ETC Element... To Widescreen or not to Widescreen.

[Nimick]

So I finally got my element. It's sitting at the dealer.

What kind of monitors do I want? if I were to just go to Best Buy, all they have in store are widscreens.

Of course I can order a normal 19" from Tigerdirect, but due to time constraints it would be much better to go to a store after hitting the dealer.

Could I, should I, would I want the widescreens, or not?

[seanandkate]

I'm not sure there is an advantage, but I imagine that it would work fine if that's what you get and you have the room on your desk. The ETC knowledge base didn't come back with a single hit for "Wide screen" so I'm thinking a monitor is a monitor is a monitor. The literature just says, "Supports two external DVI monitors or one VGA monitor at 1280x1024 resolution, with optional touchscreen control" but doesn't specify. I've got a single standard attached to mine, but I need to pick up the second -- SOOOO much better than having to swap views all the time.

[sk8rsdad]

We have dual 1280x1024 touchscreens on our main Ion, and dual 1366x768 widescreens on our rehearsal hall console. I think you'll be happy with either. Offline I use a 1600x1050 and a 1440x900 monitor. Some displays and controls are optimized to make use of the taller screens since the only option for splitting displays is top/bottom and not left/right. The widescreens offer one advantage for us, they are easier to look over the top of, being physically shorter. I guess it comes down to how much information you want to be visible without having to scroll or page.

[derekleffew]

...The literature just says, "Supports two external DVI monitors or one VGA monitor at 1280x1024 resolution, with optional touchscreen control" but doesn't specify. I've got a single standard attached to mine, but I need to pick up the second -- SOOOO much better than having to swap views all the time.

We have dual 1280x1024 touchscreens on our main Ion, ...

How important is it that one or both monitors be a touch screen? It it worth the additional expense? Does having a touch screen eliminate the need for a mouse/trackball?

[DuckJordan]

How important is it that one or both monitors be a touch screen? It it worth the additional expense? Does having a touch screen eliminate the need for a mouse/trackball?

we just got two touch screens on last thursday and have yet to find anything that requires a keyboard or mouse since we have two of them connected, although we are still using the same amount of USB ports.

[starksk]

We have dual 1280x1024 touchscreens on our main Ion, and dual 1366x768 widescreens on our rehearsal hall console. I think you'll be happy with either. Offline I use a 1600x1050 and a 1440x900 monitor. Some displays and controls are optimized to make use of the taller screens since the only option for splitting displays is top/bottom and not left/right. ...

The minimum supported resolution is 1280x1024. Widescreen monitors that do not support that minimum resolution can see some loss of visual data or incorrect formatting on the screen. That being said, will it work? Probably to a point, but if it doesn't, that is one of the first questions we are going to ask. We do support widescreen monitors above that resolution however.

How important is it that one or both monitors be a touch screen? It it worth the additional expense? Does having a touch screen eliminate the need for a mouse/trackball?

I will let other users comment on the worth (I personally think so, but I am biased) of touchscreens with Element.

For your question about replacing the mouse, yes. A touchscreen is essentially a mouse, and thus you would not need an external mouse with properly calibrated touchscreen(s).

[bdkdesigns]

The touchscreen without a mouse depends on the user. Some CIA items like Shutdown can be hard to hit (I'm speaking from using the EOS with it's built in touchscreens on this one, not sure if it is larger and easier to press on the ION/Element w/ touchscreens).

I did use the touchscreens on an ION for making adjustments on a show and I noticed that my programing time dramatically decreased compared to when I had to grab the mouse to select things like palettes before we had the touchscreens.

If you have the money, I'd say go out and get yourself some touchscreens. They are completely worth it in the long run. I'm still waiting to accept our new Element at my new venue (it is already in house, just not signed over to us yet). We only have one new monitor with it and I plan on using our current console monitor with it since it has a DVI input. But you can bet that I will be saving up to purchase some touchscreens. Especially since the Element doesn't have encoders and I am already dreading having to use my mouse on the virtual encoders.

[SteveB]

Can't say as to Element, but I at first debated the wisdom of buying 2 touch screens for my Ion and am very glad I did so, especially after ETC added Tab functions and Snapshots. Note that a touch screen is around $650-$700 PER touchscreen, as opposed to $150 for a 19" basic LCD ?. Big difference.

But, and again this pertains to Ion, touch screens make moving light control much, much easier, faster, better, and any other adjective you wish to apply. Very much worth the expense - for the ML control. Note that if you have no ML's/LED's/Scrollers and don't ever plan on getting them, then skip the touch screens, or buy one now and a standard LCD. If choosing to go the touchscreen route, pay close attention to the spec's that ETC publishes. Not every TS works and the manufacturers change their features yearly, while keeping model numbers. When choosing a model - and I recommend the ELO brand, maybe get the specs and give ETC tech support a call to verify.

Note as well that on my Ion, I also use the mouse and keyboard. I need both as some functions are easy and faster to navigate thru with a mouse - though I actually use a Logitech trackball to save desk space. Ditto the keyboard as it's just easier to type on a real keyboard then a screen, even a touchscreen and forget mousing over letters on a virtual keyboard.

[Nimick]

Thanks to those who answered my question.

I did a little test running the offline client on a number of different computers in my house, including my girlfriends widescreen Imac.

it worked great on the imac, but no matter what screen it ran on, it did not appreciate not having a full 1024 pixels of height. buttons started to get lost or clipped.

[robmerow]

Just as an fyi, HP makes a 22" touchscreen for under $300.

HP/Compaq L2105tm

Has some good reviews, and definitely cheaper than the ELO and other alternatives.

[starksk]

... and definitely cheaper than the ELO and other alternatives.

A word of caution. As SteveB pointed out, not all touchscreens use the same technology and drivers. For Eos/Ion/Element, touchscreens must use one of the two types of drivers that are already installed on the console. Those two options are: a monitor provided by ETC that uses a driver written especially for that model touchscreen, or a touchscreen that uses the ELO drivers.

Not all ELO touchscreens are created equal. To be compatible with the drivers on Eos/Ion/Element, the ELO monitor must have Accu-touch 5 wire resistive touch technology and be connected via USB.

Additional information can be found on our wiki here.

ETC does not support the installation of external drivers or software on any Eos/Ion/Element console and cannot guarantee performance should a user decide to make such modifications.

[derekleffew]

So will the HP Compaq L2105tm work with the Eos/Ion/Element or not?

[starksk]

So will the HP Compaq L2105tm work with the Eos/Ion/Element or not?

I have a mixed answer.

My reading of the linked page indicates that no, it will not work as a touchscreen. The monitor supports a high enough resolution, but the touchscreen technology appears to use HP's proprietary drivers. This is most likely related to the multi-touch capability included with the touchscreen (a feature that is not currently supported on Eos/Ion/Element).

So, not connecting the touchscreen portions, it should work fine as a general monitor.

[robmerow]

My apologies for the confusion. That monitor will however work with PC based controllers.