Indication in the round!

andersDX has launched a new range of larger high performance circular displays of 3” and 4.2” diameter, aimed particularly at automotive, industrial and marine dashboards. The new displays complement andersDX existing range of TFT, PMOLED and OLED modules of just over 1” diameter, which are aimed at wearable applications.

Paul Hooper, Display Group Manager at andersDX said, “The new circular TFT module brings a contemporary look for the automotive and marine market as well as medical and industrial applications. Larger in size, they also offer a greater temperature range, wide viewing angle and high brightness. Usually seen as a volume production solution, we can offer circular modules with an affordable NRE and tooling cost structure for lower volume industrial applications.”

The new additions to the range of circular displays include 3.0” and 4.2” full-colour TFT modules which offer wide viewing angles, high contrast ratios and an extended temperature range of -30° to +85°C making them perfect for demanding environmental conditions.

The new larger displays complement the existing range of smaller circular TFT displays that vary in size from 1.22” to 1.38”, ideal for wearable electronics and small home appliances. AndersDX’s circular range includes a 1.3” circular AMOLED and a 1.13” PMOLED display.

Paul Hooper concluded, “With andersDX range of round TFT, AMOLED and PMOLED modules, there is no excuse not to consider a circular option should it make sense for your application. The expert design team at andersDX can also offer advice on the best technology to use and talk through custom options such as enhanced or reduced brightness, custom cover lenses or unique sizes.”

@AndersElec #PAuto 

Small TFT displays.

Small TFT displays with an easy to integrate SPI interface and a power consumption of just 3mA have been introduced by andersDX. The new displays are ideal for a host of applications from handheld devices such as remote controls or test equipment for industrial, medical and consumer electronics.

Many applications

David Roberts, Sales Engineer at andersDX, commented, “These are attractive modules which will be popular in many portable electronics applications. As usual, andersDX is able to offer a high level of customisation to fit the needs of the application. This can include changing the flex, enhancing the backlight or adding touch. To widen the viewing angle, optical bonding and o-film can be added.”

andersDX is initially offering 1.44” and 1.77” colour TFT modules featuring the SPI interface. The simple Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) can simplify a design, as the receiving hardware can be a simple shift register rather than a full UART. SPI is easily used to send data between microcontrollers and small peripherals such as shift registers, sensors or SD cards. It utilises separate clock and data lines, along with a select line for choice of device to communicate with.

A key feature of the 1.77” andersDX SPI displays is their very low profile, streamlined package of just 2.4mm deep, making it ideal for compact portable electronics. The 1.77" diagonal module is a full colour TFT display with a high contrast ratio of 700, a high brightness of 280cd/m2 and a low power consumption of just 3mA. There is also a 1.44” diagonal square display featuring the SPI interface. This module offers a contrast ratio of 350 and a brightness of 120 cd/m2. Its package is 2.7mm thick. Both modules are suitable for use at temperatures between 20° to +70°C.

@AndersElec #PAuto #Medical

Extending circular display range into a new technology.

A round AMOLED display has been added by andersDX to its range for wearable and instrumentation applications, complementing the circular PMOLED and touchscreen modules that it already offers. andersDX launched AMOLED (Active Matrix OLED) technology for the industrial market in October 2016.

Paul Hooper, Display Group Manager at andersDX said, “The new circular colour AMOLED module brings the coolest display technology around to the wearable and hand held instrument market. I can’t overstate the impact this technology makes on the user: with all-round viewability, a high contrast ratio and exceptional appearance. As a result of our relationship with Truly Semiconductor, these displays are economic for relatively low volume applications, allowing industrial, medical and specialist consumer customers to create a user interface that puts their product in a class of its own.”

The new colour AMOLED display module is 1.3” in diameter, but can be customised to suit the individual application. It features a 360(RGB) × 360 dot matrix display with a brightness of 350 cd/m2. The module is just 0.6mm thick and has a rated operating temperature of -20° to 60°C. andersDX is also offering a 1.13” diameter Passive Matrix OLED TFT from Truly. A new range of circular TFT displays will be added to the portfolio in the coming weeks.

• andersDX has been offering AMOLED displays since its manufacturing partner Truly opened a 4.5G production line supporting this technology. Truly AMOLED display technology is based on a Low Temperature Poly-silicon (LTPS) backplane with a pixel density up to 500 PPI. The Truly line also supports for TFT production, based on an amorphous-silicon backplane with a pixel density up to 300 PPI. In addition to the new round modules, andersDX is offering AMOLED displays of up to 6" initially, increasing to 10.1"in the future.

@AndersElec #PAuto #HMI

Display design.

andersDX has launched a new family of Display Designer Kits offering customers an instant option for creating prototype user interface concepts from a pre-integrated touch screen and processor that can form the basis of or even be the production ready design.

