Interactive White Boards has been around in the market for quite sometime now. Despite the varying technologies employed by the different manufacturers, they share something in common, the use of a projector.

Projection application has moved beyond simple presentation on a white screen. The demanding environment in today’s world needed something more. Interactive White Board was one of the many ideas that helps bring classrooms/ meetings alive; making the presentation livelier and getting the audience involved easily. And now, projector manufacturers are eyeing a piece of this newfound demand for interactivity.

Interactive Projectors incorporated an additional ‘Transmitter’ and ‘Receiver’ device to allow actions on the screen to be transferred into the connecting computer. Regardless of the technology used, the principals are pretty much the same, to compete with Interactive White Boards.

Some of the pros and cons between the two:

Function(s)	Interactive White Board	Interactive Projector (Short Throw)
Cost	Cost of Projector + Cost of Board + Cost of Projector Installation + Cost of Board Installation	Cost of Projector + Installation only
Projection Surface	Must be on the board	Can be only any hard and smooth enough surface
Glare, Hot Spot & Shadow	Will need to use an ultra-Short Throw Projector to minimize these effects, which means additional cost	Effects reduced with Ultra-Short Throw capabilities
Image Size	Image size is fixed	Can adjust big/ small image size by changing projection distance
Sensitivity	Dedicated sensors behind the board will have excellent response	Subject to the technology of the “Transmitter/ Receiver” device, might have slight lag depending on the setup conditions
Software	Most Interactive White Boards do provide optional Interactive Software for instant application	No full-fledge interactive software, but able to work with 3rd party Interactive Software

Although the technology is available and choice between the two will be based on individual’s requirements, it is important to understand that technology is nothing when the users are not properly trained to use them.

Most users will find it daunting to do an interactive setup and scrambling to understand the buttons and logos to use the interactivity features properly. Hence without the right training, most, if not all technology will be nothing but an additional piece of under-utilized hardware.