Podium Touch Panel
The Podium Touch Panel will display a standby message but will not react or allow access to presentation controls until the judge or courtroom monitor turn on the PRESENT area. Then the touch panel should show different presentation options to the left, as seen below.
Using an HDMI Source
To use a laptop as an evidence presentation device, first attach it to an HDMI cable at one of the counsel desks or the podium. Then on any touch panel, tap HDMI. Finally, select the appropriate HDMI source based on the connected device. The system is capable of presenting video but not saving it. When presenting documents, it’s easier to navigate looking at the source instead of the courtroom displays.
The HDMI cable will pass all audio and video to the presentation system, including anything on the presenter’s screen. As a precautionary measure, make sure the document you wish to display is showing. Presenters should adjust audio levels on their devices first, then if louder volume is needed the judge or courtroom clerk can adjust further. Parties are responsible for bringing any adapters needed for the HDMI connectors, or an HDMI extender cable if a technical assistant will be presenting from a location other than a counsel desk. If presenting items you would like to save as evidence, please make this clear to the clerk so they can explain the saving process.
Using the Visualizer
The visualizer/document camera, sometimes called an ELMO, is a high-performance live imaging camera system used during presentations to view documents or physical items presented as evidence. The controls are available through the podium touch panel, the preview screen on the front device, and also on the top of the device through physical light/power buttons and a scroll wheel to zoom in/out.
- Power – toggles Visualizer power on/off
- Light – turns on the platen lamp for better video clarity
- Zoom in – zooms in with each successive tap to see more detail
- Zoom out – zooms out with each successive tap to see more of the platen
- Focus In – finer focus with each successive tap (ignore)
- Focus Out – rough focus with each successive tap (ignore)
- Freeze – will keep the current screen frozen for annotation or saving
- Auto focus [AF]– make sure this is always on
General Usage Tips
This tool will produce the best images when it has a lot of light, so use the light except in cases where the object being shown is over-exposed. This only happens due to ambient room light or a white, highly reflective object. If presenting an item you would like to save as evidence, please make this clear to the clerk so they can save it. When the Visualizer (document camera) is no longer required, please notify court staff.
Using the Touchscreen Displays
When the PRESENT area is enabled, the touchscreen monitors at the podium and the witness stand become touch reactive. You can annotate any presented item, and these annotations can be saved for future use. To Annotate: once an item is being presented through any of the PRESENT options, touch the screen to briefly bring up the plus sign in the center and three dots to the far right. Then touch the three dots at the far right for more options.
Annotation functionality is available through the icon of a writing pen. Tap the pen to begin annotation. Any image on the screen will Freeze automatically. Markup functionality is available either at the podium or the witness stand. A menu will appear at the bottom of the screen, broken up into different areas.
If annotating something presenters would like to save as evidence, please make this clear to the clerk so they can save it. When done with annotations and the clerk has confirmed they saved items, tap the back button (arrow) to the far left of the touchscreen and select “Clear all and end”. This will unfreeze the screen and exit annotations.
Using the Whiteboard
The evidence presentation system includes a built-in whiteboard that attorneys can activate from the podium or the witness stand. This is only available after court staff activates presentation in the system.
- With PRESENT active, tap the screen to wake up the touchscreen
- Tap the plus icon
- Select Whiteboard icon
Using the touchscreen monitors, someone at the podium or witness stand can use their finger to “write” on their screens in the Whiteboard. The three menus are presented below.
The first menu can select objects, has color selection, a pen tool for drawing freehand, a highlighter for emphasizing aspects of the displayed item, an eraser, and a slider for line thickness. The next menu has a variety of shapes. After inserting the shape, you can adjust color, fill, and line thickness. The final area has more text-based controls to further refine annotated content with better organization including textboxes.
If annotating something presenters would like to save as evidence, please make this clear to the clerk so they can save it. When done with annotations and the clerk has confirmed they saved items, tap the X at the bottom of the screen to close the whiteboard.