Here is how much you should plan to spend to get a touch screen TV for your classroom or meeting room.
Smart boards are touch screen TV’s that are replacing projectors and whiteboards in most classrooms and meeting rooms. While it may look like a TV on the wall, a smart board enables you to write on the screen over your presentation, capture and distribute brainstorming sessions, and even email the session directly from the TV. Typical smart boards sold in 2022 have 4K resolution, built-in Android computers, and speakers. Although prices will vary based on features, warranty, and brand, here is a general guideline of the initial purchase price based on screen size.
- 65-inch smart board - $2000 - $3000
- 75-inch smart board - $2800 - $4000
- 86-inch smart board - $4200 - $6000
This article will detail the most important things you should look for when choosing your smart board and a guideline to how much the most popular features and accessories cost.
Key Feature #1 – Antimicrobial Touchscreens
At the 2023 Future of Education Technology Conference, most of the new smart boards have touch screen technology that can keep pace with even the fastest writer in a smooth, natural way. The best models support up to 40 points of touch and have antimicrobial coatings on the screen to help keep germs from spreading when used in classrooms and meeting rooms.
Key Feature #2 – Whiteboard Software for Learning and Collaboration
The Microsoft Whiteboard app in Office 365 and Jamboard app in Google Workspace are now being challenged by more advanced whiteboard apps that are included with the board. Nearly every smart board comes with basic whiteboarding software – but here are some things to look for in evaluating touch screen TV whiteboard software.
Text & Shape Recognition
The best whiteboard software will turn your handwriting into editable text – and fix your circles and squares to enable you to arrange them the way you want – and create perfect diagrams and org charts. Some even recognize the width of a paintbrush on the screen.
Pre-Made Templates
Need a sheet of engineering paper, blank music staff, or even a football field to capture your ideas? With a premium smart board – these templates come with the screen so you can draw up your latest play right over a virtual field or lay out your next riff on a music staff. Then save it and share it as needed.
Cloud-Based Collaboration
The best smartboards come with a tool that lets you collaborate with anyone remotely on the board. Just share a link or a QR code and they can connect to your display and start writing on the board from wherever they happen to be.
Key Feature #3 – Personalization
While a smart boards has its own built-in computer that can store files, documents, and presentations, the newest models in 2023 have personalization features that enable you to log into the touch screen TV and access files on your network drives, your Google Drive, Drop Box, and Microsoft OneDrive. The best models have software to integrate to your ERP systems such as Active Directory, Google Workspace, or Azure, while others require you to open an account on their server.
Does My Office Need a Smart Board?
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Presentations
The best smart boards enable you to wirelessly control your presentation directly from the TV instead of having to click the mouse to change slides. In addition, you can easily draw arrows, highlight, and make notes on the presentation by writing on the board – then send the updated file to everyone via email.
Recording Collaboration Sessions
In 2023, the latest smart boards have integrated screen and voice recording to enable you to capture, distribute and archive collaboration sessions so your best ideas don’t get lost. With integrated array microphones, these boards can pick up comments from up to 15 feet away to ensure nothing is missed..
Scrums
Got a project you want to keep on schedule? Use a smart board equipped with sticky note software to make your scrums run on time – and be effective. Save your scrums or share them with your team for follow-up.
Teleconferences
Attach a camera to your smartboard and turn it into a video conferencing system at a fraction of the price of proprietary dedicated systems like Microsoft Smart Hub or Google Jamboard. You can even upgrade many smart boards with a Windows OPS computer to turn your smart board into a video conferencing hub.
Improved Meeting Room Environment.
In 2023, there are now smart boards that can monitor the temperature and humidity in a meeting room – that can even warn you if there is too much C02 or other air quality issues through a central device management system. You now can purchase smart boards with certified EyeSafe technology to reduce blue light exposure for employees at little to no extra cost.
How Much Do the Best Brands and Models of Smart Boards Cost?
While there are many brands and models to choose from, many smart boards are sold by “marketing companies” who simply resell low-cost interactive displays from overseas factories. Just like smartphones, the best smart boards require extensive hardware and software engineering to adapt to changing needs and continual improvement. Smart boards are heavy and expensive to ship, and if one fails, you need a company that will stand behind their warranty with a speedy replacement. Here are the prices of the more popular models from the market leaders in smart boards. All pricing shown are estimated street prices from public sources.
