S Judge Lewis A. Kaplan took his seat in Courtroom 12D in United States District Court in Manhattan, the plaintiff's lawyer sheepishly raised a question. He needed help connecting a laptop that contained a PowerPoint presentation that a witness would use during questioning. A court clerk sprang into action, and minutes later the cover page of the witness's presentation appeared on the courtroom's monitors.

As a result of an initiative by federal and state judges, Judge Kaplan's courtroom is one of many across the country where computer technology is becoming as much a fixture as the American flag.

When lawyers present and summarize a case, they need to do it "in a way that people now expect to see information presented to them," said James E. McMillan, a management consultant in technology services at the National Center for State Courts, a nonprofit organization in Williamsburg, Va. "We are a TV generation now."

These days, opening and closing arguments are often augmented with PowerPoint presentations and video clips from depositions that jurors can view on monitors in the jury box. Through audio conferencing, foreign language translators in remote locations can take part in courtroom proceedings.

In some cases, the courtroom itself is becoming outdated. More courtroom proceedings occur through videoconferences in which a camera transmits a judge's image to lawyers in offices elsewhere.

At a recent trial in Chattanooga, Tenn., in which Tyson Foods was acquitted of charges of smuggling immigrants, lawyers for the company and the federal government wore tiny wireless microphones on their lapels that amplified their voices. In Judge Kaplan's federal courtroom in Manhattan, lawyers who approach the judge's bench for a sidebar conversation are unlikely to be overheard by jurors because the judge can activate sound-neutralizing white noise in the jury box from a touch-screen panel that controls the court's audio and visual equipment.

The amount of evidence presented in court has increased strikingly in the last 40 years, Judge Kaplan said, and improved technology makes it easier for jurors to sift through the information.

"The benefit is that it makes the trial go a lot faster and thus enables us to do more in the same amount of time, and it is much clearer to the jury to be able to get information this way," Judge Kaplan said. "When it's well used, the juries love it."

Judge Kaplan is a member of a committee of the Judicial Conference of the United States that makes recommendations about improving technology in the federal courts. According to the Courtroom 21 Project, an experimental and demonstration site for students at the College of William and Mary law school in Virginia that is a testing ground for such technology, one-quarter of the courts in the nation's 94 federal districts have at least one high-tech courtroom. Such a courtroom is defined as one with advanced electronic presentation systems; real-time court reporting, in which court reporters' notes are available as they type; digital audio recording; and Internet access that allows the judge to research legal and administrative materials from the bench.

In Judge Kaplan's courtroom, which was outfitted last year, the jury box has nine flat-screen computer monitors that are shared by the jurors. Flat-screen monitors also sit on the desks of lawyers, the judge, the court clerk and the witness stand. The 15-inch monitors display evidence from the lawyers' laptops and serve as television screens when VHS tapes or digital clips are played. Judge Kaplan posts his instructions to the jury on the monitors rather than reading them out loud. (He still reads the jury its charge, however.)

Minutes before a hearing began in Judge Kaplan's courtroom last week, the court clerk, Andrew Mohan, offered to show lawyers how to operate the courtroom equipment. Eight lawyers surrounded a presentation machine, an electronic imaging device that functions as a projector but also has a video camera on top that allows exhibits like weapons to be shown on monitors in the courtroom.

"Just put your object there on the screen underneath the camera," said Mr. Mohan, placing a ring of keys on the screen to demonstrate. The keys instantly appeared on four monitors on the lawyers' tables and on a 42-inch plasma screen.

The lawyers need only master two buttons, one for zooming in on an object and another that shows it at a distance, Mr. Mohan said. With the presentation machine, lawyers no longer have to walk around the courtroom to display evidence.

Highlighting capabilities on the flat-screen monitors at the lawyers' lectern and in the witness box allow information to be entered into evidence quickly. Lawyers and witnesses can use their fingers to underline or circle text or images. The highlighted document appears immediately on the monitors throughout the courtroom and is entered into evidence after it emerges from a small printer beneath the lawyers' lectern. Ballpoint pens and markers are no longer needed.

"I'm a big believer in technology in the courtroom," said Kathleen M. McKenna, a partner with the New York law firm of Proskauer Rose who recently tried a case in Judge Kaplan's courtroom. "I think jurors expect it. They're used to talking heads with things moving behind them. They're used to seeing bulleted points even when they see magazine news shows."

Ms. McKenna added, "Lawyers who don't come prepared to use the technology do their clients a disservice and, in the eyes of the jurors, appear less prepared and less sophisticated."

Courtrooms will probably never have the latest equipment because technology is always evolving and is too expensive for the government to try to keep up, said Judge John Robertson, a federal judge in Washington who heads the Judicial Conference's information technology committee. "It doesn't sound like space-age stuff, but I tell jurors that what they see - for the judiciary - is state of the art," he said. "For the rest of the world, it's pretty ordinary."

Federal and state judges are keeping a close watch on developments at Courtroom 21, the experimental court at William and Mary, which is said to be the most technologically developed courtroom in the country. Founded in 1993 as a joint project with the National Center for State Courts, the courtroom is a harbinger of technology that could one day show up in courts across the nation.

This spring, students at the school tried a case involving questions of law in the United States, England and Australia. Judges in each of the three countries presided through videoconferencing. Students also recently conducted a trial using immersive virtual reality, reconstructing the scene of a crime with computer graphics. Wearing headsets and goggles, witnesses were able to view the scene as if they were there. Those in court were able to see the scene though the witness's eyes, said Frederic I. Lederer, a law professor at William and Mary who developed Courtroom 21.

Professor Lederer foresees a substantial increase in remote appearances by trial judges, lawyers and witnesses. More evidence will also be presented electronically, he said, and entire court cases and exhibits will be filed over the Internet. Court reporters' notes could also be made available instantly on the Internet.

Legal experts say the use of electronic equipment raises new questions, like whether testimony from a witness who is not present to be sworn in is admissible. Moreover, they say, the posting of evidence on the Internet could compromise a judge's control over what information leaves the courtroom.

"Technology is only a means to an end; it is not an end in itself," Professor Lederer said. "The goal is justice at all times, not technology."