Suggestions for Reliable Touch Screen Displays? 46
seigniory asks: "I'm looking to put about 20 touchscreen displays into operation as information kiosks in low-traffic areas (i.e. private waiting rooms, not malls). The application is written, but is mouse-driven, so a conversion to touch screen is necessary. At present, I'm imagining a 12-15" LDC with active-matrix, but will entertain other suggestions. Without much experience with the quality and durability of most touchscreen solutions, or the 'gotcha's' of converting an existing app to touchscreen, I'm at a loss as to where I should begin. I can't start the touchscreen w/o the actual screen, and I don't have a ton of money to play with yet, so I can't afford to waste money trying to find my ideal solution. Searches for 'LCD Touchscreen Display Reviews' has turned up not much more than ads. What experiences or advice can Slashdot offer?"
lead (Score:2, Funny)
Quality does matter! (Score:4, Interesting)
Speaking from experience working with both food service companies and small mailbox etc. type stores, you will suffer if you get the cheapest available.
Biggest problem was inaccuracy or under sensitivity (the sense screen far enough off the display that viewing angle made it a pain to calibrate) and it just wearing out from use.
In the case of the small post office place, they decided that the amount of typing made the touchscreen a bad option since it was difficult to say the least for typing.
What kind of industry is this for? Is a mouse or trackball surface mounted out of the question? I know that the mouse/trackball is real short money.
Re:Quality does matter! (Score:2)
I know lots of people think very highly of the 7inch (most common size in cars) and the rest should be of the same quality
EarthLCD is the place... (Score:2)
Controller... (Score:2)
Re:Controller... (Score:2)
Google search found (Score:3, Informative)
lots of companies that work with kiosk cabinets google for "kiosk cabinet" [google.com].
Not knowing what your software already looks like, this site [elotouch.com] asks some good questions for a touchscreen application.
Enclosure is important! (Score:4, Insightful)
Our touchscreens required a special driver in windows and then simply behaved as a mouse. We had a real problem with text entry however.. we were using a special kiosk browser with pop-up screen, but people found it very difficult to use. A nice enclosure with an attached keyboard and trackball would have helped things dramatically.
Don't go cheap - go for quality, or get headaches! (Score:5, Informative)
I'll start off by saying that I typically don't recommend overly expensive (because I'm a tightwad), but in this case I'll make an exception.
Allen Bradley uses Elo Touch products [elotouch.com] for thier industrial control touch screen PC's. These things are wonderful IMHO - I didn't want to see the ones I had leave when the project was done, and they had to go be installed on site - I love mine as a nice 21" desktop montitor and touchscreen combo :-) These critters are a bit hefty price wise, but I haven't seen one fail yet in the field (and these are industrial areas - either gritty dirt or greasy type stuff). They are pretty nice displays, but a little more faded color wise than I'd like to normally use for a desktop application like Photoshop. Incredibly durable, lots of different styles, and they have excellent accuracy. I recommended 'em.
What I DON'T recommend is going with the lowest priced one you find. It will fail. Seriously. Don't be afraid to take your time, and find out what has the longest time between failures -vs- ruggedness (they don't always go together) -vs- the features you need. Anything less than what you need for the application is going to REALLY hurt you later.
As for programming for one - if it's on Windows, no problem. It's just a one-button mouse. They also have Linux, Mac, etc. drivers - it's just sending ya' mouse coordinates and a mouse click. For most applications, it's ready to roll before you even see the touch screen, it's that simple.
Re:Don't go cheap - go for quality, or get headach (Score:2)
My company uses 15" Elo touchs screens for all our industrial applications. The 15" models are great for office/light industrial use.
Re:Don't go cheap - go for quality, or get headach (Score:1)
Re:Don't go cheap - go for quality, or get headach (Score:1)
Re:Don't go cheap - go for quality, or get headach (Score:2)
Enlarge and Limit (Score:5, Informative)
First, make everything larger than you need it to be. I've found that the size of buttons I need on a touchscreen is only about 1/3rd as large as some of my less adept users. (Of course, they are also using these in laptops in often-moving vehicles.)
Secondly, try to severely limit the items on any given screen. I've found that users tend to be faster visual-scanners when they can just "tap" as they move their eyes, providing too many options on one screen can lead to more false-clicks.
As far as drivers go - just process the input as a one button mouse.
Different types of touchscreens (Score:5, Informative)
If you want something a little more durable, go with a capacitive touchscreen. These will cost a bit more, but they will be MUCH more durable and will look much better. You have to use a bare finger on them, but for indoor use this is an acceptable tradeoff.
There are other, less common, more expensive types that you are not likely to come across as well. Do your homework. I work in a casino - we have thousands of touchscreens. Gamblers are brutal, and all touchscreens are a PITA, but I think the capacitive type are your best bet.
Re:Different types of touchscreens (Score:5, Interesting)
Our product uses resistive from 3M and works well enough, although occasionally someone gouges the screen hard enough to start ripping the resistive layers of plastic out.
Re:Different types of touchscreens (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Different types of touchscreens (Score:1)
Re:Different types of touchscreens (Score:2)
And we haven't had the time or enough customer requests to write it ourselves like I did for the microtouch controller.
Re:Different types of touchscreens (Score:2)
Re:Different types of touchscreens (Score:1, Informative)
One thing to note with capacative touch screens, is that the resolution of the pointer is often much lower than resistive. Most touch-screen apps are based around large buttons, so it usually doesn't matter, but if you need to be able to control the pointer down to the nearest couple of pixels then you had better try before you buy.
don't do what my gym did! (Score:3, Interesting)
(* I don't know what the actual technology is, I just know these screens have this problem)
Advantech panel Computers (Score:2, Informative)
http://www.advantech.com/ACG/ [advantech.com]
Re:Advantech panel Computers (Score:2, Informative)
The touchscreens are the same but the intenal componets are not. I've had many TPCs with failed hard drives or bad motherboards.
FWIW.
Practical suggestion (Score:2)
Re:Practical suggestion (Score:3, Insightful)
While a very good point, it's not that good an idea, as this is exactly the over-use of antiseptics that has led to the evolution of resistent bacterial and viral strains. The downside is I don't have a suggestion apart from reviving the old saw of 'washing your hands' when you come into contact with public a
Antiseptic, not antimicrobial (Score:3, Insightful)
Nothing short of an extremophile will survive those to engender resistance.
Re:Antiseptic, not antimicrobial (Score:2)
Biofilms will also survive, but that's due to having an outer layer of bacteria killed by the antiseptic protecting the inner layer, not due to any inherent resistance.
begatting (Score:2)
And that, Virginia, is where little extremeophile species come from.
Re:Practical suggestion (Score:1)
Just a guess, but most manufacturers recommend only *mild* soap and water for such things.
But, certainly, having some damp cloth/wipes nearby would definitely help.
Peace & Blessings,
bmac
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MSG v. 4.0
looking out for #1 (Score:2)
Touch Controls (Score:1)
Different Technologies, and Companies (Score:3, Informative)
The 2 big names in touch are 3M (microtouch), and Elo. The both provide about the same services, and you'd have to have a relationship with them to decide which was better, I think.
There are new technologies on the horizon that will surpass SAW, but I've yet to get my hands on a demo unit.
Re:Different Technologies, and Companies (Score:2)
Whats wrong with a mouse? (Score:2)
Re:Whats wrong with a mouse? (Score:2)
Not a mouse exactly... (Score:2)
Touchscreen (Score:1, Interesting)