The Left Side of the Projected Image Doesn’t Appear on the Interactive Screen of a SMART Board 600i Interactive Whiteboard System

SMART Hardware

SMART Board 660i and 680i interactive whiteboard systems

Issue

The left side of the projected image doesn’t appear on the interactive screen.

Important

When troubleshooting this issue, don’t use the projector’s H-Position and V-Position settings to adjust the image projected on the interactive screen. The projector doesn’t save these settings and, if you restart the projector, you will have to reset these settings.

Cause

The SMART Board 600i interactive whiteboard system includes a 1.8m (6') VGA cable to connect the projector to a computer. You can use a longer cable (not provided) if the computer is more than 1.8m (6’) from the projector’s extended connection panel (ECP). However if the total length of cable between the projector and the computer is greater than 10.7m (35'), the left side of the projected image doesn’t appear on the interactive screen.

Note

The total length of cable between the projector and the computer includes the 3m (9.8’) cable between the projector and the ECP.

Solution

If the total length of cable required to connect the SMART Board 600i interactive whiteboard system to the computer is greater than 10.7m (35'), use a DVI-A cable rather than a VGA cable. You can purchase DVI-A cables from your local re-seller or distributor (www.smarttech.com/where).

For instructions on connecting a computer to a SMART Board 600i interactive whiteboard system using a DVI-A cable, see document 87643.

Note

You can only connect DVI-A cables to the base of the projector, not to the ECP.

Background

VGA and DVI cables connect computers to displays and projectors, including the Unifi projector.

VGA

VGA is an early cable technology and was designed to work with CRT-based displays (conventional computer monitors).

SMART Technologies recommends a maximum VGA cable length of 10.7m (35') between a projector and a computer.

DVI

The Digital Display Working Group developed DVI in 1999 to work with later, digital-based displays such as LCD monitors. There are three types of DVI connector:

DVI-D (digital only)
DVI-A (analog only)
DVI-I (digital and analog)

SMART Technologies recommends using a DVI-A cable when the total cable length between a projector and computer is greater than 10.7m (35').

First Published

7 November 2007

Last Updated

17 January 2008