Each Designer Kit is an all-in-one embedded solution featuring ARM or x86 processors that are pre-integrated with high performance Projected Capacitive Touchscreens in a range of popular sizes. They are supplied as off the shelf, ready to use platforms, including a display and touch screen assembly, pre-integrated with multi-functional embedded hardware and a graphic software environment. A Windows or Linux operating system is pre-installed.

Commenting, Viru Patel, Embedded Solutions Group Manager at andersDX said, “Our Designer Kits allow customers to get proof of concept prototypes up and running very quickly. The display, the processor and the operating system are working together out of the box with optimised QT GUI images. All the developer needs to do is load the application software and tune it. Customers can be up and running in a day or two for simple applications or a matter of just a couple of weeks for more advanced projects.”

Viru Patel continued, “Having got their application running on the Designer Kit, developers can customise it to create their final project, or in some cases simply add an enclosure to complete the design. The hardware is highly flexible, and can be tailored to suit an individual application in terms of operating system, display size, cabling, screen glass, backlighting, processor speed and interfaces. It can essentially be dropped into a product with negligible integration effort.”

The first andersDX designer kits to be released are the Starterkit-iMX6, based on the Freescale i.MX6 quad core Cortex-A9 CPU module, the Starterkit-N2930 Baytrail based on the Intel Bay Trail 64-bit Quad Core N2930 CPU, and Starterkit-T335, based on the Texas Instruments T335 single-core Cortex-A8 module. Kits based on further processor types, such as the iMX7, are in development and will be announced as they become available. Each processor is offered with a range of multi-touch display sizes, and a choice of pre-installed operating systems. The kits offer comprehensive interface options, including Ethernet, WiFi, Bluetooth, USB, mSATA and PCIe sockets, UART/ Serial ports, CANBus, I2C and GPIO.

The highest performance designer kit for the ARM environment is the Starterkit-iMX6, offered with a 7” WVGA, 10.1”WXVGA or a 12.1” XGA display and Linux, Windows Embedded 7 or Android JellyBean. A choice of three iMX6 processors is available: quad core, dual core or single core. The kit can be supplied with up to 4GB of DDR3 and 32GB of NAND/ SSD memory.

For the x86 environment, andersDX is offering Starterkit-N2930 with a choice of three touch screen displays: 7” WVGA, 10.1” WXVGA or 12.1” XGA and Linux or Windows Embedded 7 operating systems. It is offered in a choice of board sizes: the standard kit has a 146 x 102mm board, whilst the Pico version is just 100 x 72mm. The maximum memory is 8GB of DDR3 for the standard board, 4GB for the Pico.

The Starterkit-T335 is based on the 600MHz ARM Cortex A8 processor from Texas Instruments and is supplied pre-loaded with a Linux, Android or Windows CE operating system. It is offered with a 4.3” WQVGA or a 7” WVGA PCT touch screen display and up to 512MB DDR 3 and 1GB NAND memory.

@AndersElec #PAuto 

SBCs and HMIs for new market.

Following the signing of a comprehensive technical and distribution partnership with German manufacturer Garz & Fricke, andersDX is bringing a new range of ARM based single-board-computers (SBC) and human machine interfaces (HMI) to the British market, aimed specifically at retail, kiosk and industrial HMI applications. Garz & Fricke currently does not have a presence in Great Britain.

Viru Patel, Embedded Solutions Group Manager at andersDX (2nd from left) with the team from Garz & Fricke after signing their new agreement

Under the agreement, andersDX is offering Garz & Fricke SBCs with semi customised TFT displays to the customer’s specifications. Garz & Fricke boards and drivers are specified with standard TFT modules and andersDX can quickly and easily optimise the base design to the requirements of each project, by adding toughened glass, thick glass, decorated cover lens, extended cover lenses, buttons and other features. andersDX can also offer Garz and Fricke standard products, including full turnkey HMI’s as well as custom HMI’s. Garz & Fricke is particularly strong in the retail, kiosk and hospitality markets.

Viru Patel, Embedded Solutions Group Manager at andersDX, said, “Garz & Fricke has a great heritage in developing high quality SBC’s and HMI’s based on the ARM architecture, backed by outstanding engineering support and software. This partnership means that Anders will support customers by holding stock and offering technical support. Garz & Fricke products gives us a new range of go to market products that perfectly complement the DX portfolio and our Embedded Display Kits.”

Sascha Ullrich, Head of Sales and Garz & Fricke, added, “andersDX has an outstanding presence in the UK market, as well as an exceptionally strong engineering and support capability. We believe that they are the right partner to build a strong presence for us in the UK market. This partnership gives Garz & Fricke a footprint in the UK, both commercially and technically. We are looking forward to working in partnership with them, and combining our engineering teams to create solutions that exceed our customer’s expectations.”

