Airpanel or Touchscreen LCD. Do they work?

[oiskaio]

Wasn't sure where to post this question so I also posted in support...feel free to lock one if needed...but I seem to remember reading about these a while ago on the forum, but then the forum went down.

So I have a question for all Airpanel, Touchscreen, or Tablet PC users out there....

I finally have the HTPC all set up and ready to go and am looking for a way to control it using XL as a frontend on a Touchscreen of some sort.

Would i have to have a 2nd computer to run either an Airpanel or a Touchscreen LCD? Meaning would i have to have a server to run XLServer on and have the monitor attached to the server which would then send a signal to the HTPC to show a movie/game/jukebox on my Projector?

Or am I missing something and this can all be done a lot easier and for less money then making a whole seperate server?

Thanks for any info.

[Arthur]

A touchscreen is only an inpuit device (replacing your mouse). So you don't need a server, just an ordinary pc. It could be completly stand alone, altough a network might be handy to remotly organise files on your HTPC

Arthur
(A very happy XLobby touchscreen user)

[ficklma1]

I have a V110p Viewsonic Airpanel and it works very well with XLobby. Keep in mind with a touchscreen like the Airpanel, XLobby is running on the PC and "sending screen refreshes" via RDP. XLobby will not run directly on a V110p/V150p touchscreen. There is supposed to be a replacement to the V110p (I think its the V210p) and I believe the user has the ablility to store/run PPC type programs on it.

I hope this helps.

[90c4]

I've got a 15 inch Planar touchscreen that I bought on ebay for $200. It is great and has made it a lot easier for my 2 young kids to pick music. There are a lot of cheap touchscreens out there - I highly recommend checking one out.

[ingalls]

hello, I thought that when you were using a smartdisplay, the main computer was giving a black screen...

ficklma1,can you tell me exactly what you do to have the smartdisplay clone your main screen?
Can you have the tv out working?

[gamejester]

If you use a twin head graphics card, I recommend any of the ATI ones for video playback performance, you can run too displays from 1 PC.

I have my main output via DVI to a 1280x720 projector set to main display monitor 1 (this is best for direct X, direct show filters), then I have a 15" LCD panel for the second display (this could be a touch panel).

In this config you can output all your playback to your main projector and have xlobby running on the touch panel giving you navigation etc.

[ingalls]

ok!!

[Groover]

If you use a twin head graphics card, I recommend any of the ATI ones for video playback performance, you can run too displays from 1 PC.

I have my main output via DVI to a 1280x720 projector set to main display monitor 1 (this is best for direct X, direct show filters), then I have a 15" LCD panel for the second display (this could be a touch panel).

In this config you can output all your playback to your main projector and have xlobby running on the touch panel giving you navigation etc.

Can you switch between the screen here Gamejester - meaning - can you display Xlobby through the projector if you want? How do you find a touchpanel in comparison to a remote. Can you access it from your seated position, or do you have to lean forward (a real pain to change the volume all the time). What are touchscreen disadvantages compared to a remote?

Thanks Groover

[CaM]

hi there, I have a question in regards to the Airpanel.

Is the speed of the screen refresh virtually instant? i.e. does it seem like it is running xlobby from the airpanel as opposed to the xp machine?

thanks for your time.

CaM

I have a V110p Viewsonic Airpanel and it works very well with XLobby. Keep in mind with a touchscreen like the Airpanel, XLobby is running on the PC and "sending screen refreshes" via RDP. XLobby will not run directly on a V110p/V150p touchscreen. There is supposed to be a replacement to the V110p (I think its the V210p) and I believe the user has the ablility to store/run PPC type programs on it.

I hope this helps.

[rembetis]

How do you find a touchpanel in comparison to a remote. Can you access it from your seated position, or do you have to lean forward (a real pain to change the volume all the time). What are touchscreen disadvantages compared to a remote?

Really best to use both, if you can swing it, especially if you control volume solely with your HTPC. My volume is controlled by my receiver, not the PC, so theoretically I could live with just the touchscreen and a standard remote, but the convenience of playback (stop, play, etc) and navigational control with a remote is very nice as well. Relying on a wired, stationary touchscreen for all your control would be fairly inconvenient, IMHO.

[SteveK]

hi there, I have a question in regards to the Airpanel.

Is the speed of the screen refresh virtually instant? i.e. does it seem like it is running xlobby from the airpanel as opposed to the xp machine?

The airpanel communicates with your PC across 802.11b, so there is a short lag (about a second) before the screen refreshes, but I've found it to be acceptable.

[trvtec]

What wiring needs to be run to a touchpanel? VGA cord, serial cable, cat 5, some combination of the three?

[rembetis]

What wiring needs to be run to a touchpanel? VGA cord, serial cable, cat 5, some combination of the three?

Older touchscreens use serial, most newer ones use usb. Then you have VGA plus power.

[defrag]

Can you switch between the screen here Gamejester - meaning - can you display Xlobby through the projector if you want? How do you find a touchpanel in comparison to a remote. Can you access it from your seated position, or do you have to lean forward (a real pain to change the volume all the time). What are touchscreen disadvantages compared to a remote?

Thanks Groover

You can't toggle displays especially as they probably will be running at different resolutions, plus, you can't have 2 Xlobbys running at the same time - something to do with running 2 full screen directx apps.

I have a htpc case with a 7" touchscreen at the front linked up to a 32" LCD tv. I have a NVidia 6800 passive card in the pc with vga to the touchscreen and DVI to the LCD with windows setup to have the LCD as primary display. I have 2 Xlobbys setup, 1 designed at 1024x768 for the touchscreen using Baddabings Bong skin (great for touchscreen) and the other runs at 1366x768 using a modified HeavyMetal skin. As you can select in Xlobbys setup which connected monitor to use, this means you can point 1 at the touchscreen. Using the touchscreen I don't have to have the tv on to have music, radio, weather - although I can fire up milkdrop to run on the tv if needed (as it will run on the primary display).

I have a .Net app that switches between the 2 Xlobbys killing the process of the currently running one (and winamp and zoomplayer) and firing up the other (all wired up to the green button on the MCE remote via girder). All volume through av-receiver again controled by MCE remote.

Plus as these are all running on 1 pc (that runs both xlobbys as servers) I can also access the currently running one on my ppc phone - what an amazing bit of software

Works fine for me - mostly