"Educated Projectors" From Canon U.S.A., Inc. Prove Essential in Science, Engineering, and Art Courses

February 11, 2009

Source: Canon

Canon REALiS LCOS Multimedia Projectors Provide Educators With Amazingly Accurate Color and Detail


To enhance learning in general science, medical, engineering, art history, and other classes, educators depend on Canon REALiS Multimedia LCOS Projectors for exacting high-resolution detail and precision color, even with the lights on.

The exceptional display capabilities of Canon's REALiS Multimedia Projectors are the result of Canon's unique combination of next-generation LCOS (Liquid Crystal on Silicon) reflective LCD panels and Canon's proprietary AISYS (Aspectual Illumination System) optical engine. AISYS enhances the display advantages of LCOS by efficiently utilizing and equalizing light from the projector lamp. This advanced technology, combined with a Genuine Canon zoom lens, a wealth of user-friendly features, compact size, and affordability and has made Canon's REALiS Multimedia LCOS Projectors the choice of a wide variety of educational institutions.

Medical Education

At the Institute of Ophthalmology and Visual Science at the New Jersey Medical School (part of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey), Dr. Bernard C. Szirth, Director of the Applied Vision Research Laboratory, uses a Canon REALiS SX7 Multimedia LCOS Projector for educating residents, optometrists, and technicians in the delicate structures of the human eye. The Canon REALiS SX7 is also used for a community-based eye screening program that checks for retinal diseases in children and adults.

"It offers both the resolution and the color balance that is true to the capture capabilities of the clinical equipment we use," Dr. Szirth said of the SXGA+ (1400 x 1050) resolution REALiS SX7. "It allows our students to understand digital images the way I see them in the scope. We project gray-scale fluorescein angiograms, which are difficult to interpret without high contrast and high resolving power. Without a projector that has the clarity of the REALiS SX7, it would be easy to miss the appearance of early diseases that are associated in the discovery or follow-up of an eye treatment. Color and resolution are also key factors."

Engineering Exactitude

Across the country, at San Diego State University's College of Engineering (one of the top 100 Ph.D.- granting engineering schools in the country) two Canon REALiS SX50 Multimedia LCOS Projectors provide exacting SXGA+ image quality for critical-viewing applications in two of its Computer Aided Design (CAD) labs.

"The image quality of the Canon REALiS SX50 Multimedia LCOS Projectors is stunning," said Dr. James Frazee, Director of Instructional Technology Services for San Diego State University (SDSU). "The two REALiS SX50's purchased by the School of Engineering for our CAD Labs have been a valuable addition. Students and faculty are regularly working with visually intensive material, and it's much easier to understand the subject matter when the detail of fine lines that are typically present in CAD drawings are clearly visible."

Multimedia Instruction

Deployment of advanced visual-information technology is also a priority at Hamilton College, the third oldest in New York State. The College's new Science Center has installed 28 REALiS SX50 Multimedia LCOS Projectors to enhance the teacher/student experience by not only delivering images so crisp that even the smallest spread-sheet type is displayed clearly, but also by having a high brightness of 2500 ANSI lumens that doesn't require total classroom darkness, so students can still take notes.

"Extremely fine images—especially in the sciences—are frequently being projected," notes Tim Hicks, Hamilton College's director of A/V Services. "One minute a geology professor might be showing a rock sample with microscopic details, then it's a PowerPoint presentation, followed by graphs and charts with very fine lines, all of which require the high resolution of the REALiS SX50 Multimedia LCOS Projector.

"Beyond the highest possible resolution and the ability to accept DVI-I signals, our main criterion was that our new projectors not cost an arm and a leg," Hicks added. "Our cost-per-unit on the Canon REALiS was approximately one-third of what we had expected to pay for a projector of this image quality. And when you buy 28 of them, that's a big savings. Further adding to the value of the REALiS SX50 is the fact that they've been extremely reliable."

Physics and Color

Training for advanced science degrees begins well before the college and university level. At Urbana High School, in Urbana IL, physics teacher Matt Sly helps his students understand complex concepts by displaying visual information on a large screen with a Canon REALiS X600 Multimedia LCOS Projector. He explains that the Canon REALiS X600 provides images with exceptional color reproduction, high contrast, and high brightness.

"I was interested in the potential of a high-quality projector that could communicate my physics teaching to the students in a clearer manner," explained Sly. "I use PowerPoint on a regular basis, with links to many Java applets on the web. I often use these simulations to bring difficult-to-visualize events into a reality I could never do with just a whiteboard. The ultimate goal was to have a high-quality projector to use in my classroom every day that students would perceive as an investment in them as learners. The Canon REALiS X600 was exactly what we needed."

Sly notes that the clarity and color accuracy of the Canon REALiS X600 Multimedia LCOS Projector is especially invaluable for his lessons on the nature of light. "All of the colors for color mixing were presented very true to the descriptions," he noted. "The Canon REALiS X600 delivers colors very accurately."

Art Education

Color and detail are essential aspects of education in the arts as well as the sciences. Students pursuing a graduate degree in art history at the University of Maryland's flagship campus in College Park carefully study the detail and color of world-famous artworks, most of which they've never seen in their original versions. Providing students with an accurate visual reproduction of the color and detail subtleties of art masterpieces is essential, which is why the university's Department of Art History and Archaeology chose the Canon REALiS SX6 Multimedia LOCS Projector.

"It's hard to talk about an artist such as Rembrandt and his late paintings and his brushwork, the almost chemical melding of different colors, and not be able to show that in the detail," explained Quint Gregory, curator of the Department's Visual Resources Center. "When you bring up a detail of his painting, you want students to see the texture, to see the colors accurately reproduced. They're unpacking those objects with their eyes and their minds, and engaging them and trying to make sense of them, and put them in a meaningful context. In order for students to do that, they've got to be able to see these images well, and that's why the projection is so important. That's why the detail is important, and that's why color is so incredibly important. And that's why the REALiS SX6 is such a perfect fit."

An Impact on Teaching

Canon's REALiS Multimedia LCOS Projector is invaluable for art education in secondary schools as well. At Massapequa High School on suburban Long Island, New York, Art Educator Vickie Ahearn used to have to pass books around when she wanted to show her class close-up pictures of brush strokes or other fine artistic details. Now, however, a Canon REALiS X600 Multimedia LCOS Projector provides the class with large-screen displays of crisp XGA resolution images and all the 3500 ANSI lumen brightness necessary to view art illustrations in crystal clarity.

"I am able to demonstrate techniques to the entire class," Ahearn stated. "Students no longer struggle to see. They can view large, brilliant images with magnified details and no distortion. I've demonstrated rendering and painting techniques using pencil, colored pencil, charcoal, oil pastel, pen and ink, and water color using the REALiS X600 and it has greatly impacted my students' understanding of these techniques. The razor-sharp image from the REALiS X600 allows me to show how to blend colored pencils, creating subtle nuances of value."

"The Canon REALiS X600 has changed how I teach my classes," Ahearn added. "I can sit at my desk and demonstrate an art technique to the students, and they don't have to leave their seats to see it. The bright, crisp image allows me to use the projector without having to turn off the lights in my classroom. The Canon REALiS X600 has had a huge impact on my teaching and use of technology as a seamless part of delivering instruction."

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