AJR 2005; 184:1356-1359
© American Roentgen Ray Society
Projecting PowerPoint Presentations with a PDA
Chun-Shan Yam1
1 Department of Radiology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, 1 Deaconess
Rd., WCC, Rm. 306, Boston, MA 02215.
Received July 2, 2004;
accepted after revision August 10, 2004.
Address correspondence to C.-S. Yam
(csyam{at}caregroup.harvard.edu).
Abstract
OBJECTIVE. This article describes the use of a personal digital
assistant (PDA) as a projection device for PowerPoint presentations.
CONCLUSION. Advances in hardware and software have made PDA devices
capable of storing, accessing, retrieving, and sharing data, and their use is
becoming increasingly evident in the health care arena. In this article, I
describe a use for the PDA that will further increase its value and efficiency
in daily academic and teaching activities.
Introduction
Recently, I presented a PowerPoint (Microsoft) presentation at a
conference in our department without using a computer. The presentation was
delivered directly from my personal digital assistant (PDA), a Palm Pilot
(PalmSource), with an infrared remote control. By the end of the presentation,
some audience members were intrigued at the convenient way of presenting
PowerPoint without the need of a computer. All I did was attach my PDA to the
LCD projector cable through a little external device. This device is called a
"projection device"; it can produce a high-resolution image up to
1,024 x 768 pixels. In fact, because of this high resolution, most of my
audience did not notice that the presentation was coming from a PDA until I
revealed the use of the Palm Pilot.
Although this newly emerging technology (PDA projection) has been available
for only a few years, many business sectors are already adopting this
"computer-free" method of presentation in their daily practice.
Today, many industrial vendors are manufacturing different types of projection
devices to support this useful alternative. As a champion of the digital
revolution in the health care industry, it behooves the radiology community to
explore this emerging technology. The purpose of this article is to review
this technology and to share first-hand experience in PDA projection of
PowerPoint presentations.
PDA Projection
Most of today's handheld computers (PDA devices) are primarily designed for
collecting and transferring information between the device and the host
computer for data backup and synchronization purposes. Because of the
portability requirement and manufacturing traditions, most of these devices
are generally pocket-sized for convenient portability. They are usually not
designed for external output—that is, videotape projection. To allow
videotape output, a projection device is typically required for converting and
transmitting the videotape signal to an external monitor or LCD projector.
Currently, in the United States, there are five companies that manufacture
these projection devices: Presenter-To-Go from Margi
[1], Voyager VGA CF from
Colorgraphic [2], iGo Pitch
from Mobility Electronics [3],
FlyJacket and FlyPresenter from HP/Compaq
[4], and IA Presenter from IA
Style [5].
Although these five types of projection devices are physically different in
their size, shape, and connection type, the basic mechanism for external
projection such as Power-Point is similar and can be summarized in the
following three steps: First, prepare the PowerPoint presentation at the
desktop computer; second, transfer the presentation file onto a PDA; and
third, present the PowerPoint from the PDA using the infrared remote
control.
Case Demonstration
To demonstrate the actual usage of the PDA projection, I use my handheld
PDA as an example. In my case, the PDA is a Palm Pilot (Palm-m515, PalmOne)
with 16-MB internal memory, Palm OS 4.1 and a color display with 160 x
160 pixels. The projection device is a secure digital (SD) connection module
from Margi (Presenter-To-Go, version 2.41.1570; $199 per package). This device
supports both Pocket PC (Microsoft, based on Windows CE) and Palm OS
(Palm-Source) platforms. The package comes with an external module, a 6-foot
(1.8-m) monitor cable, an AC adapter, and the installation CD for both PC and
Mac operating systems.
The installation process is straightforward and required only a few button
clicks at my PC (Dimension 2400, Dell) running Windows 2000 Professional
(Microsoft). Two applications are installed: a desktop application
Presenter-To-Go on my PC and a PDA application Presenter (Margi) onto the
handheld during the next HotSync. HotSync is the registered trade name of
PalmSource for data communication between a handheld device and a host system
such as a desktop computer. Such a link can be made using a communication
cable via the USB or COM port or using a wireless connection (e.g., infrared).
In my system, I use a USB cable for HotSync.
File Conversion
After installation, open your PowerPoint presentation from your desktop
computer. Click the Margi button at the top toolbar in PowerPoint
(Fig. 1) to display the
Presenter-To-Go Creator dialog window. This window displays general
information about your PowerPoint presentation (CAD_demo.ppt) and the
projection resolution (Fig.
2A). The default resolution is set at 1,024 x 768 pixels,
which is standard for today's LCD projectors.
View larger version (94K):
[in this window]
[in a new window]
[as a PowerPoint slide]
|
Fig. 1. —Screen capture of sample presentation in Microsoft PowerPoint
shows Margi button in top toolbar (circle). In this PowerPoint
presentation, volume-rendering image of heart from 74-year-old man with
significant coronary artery disease of the right coronary artery (RCA) is
shown. Image was rendered from series of ECG-gated images acquired from
16-MDCT scanner (Aquilion, Toshiba).
|
|
Because most projectors can automatically adjust the input videotape signal
to maximize the resolution, it is recommended to select the highest
resolution. The only issue pertinent to selecting higher resolutions is a
large file size. However, most recent handheld devices are equipped with
larger built-in memory (e.g., 32 MB) and external storage (up to 512 MB per
memory card for Palm); therefore, file size is becoming less of an issue. In
my case, for a total of 15 slides with 10 JPEG images (one color and nine
monochrome, 512 x 512 pixels), the file size is about 0.8 MB. After
setting the resolution, click the Create button to advance to the second
dialog window.