Under the agreement, andersDX will sell and support Garz & Fricke embedded computing platforms in Computer-on-Module and SBC form. andersDX will also offer Garz & Fricke open frame or cased HMI solutions, where the selected SBC is pre-integrated with a compatible 4.3” – 10.4” P-CAP touch display. The agreement expands the range of processor architectures that andersDX can offer its customers.

Garz & Fricke platforms are based on ARM9, ARM11 and ARM Cortex-A8 architectures. Support is a key strength for the company, and each of its products is supplied with a comprehensive BSP to simplify integration and speed the customer’s time to market. Garz & Fricke can supply pre-integrated communications modules for its SBC and HMI platforms, based on pre-approved Bluetooth™, WLAN or GSM modules.

 @AndersElec #PAuto #Britain #HMI

TFT screen transform instrument panel.

The new andersDX letterbox display offers an outstanding IPS TFT screen in a unique form factor. It provides a high contrast image that can be easily viewed over a wide angle even in bright sunlight and unfavourable conditions. This is a very high performance display, with a contrast ratio of 800 and a surface luminance of 850 cd/m2.  Viewing angle is 85° x 85° x 85° x 85°, allowing it to be read from an almost side-on position. Its’ resolution is 1280 x 480 at a pixel pitch of 0.228 mm².

They offer the display with optional five-touch CTP (Capacitive Touch Panel), operating through a 1.80mm thick cover glass. The thickness can be increased to 6.00mm with single touch operation. For maximum optical clarity, the touch panel and cover glass can be optically bonded to the display.

Commenting, Paul Hooper, Display Group Manager at andersDX said, “We’re breaking the mould of display design with this innovative and unusual display. Most displays on the market are on 4:3 or 16:9 aspect ratios, which are a legacy of TVs and computer monitors and aren’t designed for the clear and effective presentation of information in a user interface. This display allows designers to create a very different front panel around an exceptionally clear, bright and easy to read display.”

Suitable for use in portrait or landscape mode, the display has a diagonal of 12.3” and is 340.7mm wide by 150.75mm high. Standard features include an LVDS interface, an anti-glare coating and an LED backlight with a rated life of 70,000 hours to half brightness. The wide operating temperature of -30 deg C to + 80 deg C is key for industrial, automotive and marine applications.

@AndersElec #PAuto

Low volume customisable touchscreens.

Custom and semi-custom display range extended with new 15.6” and 21.5” screens.

andersDX now offers custom and semi-custom colour TFT screens from 1.1” to 21.5” inches. Customers can specify the combination of resolution bezel, backlighting, touch technology, connectors, optical film, cover lenses and printed icons that they require. Other options include secret-until-lit graphics, wide viewing angles, portrait and landscape format displays. The andersDX range includes unusual shapes also, such as letterbox units to replace LCD character modules and round displays for wearable instruments.

To enhance sunlight readability, andersDX offers optical bonding also with a very low minimum order quantity. The entire bonding process is carried out under one roof, at the site where the modules are manufactured ensuring both an extremely high standard of quality and a low cost of around one-third the normal price. Features supported by the service include integrated touch controllers, scratch resistant or anti-reflective coatings, and vandal proof glass. IP65/67 sealed panels for use in wet environments, and panels compliant with PCI standards for payment terminals, are also offered.

Paul Hooper, European Sales Manager of andersDX commented, “For many customers, the user interface is the product. That’s why we support custom solutions from volumes of just 800/month, whereas typical suppliers will impose MOQs of 5-10k units. Instead of shoehorning the customer’s requirements to fit a standard product, we will offer a screen with the exact specification in terms of appearance, performance and environmental protection that the customer demands.

“Investing in display performance pays handsome dividends. With our semi- and fully-custom design capability and choice of display panels of all sizes and technologies, customers can create the display they really want: a true ambassador for their product.”

The andersDX TFT offering is supported by local, European FAE’s and underpinned by proven, NPI and lifecycle processes which ensure customer confidence throughout all stages of their project. andersDX Display Image displays are available for 3-5 years.

@AndersElec #PAuto

Wearable electronics!

andersDX has extended its range of Circular Display Modules with the addition of a round OLED* display module.

The new 1.13” (2.87cm) Passive Matrix OLED TFT Display is again targeted at wearable electronics, especially in the healthcare and fitness sectors and is manufactured by Truly Semiconductor. The module is fully customisable and also offers an attractive option in a number of industrial applications. andersDX announced a 1.48” round touchscreen module in July.

