Epson EB-450Wi projector

The first time I had to use a projector was in college, and the last time was during one of my graduate classes. Projectors, for me, are one of those appliances I didn't personally want to own because they were pretty much one-trick pony. They project images, that's it...but that was before.

Today, projectors are projecting a better image in more ways than one. Aside from shedding off some pounds by not being too heavy and clunky, projectors are also trying to get into the multimedia, high-definition and even 3D space.

I'm very skeptical when it comes to media events that showcase projectors. I really drag my feet to these events thinking the technology I'll see will be downright flat (read: boring). Epson, however, recently put something in front of me that made me interested. The company's EB-450Wi is an innovative projector that turns any standard whiteboard or smooth, flat surface into an interactive presentation area.

The EB-450Wi comes with its own mechanism so it can be installed overhead and from there beam images onto the flat wall. Presentors will appreciate that having a projector overhead eliminates the nuisance of getting them blinded by the projector's light. The EB-450Wi comes with a digital infrared pen so users can electronically write over their presentations and manipulate on-screen objects as if they are using a chalk or a computer mouse. The changes in the presentations as a result of that digital pen doodling could even be saved as jpeg files onto the computer where it's connected to. Of course, this projector could also be very well used for projecting movies and computer games.

Okay, I don't think these new features are so revolutionary but I'm happy that projectors get to dust off their old image somehow. So, bravo projector, you are no longer just a simple source of light. Yeah, that's how lowly I used to regard projectors. But Epson proved there's more to projectors now to justify its continued use in classrooms and boardrooms, at least for now.