Planar Ships Touch-Screen Displays

Monitor maker Planar Systems has released a new line of touch-screen LCD displays, ranging from 15- to 19-inch sizes.

While the displays are initially compatible only with Windows PCs, Planar is developing Macintosh drivers for them as well and expects the monitors to also support Macs within a few months.

Specs, Prices

The new PT models come in 15- 17- and 19-inch flavors.

The $699 PT150MU features a 15-inch screen with native 1024-by-768-pixel resolution and a 400:1 contrast ratio. The PT170MU is a 17-inch display with 1280-by-1024 resolution and a 500:1 contrast ratio, for $949. The PT191MU also has a 1280-by-1024 resolution and 500:1 contrast ratio, and it retails for $1299.

All three monitors sport resistive-touch systems that makes them useful for interactive information kiosks, point-of-sale terminals, and other spots where direct contact with the display is preferred to using a mouse or keyboard.

Input Options

All of the new Planar touch-screen displays include VGA interfaces, which will work on most recent Power Macs and PowerBooks as well as PCs, though some may require DVI-to-VGA cables to connect to the Mac systems. The 19-inch display also supports direct DVI input.

The monitors are VESA-compatible and can be mounted on VESA-compliant arms or wall displays. The units utilize USB for touch-screen input.

"Planar is working on the drivers and expects to have full Mac support across its PT line in three months," a spokesperson says.