RedRadio - RelayTouch RT2718
- Thread starter electron
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These look pretty cool and the split display interface is interesting.
Are these based on the EarthLCD ezLCD display/board? If so, is each "terminal" likely to cost $200+ ?
EarthLCD ezLCD Display
Are these based on the EarthLCD ezLCD display/board? If so, is each "terminal" likely to cost $200+ ?
EarthLCD ezLCD Display
I know EarthLCD is involved (as can be found in the article I linked), not sure what model tho. The design is really clever, and I was told the price per LCD would be cheaper than anything else out there (including the Zanware controller). They are also planning on creating bigger LCD screens, which can use the same backend (so you don't have to buy a new hardware interface) by combining several of those smaller interfaces.
Since it just splits up the desktop in 8 parts, you really can use any software you want when it comes to interfacing it, including HTML, Flash, NetRemote and MainLobby, anything really. I believe they can display up to 60fps, so they could be used as televisions, live camera feed, video playback (imagine being able to watch the game while you are 'taking a break'). Combine this with RFID (or if you live alone, motion sensors will do), and you can create a follow-me tv/controls/video application, simply by repositioning the interface on the desktop.
Since it just splits up the desktop in 8 parts, you really can use any software you want when it comes to interfacing it, including HTML, Flash, NetRemote and MainLobby, anything really. I believe they can display up to 60fps, so they could be used as televisions, live camera feed, video playback (imagine being able to watch the game while you are 'taking a break'). Combine this with RFID (or if you live alone, motion sensors will do), and you can create a follow-me tv/controls/video application, simply by repositioning the interface on the desktop.
smee,
Great observation about EZLCD. They are two different products and two different technologies. Earth and RedRadio are closely affiliated companies. We use the same LCD screen, and some of the LCD controller technology is the same, but the similarities end there. Here is the scoop:
EZLCD has an embedded processor, and works standalone or thorugh USB/Serial/etc. The RedRadio product is simply a dumb terminal to a desktop PC, displaying a fraction of the desktop on each. If you want to create some embedded software to render a user interface on the display, pullng data from a host, and then use the ports for control, then EZLCD is the best solution. If you want to use a desktop and PC software, lets say with a MainLobby user interface, that's what the RedRadio product is made for.
Great observation about EZLCD. They are two different products and two different technologies. Earth and RedRadio are closely affiliated companies. We use the same LCD screen, and some of the LCD controller technology is the same, but the similarities end there. Here is the scoop:
EZLCD has an embedded processor, and works standalone or thorugh USB/Serial/etc. The RedRadio product is simply a dumb terminal to a desktop PC, displaying a fraction of the desktop on each. If you want to create some embedded software to render a user interface on the display, pullng data from a host, and then use the ports for control, then EZLCD is the best solution. If you want to use a desktop and PC software, lets say with a MainLobby user interface, that's what the RedRadio product is made for.
Dwayne:
Thanks for the info.
Now I've got a couple questions about the PCI card.
How standard is it as a graphics card? Are any special Windows drivers needed (for graphic output) or would it even work with a DOS program?
Does the input from the touchscreens show up looking like messages through a serial port (or something similar)? What kind of drivers are required? Does it look like a mouse?
I'm just wondering what range of computers (hardware and OS) could be used to drive these things. How easy is it to use Linux instead of Windows (for example) or could a small embedded machine running a DOS program do something useful.
Thanks for the info.
Now I've got a couple questions about the PCI card.
How standard is it as a graphics card? Are any special Windows drivers needed (for graphic output) or would it even work with a DOS program?
Does the input from the touchscreens show up looking like messages through a serial port (or something similar)? What kind of drivers are required? Does it look like a mouse?
I'm just wondering what range of computers (hardware and OS) could be used to drive these things. How easy is it to use Linux instead of Windows (for example) or could a small embedded machine running a DOS program do something useful.
smee,
The graphics chip is a Silicon Motion Lynx3D. No special drivers needed in Windows. We have not tested it in a Linux system yet, but I think the Lynx3D drivers are readily available. We are setting up Linux boxes right now to begin testing.
I can tell you that our FIRST user interface test was using a Neobook DOS program in graphics mode booting off of a DOS floppy. It worked!
The data coming back from the 8 touch screens is consoliated and emulates a human interface device under windows via a USB header. Under Linux, we plan to emulate the Elo data. The Elo touch drivers are open source under GPL.
In theory, any PC platform will work. Although testing resources will probably limit us from certifying very many platforms in the near future. If you have a particular platform of interest, let me know so we can priortize it as such.
