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View Full Version : Activstudio and the Extended Desktop


Nigel Pearce
05-04-2007, 01:02 PM
If your main Activboard PC is a laptop, then attaching the projector to the laptop VGA output is enough to fool Windows into thinking you have 2 displays connected (ie your laptop display and another external monitor).

Then in Display Properties you can turn on Multiple monitor support and extend your Windows desktop out onto the Activboard.

Now, your laptop screen will still be displaying your normal desktop icons and start bar, but the Activboard will be displaying a huge blank area of unused desktop.

Next run the Calibration utility to calibrate the Activboard with the blank extended desktop area. Now you have a blank interactive desktop !

OK.
This configuration offers lots of teaching benefits.

1) You can prepare any material (or program) for the class sat at your laptop screen away from prying eyes, then drag it over to the displayed area for you or the recipient to interact with.

2) In Studio, create a flipchart that spans across both your laptop display and the activboard (half and half). Sat at your laptop you can feed flipchart objects onto the activboard by simply dragging them across for the user at the board to interact with.

3) By having only the flipchart on the projected area you can keep control at your laptop. Keep the main Studio toolbox away from your whiteboard user and you can dictate which Studio tools they can use on the board. NB. This is not possible with our main competitors offering.

4) When running Activote, you can present the question flipchart to the audience on the board but have the voting countdown and vote results panels on your laptop screen in order to privately monitor incoming data and results graphs.

NB. The 'Multiple Monitors' settings in Studio offer lots of options to accommodate this way of working.

davidlloyd
05-04-2007, 02:30 PM
Now that sounds very interesting Nigel. :cool:

wilcogirl
05-04-2007, 09:19 PM
That sounds so cool, I have an activ+2 configuation, can you help me I am not sure I understand how to set up that type of configuration. I would love to try it.

AirSkeeter
15-04-2007, 02:45 AM
Nigel,

I tell folks to use the world for that but doing it with an extended desktop is a stroke of genius...Excellent idea!

Bill

amcclure
15-09-2009, 08:35 PM
Question: I have a desktop PC that I am extending and I can not get it to work correctly with ActiveBoard. I have followed the steps below, and I cannot get the collaboration part to work correctly. Any help?

timmynimmy84
07-10-2009, 07:08 PM
using extended desktop but calibration not recognizing pen as a mouse after I run it. Any suggestions?