Touchscreen -- Dell S2340T

Dell has introduced a new multitouch monitor, the S2340T.

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&sku=320-9517

Price: $699.99 @ dell.com
Ship date: 11/1/2012 listed @ dell.com

Specs

Screen

Size: 23"
Resolution: 1920x1080
Panel Type: IPS, LED Backlight

Touch

10 simultaneous touch points

-- Presumably capacitive. No further details on page.

Connectivity

DisplayPort
HDMI
USB 3.0 Hub
G/Ethernet
Headphone
Microphone
Integrated Webcam
5W Speakers in Base

"Conveniently hook up the USB cable to any of your PC devices via USB3.0 port to enable touch, graphics, audio, Ethernet, webcam capabilities on your S2340T monitor."

Click to expand...

-- The monitor serves as a dock of sorts.

Ergonomics

Pivot: No
Rotate: No
Height Adjustment: Limited
Tilt: Full 90 degre
VESA: No

All of the connectivity options are in the base of the monitor. It can not be removed.

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Touchscreen -- Acer T232HL and T272HL
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1717047

Touchscreen -- Planar PCT2785
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1721498

More of these coming out... That is a really nice stand though.

The 10 simultaneous touch points makes me believe that the same OEM makes the touch panels for these monitors.

I'm not absolutely positive on this, but the only technology I've seen which allows >2 touch points on a large display is Projected Capacitive Technology, or PCT. I believe that most of the patents around it are possessed by 3M.

as one can see by the price of this monitor, the price premium from 2 point to >2 multitouch on large displays is very large at this point in time.

That said, for most day to day activities, 2 points is sufficient in Windows 8

I think you're probably right about 2 touch points working well, and the Dell ST2220t is less than half the list price of this monitor. Windows 8 does, however, allow developers to use 5+ touch points, and I suspect that 2 will seem insufficient over time.

The touch language allows us to design a base user experience that is optimized for touch and works well on every PC, whether it was built originally for Windows 7 or for Windows 8. The fundamental gestures require no more than 2 fingers. However it is important to note that 2 fingers can be very limiting for a variety of applications. This is why Windows 8 PCs require digitizers that support a minimum of 5 fingers. The reason we went in this direction is a response to developer feedback. Developers do not want their creativity to be limited, and in particular, they let us know that they want to be free to use whichever multi-finger gestures or controls are useful. They do not want requirements for a minimum number of fingers that may not make sense for their application. As such, we focused on a minimum of 5 fingers to enable scenarios like whole hand interactions (all 5 fingers) or multi-finger/multi-hand scenarios.

Click to expand...

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/b8/archive/2012/03/28/touch-hardware-and-windows-8.aspx

PCT also has accuracy and responsiveness benefits over Optical, Infrared, and Surface Acoustic Wave. Cost/Price is its main drawback.

cvgd said:

I suspect that 2 will seem insufficient over time.

Click to expand...

This might be true, but by that time - I think the cost of 2+ multi-touch screens will be significantly cheaper.

The way I think about it is with the iPad (granted, of course, the screen is smaller). It's been 5 finger friendly for a couple years now - but how many apps actually use more than 2? Not many - and the ones built into IOS - are actions that can be performed without the use of those gestures.

The only time I've seen 2+ points necessary is perhaps when more than one person is using the same screen.

I've been messing around with Windows 8 on my series 7 slate for about a week and I've never found myself using more than 2 points.

Again, I agree that two point touch will probably be sufficient for some time. Windows 8 doesn't appear to natively require more than that.

Apps, however, are welcome to use more touch points. Given the use of multiple three finger gestures in osx, I would be surprised if they were introduced to apps fairly quickly.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4721

Additionally, many of the W8 gestures are from the perimeter of the display. There are only two multitouch, 2 touch point monitors with decent (IPS or VA) viewing angles -- the Dell ST2220t and Eizo T2351W (which is ~ $1000). Both have a bezel that may interfere with those gestures, unlike the Slate 7.

These monitors are too expensive at the moment. There has eben significant price movement in the last six months or so. The Lenovo A720 was the first > 5 touch point panel on the market for < $1800, and unfortunately, it came with a computer attached. We've seen three manufacturers introduce monitors between $499.99 and $850 in the last month. I expect that we'll see significant price movement in the next six months as well.

This monitor will probably have an effective retail price closer to $500, given Dell's discounting practices. I think that >2 touch points is probably worth $100-$150 premium.

cvgd said:

Additionally, many of the W8 gestures are from the perimeter of the display. There are only two multitouch, 2 touch point monitors with decent (IPS or VA) viewing angles -- the Dell ST2220t and Eizo T2351W (which is ~ $1000). Both have a bezel that may interfere with those gestures, unlike the Slate 7.

Click to expand...

I have a ST2220T laying around. I'm going to try to find some free time this weekend and test it with Windows 8 and let you know how it goes.

That would be awesome. Look forward to reading your impressions.

Just a heads up. I dont know if this use the same panel as Dell S2340L, but i had it and returned it for several reasons that you can read about in its own thread. But what people should know is that this monitor probably has a "screen door effect" just like S2340L, which makes it pretty much useless IMO. I use the ST2220T now and it has a clean picture with no "screen door effect" at normal viewing distance.

Frameless said:

Just a heads up. I dont know if this use the same panel as Dell S2340L, but i had it and returned it for several reasons that you can read about in its own thread. But what people should know is that this monitor probably has a "screen door effect" just like S2340L, which makes it pretty much useless IMO. I use the ST2220T now and it has a clean picture with no "screen door effect" at normal viewing distance.

Click to expand...

The "screen door effect" is a result of antiglare coating on the display. Plenty of displays have it

You don't see that problem on the ST2220T because it has a glossy screen.

three4seven said:

The "screen door effect" is a result of antiglare coating on the display. Plenty of displays have it

You don't see that problem on the ST2220T because it has a glossy screen.

Click to expand...

First of all, Dell S2340L is a glossy display. Second, "screen door effect" comes from pixel structure and dpi, and while the screen coating affect pixel structure, it is not the only factor involved.

Frameless said:

First of all, Dell S2340L is a glossy display. Second, "screen door effect" comes from pixel structure and dpi, and while the screen coating affect pixel structure, it is not the only factor involved.

Click to expand...

I stand corrected on the S2340L display.

The screen door issue is broadly associated with the antiglare coating, hence why I just assumed it was such. Again, as the S2340L is a glossy screen, that is my mistake.

Just reporting back.

Had a chance to test out the ST2220T with Windows 8 Pro 64-bit on one of my computers.

Works great - drivers are installed automatically and no issues with the touchscreen. You can even use the touchscreen during the install process of Windows 8.
Even with the bezel, it wasn't bad at all getting the border gestures to activate. Two finger gestures work fine - no issues.

The screen looks incredible - forgot how great glossy IPS screens look.

If you have anything you want me to look at or test, let me know.

It will be nice when the pricing starts coming down for these types of screens... still a bit high for my taste

How is the ST2220T compared to the new S2340T?

I just bought an ST2220T for ~$190 on the Dell refurb store to use with Windows 8, and it works fantastically. The bezel is indeed elevated, so you can't swipe from the bezel to the screen like you can on a tablet - but the RTM fixed the screen edge gestures so that they work on the edge of the screen just as well. The only minor complaint I have is that it doesn't register super short taps very well (like if you were typing), but since if you're using this monitor you are typing with a keyboard anyways, it doesn't matter. Highly recommended.