LG has announced, via its official blog, a new touchscreen monitor aimed at Windows 8 users. The LG Touch 10 monitor (model ET83) goes further than many multi-touch screens by allowing all of your 10 fingers to be used simultaneously. LG says that the 23-inch IPS panel equipped Touch 10 “is an excellent choice for those looking to enjoy an enhanced touch computing experience without having to upgrade their entire PC”. If you are one of the many recent Windows 8 upgraders perhaps it would be a good choice for you?
Not many desktop PC users have touch-enabled monitors. For content consumption on devices you can hold, or sit with on your lap, touch seems more comfortable than mousing which requires a decent work surface. On a desktop PC it’s the other way around; your keyboard and mouse are positioned nicely for your relaxed arms and hands. Your monitor centre is at eye level; a gorilla-arm’s reach away. However there is a demand for touch monitors for the desktop work space and LG thinks it has a new great solution.
“This is a compelling new product that re-imagines the touch experience and shows that LG is an industry leader in developing the next generation of touch monitor products,” said J.J. Lee, Executive Vice President and Head of the IT Business Unit at LG. “Smartphones and tablets have already proven that consumers are ready to fully embrace touch features. Our 10-point touchscreen takes it one step further by exponentially expanding the range of interactive possibilities. We believe this technology will excite and inspire software developers and users alike.”
Beyond the user experience hyperbole LG describes some real world uses of the 10-point touchscreen. Dragging and rotating multiple items simultaneously is said to work very well. I can think of a number of applications, mainly in music production, that require a lot of dexterity. As well as the obvious on-screen piano keyboard or stringed instruments there are music studio mimicking sound production programs with multi-channel sliders and parameter knobs. Sound effects and sound generator modules also have a lot of control knobs and sliders which are sometimes intended to be changed while playing.
Further to these functions LG says that Windows 8 on-screen keyboard works very well due to the highly responsive touch sensitivity of the Touch 10. If you are interested in pen input, the LG Touch 10 also supports the use of a capacitive stylus.
Looks like its got a remote too!
The LG Touch 10 will be available initially in South Korea during November (this month), “followed by markets in Europe and elsewhere”. If you are interested in a multi-touch desktop monitor to enhance your Windows 8 experience it may be worth waiting for. However there is no pricing indication or a full tech specs list available from LG as yet.