The graphics chip is a Silicon Motion Lynx3D. No special drivers needed in Windows. We have not tested it in a Linux system yet, but I think the Lynx3D drivers are readily available. We are setting up Linux boxes right now to begin testing.
I can tell you that our FIRST user interface test was using a Neobook DOS program in graphics mode booting off of a DOS floppy. It worked!
The data coming back from the 8 touch screens is consoliated and emulates a human interface device under windows via a USB header. Under Linux, we plan to emulate the Elo data. The Elo touch drivers are open source under GPL.
In theory, any PC platform will work. Although testing resources will probably limit us from certifying very many platforms in the near future. If you have a particular platform of interest, let me know so we can priortize it as such.
BraveSirRobbin
Moderator
Dwayne:
I think I now understand by reading the above posts that your video card will divide the workspace into eight "desktops" and each desktop will drive a display via your video card's eight outputs via Cat5e. This will also power the display as well (please correct me if I am wrong).
My question is how will I switch displays (destops) on an LCD display? Is this possible or would you always have to display the same desktop area on the same display?
Also, electron asked this question before, can your display card be used as the second video card in a system? This would be a great advantage as most of us have a dedicated machine for our HA use.
The only other problem I see is how I would get eight cat 5E cables from my wiring/termination closet over to my HA machine. Do you use all the pairs from the Cat5E for each display? I guess there is no multiplexing sort of option or some other method to lessen the number of Cat5E cables that need to go to my PC from the wiring closet.
Other than that these displays look great.
Regards,
BSR
I think I now understand by reading the above posts that your video card will divide the workspace into eight "desktops" and each desktop will drive a display via your video card's eight outputs via Cat5e. This will also power the display as well (please correct me if I am wrong).
My question is how will I switch displays (destops) on an LCD display? Is this possible or would you always have to display the same desktop area on the same display?
Also, electron asked this question before, can your display card be used as the second video card in a system? This would be a great advantage as most of us have a dedicated machine for our HA use.
The only other problem I see is how I would get eight cat 5E cables from my wiring/termination closet over to my HA machine. Do you use all the pairs from the Cat5E for each display? I guess there is no multiplexing sort of option or some other method to lessen the number of Cat5E cables that need to go to my PC from the wiring closet.
Other than that these displays look great.
Regards,
BSR
BraveSirRobbin
Moderator
Hasn't been announced yet (products not yet out for distribution and pricing).Rupp said:
Agreed! This looks ** DAMN ** interesting. Obviously the price point will make a major difference, so far the concept looks quite good.
I belive you mentioned that it does not require any special drivers, so can I assume there is pretty much no minimum CPU/RAM/etc requirements?
Are you going to be at EHExpo at the end of the month in Orlando? I would LOVE to see these in the flesh (okay maybe in the plastic ) I don't see you listed currently in the exhibitors.
What are the dimensions on the back of the unit? Will it fit into a standard single-gang box or mud-ring? It looks like it requires it's own faceplate, so it couldn't be used with standard decora plates.
I belive you mentioned that it does not require any special drivers, so can I assume there is pretty much no minimum CPU/RAM/etc requirements?
Are you going to be at EHExpo at the end of the month in Orlando? I would LOVE to see these in the flesh (okay maybe in the plastic
) I don't see you listed currently in the exhibitors.What are the dimensions on the back of the unit? Will it fit into a standard single-gang box or mud-ring? It looks like it requires it's own faceplate, so it couldn't be used with standard decora plates.
My understanding is that the remote displays will show whatever is on the corresponding part of the 640x480 graphic screen. If a program changes what's displayed, it will also change on the remote display. So, it's entirely up to you what will be shown.
There's a comment that they've had Star Wars running on the screen and it shows up on the remotes.
Based on feedback from the remotes (through the touch screen interface), your PC program can change their displays to whatever you want, just by changing the PC screen. This is one of the reasons I asked about running it from DOS - to see if anything extra needed to be done. It looks like this part of it is all in hardware.
So, you could have a simple menu system which changes to submenus when you make a selection or a nice, complicated graphic display with lots of extras, moving graphics (e.g., security camera view, weather icons, ...).
There's a comment that they've had Star Wars running on the screen and it shows up on the remotes.
Based on feedback from the remotes (through the touch screen interface), your PC program can change their displays to whatever you want, just by changing the PC screen. This is one of the reasons I asked about running it from DOS - to see if anything extra needed to be done. It looks like this part of it is all in hardware.
