant collaboration with people thousands of kilometres away. That tension between distance and immediacy has quietly defined how our workplaces evolve. In a hybrid era, it is no longer just where we work that matters, but how we stay present when we are not in the same room.

Hybrid work did not arrive as a carefully planned strategy. It was forced on us by global uncertainty, and it is still being reshaped by it. When headlines remind us how fragile international travel, supply chains, and even time zones can be, the workplace responds by becoming more resilient. Technology, particularly video, sits right at the centre of that shift.

But here is the thing: hybrid work does not fail because people are unwilling. It fails when the experience is unequal. The real challenge of hybrid work is not flexibility, it is presence. Anyone who has dialed into a meeting where the room laughs at a joke you did not hear knows exactly what I mean.

Poor audio, badly framed cameras, and awkward delays quietly erode trust and momentum. Over time, remote participants become spectators rather than contributors, which is where most hybrid strategies begin to fracture. A considered video conferencing installation flips that equation. When the room is designed so remote participants are seen clearly, heard naturally, and included instinctively, collaboration stops feeling like a compromise.

In Perth, this matters more than many people realise. A large number of our business relationships, whether interstate or international, exist almost entirely on screens. When global events disrupt travel or heighten uncertainty, video becomes more than a convenience, it becomes a continuity tool. It is how projects keep moving when borders close, plans change, and priorities shift overnight.

Perth’s isolation is often described in kilometres, but in hybrid workplaces isolation is just as often psychological. People working remotely can slowly feel like observers in decisions made elsewhere. That is rarely a cultural failure. More often, it is the result of rooms and systems that were never designed for balanced participation.

Thoughtful meeting room design changes behaviour in subtle but important ways. Cameras placed at eye level encourage natural engagement. Consistent audio removes the invisible hierarchy between those in the room and those joining remotely. Lighting designed for video, not just for people sitting at tables, quietly signals that every voice matters.

This is where audiovisual products prove their real value. Not through novelty or complexity, but through reliability and restraint. When technology works consistently, people stop thinking about it and start focusing on ideas. That is when hybrid work shifts from tolerated to genuinely effective.

It is also impossible to separate hybrid work from the broader global context. Rising geopolitical tension and ongoing uncertainty remind organisations that agility is no longer optional. Hybrid workplaces are not just about employee preference; they are about organisational resilience. Clear, reliable communication becomes a strategic asset when conditions change quickly.

Perth businesses understand this instinctively. We have always operated with one eye on the horizon and another on the clock. Done properly, hybrid meeting spaces allow teams to make decisions without delay or distortion. Distance stops being a disadvantage and becomes simply another design consideration.

The focus should never be on selling screens or cables. It is about designing spaces that support behaviour, culture, and outcomes. Every room is approached as part of a wider system, because inconsistency is where hybrid work breaks down. Practical experience across workplaces informs solutions that simply work.

It is an approach shaped by real rooms, real users, and real constraints, not abstract templates, ensuring systems remain intuitive under pressure and continue supporting collaboration long after the novelty of hybrid work fades away.

When video is treated as infrastructure rather than an add on, it quietly strengthens trust, inclusion, and momentum. In an uncertain world, those qualities matter. For organisations building hybrid workplaces now, the goal is not impressive technology, but dependable connection. That is the upgrade that lasts.

Interactive Touch Panel versus Interactive Projector

Over the last five years’ interactive projectors have been taking over from the IWB/Projector combination. With the dual pen Epson 585Wi and the multi touch Epson 595Wi, it has never been cheaper to add an interactive display solution or replace an old one in a classroom at around $3000 fully installed, including SMART Notebook15 software and a usual image size of 90”.

But what about LCD touch screens? The price of these interactive panels have come down to the same price as the original IWB/Projector combo.

So which should you choose for your classrooms? It depends on a range of factors and each school and each classroom will have different requirements that will favour one product over another. Here are a couple of things to consider.

LCD panels are generally brighter, have higher contrast and higher resolution. LCD Panels have a longer lamp time of over 50, 000 hours and an expected working life of between 5 and 10 years. They are also around twice the price of a projector at a smaller display size of 55” to 70” diagonally. To give you an idea on size the small IWB’s installed in schools were around 78”

Size is really important. We have worked with a school who put in 55” LCD panels through another supplier. They are now replacing them with interactive projectors because the LCD screens were too small for students to see text and graphics. A costly mistake, especially when they had to make special secure cupboards as the screens were a targeted by thieves when they were first installed.

The current minimum recommended size for a LCD panel in a standard classroom is 65” with a recommended size of 70” to 80”.

Another thing to consider is installation. Both of these options require a decent structure to install on. An interactive projector is around 22kgs including the mount. An interactive touch panels can be up to 55kg for a 70” version plus whatever mounting system you choose, so some walls will have to be braced. In some classrooms your only option is a trolley.

When upgrading your interactive technology look at all your options as well as the physical limitations of each solution. You may find each classroom will have a different solution.

All prices approximate.

Feature	Epson Interactive projector	Viewsonic Interactive panel
Cost	@$1800 - $2300 plus install. Includes wall mount.	Minimum $3500 for 55” up to @$10,000 for 80” – minimum recommended size is 65” when used as a whiteboard at the front of a room. Does not include wall mount or trolley.
Display Size	Up to 100”	Up to 80”
Weight	22kg	Up to 60kg
Height adjustable stand	Yes - @$2000	Yes - @$1500
Lamp costs	$80 – expected life around 5000hrs	NA – expected life of LCD 20,000hrs +
Expected life of the unit	5 years	10 years
Touch points	2 (585Wi – pen only) 5 (595Wi – pen and touch)	5 touch plus 5 for gesture
Shipping	Lower than LCD panel due to weight	Higher than projector due to weight
Software	Smart Notebook15, Easy Interactive tools 4.11	Viewboard lite, Viewboard 2.11 *note: Easy Interactive Tools can be downloaded and used. *note: SmartNotebook15 can be purchased or subscription for Smart Notebook16 purchased
Networkable	yes	yes
Wireless	Optional	Optional
Apple TV compatible. * AppleTV purchased separately.	Yes	yes
Stand-alone mode	Basic, no saving or printing, single whiteboard only. (Epson 585Wi and 595Wi)	Basic features, multiple boards, can save and print. Access to document viewer software and basic internet browser
Warranty	3 years return to base ·        Can be upgraded to 4 years	4 years on site ·        Can be upgraded to 5 years