Why Not Wacom?

[kukacster]

I am wondering why openpandora version 1 uses resistive touchscreen in place of wacom ones that are cheaper? "Wacom's sensors are cheaper than resistive sensors, and their relative cost ratio becomes even lower as the size of the sensor increases. In addition, because they are constructed from simple parts, Wacom's electronic pens can be manufactured at low cost."

 

[bzar]

I am wondering why openpandora version 1 uses resistive touchscreen in place of wacom ones that are cheaper? "Wacom's sensors are cheaper than resistive sensors, and their relative cost ratio becomes even lower as the size of the sensor increases. In addition, because they are constructed from simple parts, Wacom's electronic pens can be manufactured at low cost."

Wacom what? Touchscreens? Sketch pads? Link?

 

[kukacster]

sensors

 

[bzar]

sensors

Touchscreen sensors? What technology do these wacom ones use? Don't tell me you just saw that marketing speech you quoted and thought that they must be immensely better and cheaper than anything used in the pandora . Every touchscreen tech so far I know of has its ups and downs, you always have to compromise by comparing your needs to the techs pros. With more information you'll get a better answer

 

[sterling976]

I just read over some of the techical specs on www.wacom-components.com.

While I wasn't aware Wacom was willing to work with smaller vendors on custom solutions, I think it's irrelevant. The marketing quote you referenced is for Wacom's EMR technology which requires the use of a specially designed pen.

So, it's not designed for touchscreens. It's designed to be used with a special induction-powered stylus, meaning that you couldn't use a finger or a spare stylus from an old PDA on one of these screens. If you ever wanted to use the touchscreen on the Pandora, you would have to use a Wacom-designed stylus. I'm not even sure the circuitry could fit into the stylus that comes with Pandora.

I'm not sure if the OP team had considered this technology, but the stylus requirement is a good enough reason to reject it if they had. On a side note, Wacom also manufactures a capacitive solution, but it's only been released fairly recently. Plus, the OP folks have already detailed why they didn't go capacitive.

 

[bzar]

In that case, I'd guess it was no choice at all even if it was considered. Tying touch screen usage to a specifically designed pen on a mobile device does not sound like a good idea.

 

[cobaltage]

Wacom has only recently started making products that are both touch sensitive and pen enabled.

And, as others mentioned, it's not easy to see any application for Wacom pen technology on a small screen. The Wacom pen allows multiple levels of pressure sensitivity and angular data input, neither of which seems very relevant on a screen that is designed to be more or less upright.

Finally, adding Wacom's proprietary technology to any product is apparently pretty expensive. Just look at their LCD screen/tablet line (Cintiq) and compare the prices with an ordinary LCD with similar characteristics. Gateway actually invented their own form of pen input in order to avoid paying Wacom for use of their technology.

 

[Consequence_9]

I remember them saying the screen came with the touch screen built in already & it was cheaper to get it with one than without.

 

[nikkopt]

Also, the distance between the screen and the sensor film is BIG. Almost like having a piece of thick glass on top of the lcd.

 

[fusion_power]

"Wacom"<-->"cheap" ???
Sorry, these 2 words just don't fit together. :lol: WACOM is one of many "just expencive because we can" Companies, there never was anything that I would call "cheap".

 

[emil10001]

Eh, I had a wacom touch screen on my OQO 2 and I was not impressed. I never really got it working under Linux, and under Windows it was pretty pointless. I mean, it worked, but it was cumbersome and not really as nice to use as the resistive screen on my n800 and 770.

 

[lulzfish]

Digitizers are nice for huge screens where you need to rest your hand without activating the touch screen, but the pens are huge.. Or they were a few years ago, dunno what's improved since the Compaq TC1000 and TC1100

 

[Kramy]

Go Atmel if you want touchscreen crud. :lol:

Source: Some marketing video I watched.

 

[-Tj-]

Wacom makes good stuff, but in a product like Pandora I don't think it's a good fit. While I would love having a pressure sensitive sensor and pen in my portable device (I even designed an artist-centric phone around a Wacom set once), I don't think the masses would appreciate having to use a pen to touch the screen. It is possible to use both a resistive touch screen (or capacitive) and a Wacom set and disable the touch screen when a pen is within sensor range, but that means added cost. Resistive offers a nice balance of cost and usability, as you can use it with a pen for better accuracy or your finger for convenience (or anything that can apply pressure, for that matter, something neither Wacom sensors nor capacitive touch screens can boast). A stylus can also be just about as thin as you want it to be so it won't block as much of the screen, which is something I've come to appreciate after using a Tablet PC and multiple touch screen devices for many years.

As an added bonus, resistive touch screens on Pandora apparently also have simplistic 16-level pressure sensitivity: http://pandorawiki.org/FAQ#What_kind_of_touch_screen_does_it_have.3F_Is_it_multi-touch.3F

 

[MDave]

The Pandora uses stock 'off the shelf' screens, which also happen to be resistive touch sensitive. Going for something more specialised or even proprietary would be much more expensive.

 

[Fishbong]

As far as i remember, the Pandora touchscreen can detect 16 distinct levels of pressure. Not very precisely and of course 16 levels is not enough for serious graphics editing, but hey, who is going to use the Pandora for that?

EDIT: Source is http://www.gp32x.de/board/index.php?/topic/46041-question-is-the-screen-pressure-sensitive/

 

[S-r-ex]

Frankly, I for certain can't find a reason to have 2048 pressure levels on a portable device. 16 is more than enough. And as Fishbong, I'd rather do graphics work on a more powerful compuer, like my desktop. Say, I could make my own background for my Pandora right noww.....

 

[Gary13579]

16 levels of pressure is more than enough. Wacom would be more expensive, I don't get how anyone could think otherwise.

I would *kill* to have a Pandora based around a tablet design though... I'm thinking the screen covering the entire top area (from side to side, no room for speakers), and being able to hold it as a tablet for writing. Would make it so amazing for jotting down notes really fast (especially with the handwriting recognition software I've seen for Linux, which supports short hand VERY well).

I know it's patented. Don't bother saying it. Just saying it would be amazing...

 

[VRAndy]

I'm not sure if Wacom's technology is appropriate for such a small device. I've never seen a stylus on a tablet or wacom tablet that was less bulky than an expensive ball-point pen.

 

[kukacster]

Thanks for the remarks and replies. I am just dreaming about a cheap lightweight graphic tablet with a painter version of gimp integrated....