So, you could have a simple menu system which changes to submenus when you make a selection or a nice, complicated graphic display with lots of extras, moving graphics (e.g., security camera view, weather icons, ...).
Smee is right, and to make a really simple interface, create a html page with 8 iframes, set the browser to run in Kiosk mode, and there you go, now you have 8 interfaces which can be controlled individually. Or you could use 8 gui clients (either made in VB, or use something like NetRemote/Main Lobby), or flash applets, your imagination is your limitation in this case.
As for acting as a second video card, it doesn't look like it is supported right now, but I was told they were working on this. I consider this a very important feature myself, but since the product is brand new, it's understandable that they couldn't think of everything.
As for acting as a second video card, it doesn't look like it is supported right now, but I was told they were working on this. I consider this a very important feature myself, but since the product is brand new, it's understandable that they couldn't think of everything.
I appreciate all of your interests...
The first version of the PCI video card takes over the primary desktop in Windows. It is not possible to have it sit along side of your regular desktop. Although not tested, we believe that Linux will handle this as a virtual desktop but this has not been tested. I have a Linux expert that will get one of my first production cards to test and explore.
The individual displays are just as dynamic as any computer monitor, in fact, they have a 60fps refresh rate, just like a monitor. Think of it this way, if you were to tile 8 small displays, 4 on top and 4 on bottom, you could build a regular monitor out of them.
The touch screens on each of the displays end up emulating a mouse on the PC, so you can put buttons, sliders, HTML links, or anything else you could control with a mouse. Obviously a finger is bigger than a mouse pointer, so the user interface has to take this into consideration, but that is true of any touch display.
The video card itself doesnt care what the CPU/Ram/Processor is....all of that will impact your user interface application. The video card will render it just as fast as a standard video card. As I stated before, we have tested with a DOS boot floppy and small DOS exe graphical program generating test patterns.
Unfortunately, we are not attending EHX in Orlando, as we focus on getting the product out very soon.
The LCD itself is just slightly bigger than a standard single-gang mud ring, so we have had to make our own enclosure. The enclosure right now does not have any sort of mounting mechanism (we just press-fit them into our test lab walls), but we will address that issue, hopefully, before we ship. The wallplate we are using is a standard size single gang blank wallplate that we have had machined for the correct opening size, so it looks very natural. In fact, despite its small size, this has been one of the best complements that we consistently receive (forget the technology, it looks nice on the wall.....lol)
I would also like to note that the first production units will be labeled "evalutation" or "reference design" units and not suitable for resale. This is primarliy for OEM's to purchase and evaluate, but will also be perfect for a community such as this.
I hope I have answered all questions so far....
-Dwayne
The first version of the PCI video card takes over the primary desktop in Windows. It is not possible to have it sit along side of your regular desktop. Although not tested, we believe that Linux will handle this as a virtual desktop but this has not been tested. I have a Linux expert that will get one of my first production cards to test and explore.
The individual displays are just as dynamic as any computer monitor, in fact, they have a 60fps refresh rate, just like a monitor. Think of it this way, if you were to tile 8 small displays, 4 on top and 4 on bottom, you could build a regular monitor out of them.
The touch screens on each of the displays end up emulating a mouse on the PC, so you can put buttons, sliders, HTML links, or anything else you could control with a mouse. Obviously a finger is bigger than a mouse pointer, so the user interface has to take this into consideration, but that is true of any touch display.
The video card itself doesnt care what the CPU/Ram/Processor is....all of that will impact your user interface application. The video card will render it just as fast as a standard video card. As I stated before, we have tested with a DOS boot floppy and small DOS exe graphical program generating test patterns.
Unfortunately, we are not attending EHX in Orlando, as we focus on getting the product out very soon.
The LCD itself is just slightly bigger than a standard single-gang mud ring, so we have had to make our own enclosure. The enclosure right now does not have any sort of mounting mechanism (we just press-fit them into our test lab walls), but we will address that issue, hopefully, before we ship. The wallplate we are using is a standard size single gang blank wallplate that we have had machined for the correct opening size, so it looks very natural. In fact, despite its small size, this has been one of the best complements that we consistently receive (forget the technology, it looks nice on the wall.....lol)
I would also like to note that the first production units will be labeled "evalutation" or "reference design" units and not suitable for resale. This is primarliy for OEM's to purchase and evaluate, but will also be perfect for a community such as this.
I hope I have answered all questions so far....
-Dwayne