Next, the Presenter-To-Go Desktop dialog window appears
(Fig. 2B). This dialog window
allows the users to choose the presentation to be downloaded, select the
target device, and specify the storage destination (internal or external
memory). Afterward, click the Convert button. The selected presentation is
then converted to a data file in native PDA format (CAD_demo.pdb). This file
will be downloaded onto the PDA in the next HotSync.
System Setup
Once the presentation file is downloaded onto the PDA, the setup for
projection is simple. It is similar to connecting a laptop computer to an LCD
projector. Figure 3 shows the
setup for my system. The Margi projection device is inserted into the
expansion slot of the PDA and connected to the LCD projector via the monitor
cable. Because this device is plug-and-play and hot-swap supported, the cable
connection and power-on sequence can be in any order. To start the
presentation, click on the Presenter icon on the PDA main screen
(Fig. 4A). The projection is
instantaneous compared with using a laptop or desktop computer.
View larger version (111K):
[in this window]
[in a new window]
[as a PowerPoint slide]
|
Fig. 4A. —Photographs show personal digital assistant (PDA) (Palm
Pilot, PalmSource). Photograph shows Presenter and Mirror application icons of
PDA main screen. This picture was taken from LCD projection of PDA screen of
160 x 160 pixels.
|
|
Slide Navigation
After clicking on the Presenter icon, a drop-down list of all the available
presentation files is displayed as shown in
Figure 4B. Click on the file to
start the presentation. Once the presentation starts, both the PDA screen and
the external LCD projector display the slide. In my system setup, the
resolution of the LCD projector was 1,024 x 768 pixels, but the PDA
image was only 160 x 160 pixels. To navigate PowerPoint slides, I use
the REV (reverse) and FWD (forward) buttons on the infrared remote control
(Fig. 3). You can also use the
AUTO button to create a self-running show that is equivalent to the Auto Show
function in PowerPoint. However, I prefer to use the REV and FWD buttons to
allow full control of the presentation flow.
Screen Mirroring
Besides the capability of projecting high-resolution PowerPoint
presentation, there is another useful function of the PDA projection
software—screen mirroring. This function allows a mirror image of the
PDA screen to be projected on the LCD projector to provide a means for live
demonstration of some PDA applications. The image quality is limited to the
hardware resolution—in my case, only 160 x 160 pixels; however,
for the latest PDAs (e.g., Tungsten T3, PalmOne) with screen resolution of 320
x 480 pixels or higher, this mirror function will produce a better
image. To start this function, click the Mirror icon from the PDA main screen
(Fig. 4A) and then select the
Enabled option.
Limitations
I have described only the positive features of PDA projection, but from my
user experience, there are two noticeable limitations. First, the projection
software on the PDA does not allow any form of PowerPoint animation (e.g.,
transition, hyperlink, movie, and so on). Serious PowerPoint users might be
disappointed by the lack of animation support. However, if your PowerPoint
presentation already contains animations, you can convert and project it, but
all animations will be disabled during the actual presentation. Second, after
downloading the presentation file onto the PDA, it cannot be modified within
the PDA. Any necessary changes must be redone on the computer and then
download again. In light of the ability to run movie and music files in the
latest PDAs, I believe more advanced features will be available in PDA
projections in the near future.
Conclusion
Advances in hardware and software have made PDAs capable of storing,
accessing, retrieving, and sharing data, and their use is becoming
increasingly evident in the health care field. Recent articles show radiology
users are using PDAs not only as their walking library but also as a portable
tool for patient data and image management
[1-4].
In this article, I describe a use for the PDA that will further increase its
value and efficiency in daily academic and teaching activities.
References
- Margi Web site. Available at:
www.margi.com.
Accessed December 29, 2004
- Colorgraphic Web site. Available at:
www.colorgraphic.net.
Accessed December 29, 2004
- Mobility Electronics Web site. Available at:
www.mobl.com.
Accessed December 29, 2004
- iPAQ Choice Web site. Available at:
www.ipaqchoice.com.
Accessed December 29, 2004
- IA Style Web site. Available at:
www.iastyle.com.
Accessed December 29, 2004
- Busch JM, Barbaras L, Wei J, Nishino M, Yam CS, Hatabu H. A mobile
solution: PDA-based platform for radiology information management.
AJR 2004;183:237
-242[Abstract/Free Full Text]
- Raman B, Raman R, Raman L, Beaulieu CF. Radiology on handheld
devices: image display, manipulation, and PACS integration issues.
RadioGraphics2004; 24:299
-310[Abstract/Free Full Text]
- Flanders AE, Wiggins RH 3rd, Gozum ME. Handheld computers in
radiology. RadioGraphics2003; 23:1035
-1047[Abstract/Free Full Text]
- Ratib O, McCoy MJ, McGill DR, Li M, Brown A. Use of personal
digital assistants for retrieval of medical images and data on high-resolution
flat panel displays. RadioGraphics2003; 23:267
-272[Abstract/Free Full Text]
- Wiggins RH 3rd. Personal digital assistants. J Digit
Imaging 2004;17:5
-17[Medline]
CiteULike 
Complore 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us 
Digg 
Reddit 
Technorati What's this?
Top
Abstract
Introduction
