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| HV-7000SX | |
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When Elmo Corp. bills the HV-7000SX as its
“top of the line SXGA presenter,” the company isn’t feeding you a line. In
fact, the lines are pretty clear on this model.
The 7000SX is a high-resolution presenter with much more versatility than previous models. It has true SXGA resolution plus NTSC/PAL (National Television System Committee/Phase Alternating Line) video output. With 1/2-inch 1,500,000 (1,434 by 1,050) pixels progressive-scan CCD (charged-coupled device), this means you can hook almost anything to it and get the clarity you need whether you are using an LCD projector or a television monitor. I used the 7000SX last month in a tax case, which involved volumes of paperwork including letters, bills of lading, shipping and export documents, facsimile transmission as well as photographs. The 7000SX was indeed the most valuable piece of equipment that was used during the trial. The jury and witnesses were able to see each item completely and clearly. As with most Elmo presenters, the auto-focus feature came in handy and helped focus objects without having to do it manually. One of the other crucial features was “iris adjustment,” which is located on the front operation panel. Some documents required lighter or darker resolution to be seen more clearly, especially copies of facsimile transmissions or faded billing forms. It’s also important when going from a document to a photograph and back again to keep the resolution consistent. Pressing the “Normal” button brings the iris back to the initial setting. In my experience with previous Elmo presenters, the iris setting was always sensitive, and quite frankly, better to be left alone. With the 7000SX, you can tweak the adjustment without fear of losing control and improve the clarity of your object regardless of its condition. Also with the 7000SX, you can manage two different input sources. For example, you can switch from a computer to the Elmo presenter by alternately selecting either the RGB1 or RGB2 input. This serves as an easy switching device between various input sources. If you want to use a PowerPoint presentation as well as display objects or documents on the presenter, you can connect your laptop to the 7000SX and switch between the two sources. This saves you from turning off one device and initializing another. If the monitor you are using isn’t compatible with SXGA, the resolution of the built-in camera can be switched to XGA (Extended Graphics Array), SVGA (Super Video Graphics Array) or VGA (Video Graphics Array) until you find the appropriate resolution needed. In the past, the placement of documents on a visual presenter could pose a problem, especially if you were dealing with an abnormal transparency size. Sometimes the lighting unit arms or camera head arm tends to be an obstruction. The 7000SX offers an image rotation feature, which rotates the image counterclockwise by 90 degrees each time the image rotation button is pressed. When the image is rotated by 90 or 270 degrees, the screen can be scrolled in the up/down direction using a mouse attached to the presenter. If you want to instantly enlarge the image you are projecting, the “2X” button doubles the image size. Since the images are digital, it can be a little jerky when moving documents on and off the presenter. To limit the eyestrain on the audience, you can use the pause button to freeze the image on the screen while changing your documents, then pressing pause again to display the next document. This is a nice feature that reduces the jerking motion caused by adjusting or thumbing through pages of a document on the presenter being projected on the screen. It’s also a useful tool if you have to remove the document for any reason to show it to the witness. You can leave the projected image in pause mode, remove the document and show it to the witness. It’s almost like having two copies of the same document. This is a valuable legal-specific feature of the 7000SX. Although you can use a small LCD (liquid crystal display) monitor attached to the 7000SX, it’s unfortunately an optional item. I would prefer they sell the presenters with the LCD monitor. With so many variations of room configurations, it’s not always possible to position the presenter so you can see how you are placing the items on the presenter. It would be nice if the LCD monitor were included. When I was preparing for my trial, I asked for the best visual presenter I could get. With the 7000SX, I was not disappointed. Both sides used the equipment and I was pleased with the versatility and quality of this model. |
Elmo Corp. (800) 947-3566 www.elmousa.com Price: $4,950 Reviewed by Milton Hooper, a litigation support specialist in Macon, Ga. PROS CONS VERDICT |
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