Commenting, Mike Logan, Display and Input Technology Manager of andersDX said, “We can configure the specification of the OLED module to match customer requirements - customers don’t have to use the standard product. andersDX offers full design support, working with customers to adapt the display to suit their product design. On top of this, we have invested in equipment to test luminosity of the new OLED display modules.”

The andersDX OEL9M0082-W-E PMOLED module has an active area of 28.8 x 28.8 mm and a resolution of 128 x 128 dots. The recently announced round touchscreen module is also fully customisable with affordable NRE and tooling cost structures.

• andersDX has been Britain and Ireland distributor for Truly Semiconductor for 5 years.

* An organic light-emitting diode (OLED) is a light-emitting diode (LED) in which the emissive electroluminescent layer is a film of organic compound which emits light in response to an electric current. 

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See our Acronyms and Initials Index Used in Instrumentation, Controls and on the Net

Round touchscreen.

andersDX has unveiled new round TFT touch screens aimed specifically at the growing market for wearable electronics, especially in the healthcare and fitness sectors. Manufactured by Guangdong based display module specialist Truly Semiconductor, the round modules are also an attractive option in a number of industrial applications.

Commenting, Mike Logan, Display and Input Technology Manager of andersDX said, “A standard module is available, but the key point here is that we can work with customers to create the display they actually need. Wearables are by definition a highly style conscious market, and with our affordable NRE and tooling cost structures most customers will be able to specify the exact size they want rather than compromise with an off-the-shelf standard product.”

The company can offer customers bespoke round touch screens with affordable NRE and tooling cost structures. The standard module has an overall diameter of 37.79mm, and an active area of 30.96mm diameter. The round display can be driven from a 4.6V supply and operates at temperatures of -10 to +60 degrees C. The LED backlight runs from a 2.9V power supply.

Letterbox size TFT display modules!

andersDX is now offering letterbox-format colour TFT screens as replacements for character LCD modules and for space constrained applications where standard format colour TFT can’t be used.

They have launched a new semi-custom service based on standard 4.3” and 2.8” colour TFT displays which can be cut to a specified height to suit the space available. The semi-custom service also includes adding touch control and other features, but the initial NRE (non-recurring engineering) cost is less than one-tenth the normal upfront charge.

Commenting, Paul Hooper, Sales Manager of andersDX said, “Customers everywhere are keen to eliminate drab LCD character modules from their systems and replace them with colour graphic displays, often including touch control. However, TFT displays are made in standard formats and until now, the cost of manufacturing a custom size has been uneconomic for most industrial applications. Using a new manufacturing process, andersDX is now able to cut standard small format TFT displays to a specified height, opening up a whole new world of potential applications. A good example is rack mounted equipment. A standard TFT screen is too high to fit into a 1U rack case.”

andersDX is initially offering its new semi-custom service on 4.3” and 2.8” colour graphics TFT displays which are 10.5 and 5 cm wide respectively. Customers can have these displays cut to their specified height, and add touch control, FPCs and a backlight to their specification. The base display units are 480 x 272 (4.3”) and 240 x 320 (2.8”) resolution respectively for the full size displays.

Customisation is carried out at an ISO9001 accredited site, with the appropriate clean room facilities. The entire process, including resizing and the addition of a backlight and touch interface, are carried out at a single site. The NRE costs are a fraction of those associated with a full custom display and the minimum economic order is low.

Hooper continued, “It has been shown again and again that the user interface has a huge impact on the user’s perception of their equipment, and is a real differentiator in the market. The andersDX semi-custom service allows customers to transform the user interface, adding a colour graphics display of exactly the same size as the existing letterbox character module. It also gives the opportunity to introduce touch control and other enhancements.”

Multi-touch interfaces

Monitors bring consumer-style multitouch to industrial and commercial user interfaces

andersDX has launched the Touch-dX family of medium-sized, robust, open frame monitors. These monitors, for the first time, make high-accuracy, responsive multi-touch performance commercially viable in a variety of non-consumer applications ranging from kiosks and point-of-sale systems to industrial process control, ATMs and gaming.

Leveraging patented, high-performance, optical tracking, ShadowSense™ technology (see video above), this plug-and-play monitor family offers up to five touch points and is mechanically compatible with ELO Touchsystems open frame monitors. Unlike many alternative technologies, the Touch-dX monitors can support any input type - including finger, glove and stylus.

The first member of the Touch-dX range is a 19” unit with a 5:4 aspect ratio. This will be followed soon by a 17” 5:4 monitor and 19” and 22” 16:10 widescreen options. Response times are down to just 6ms, while the revolutionary ShadowSense technology allows for touch detection of objects as small as 2mm as well as accidental touch recognition. Choosing andersDX Touch-dX also helps to reduce ongoing maintenance cost as no periodic recalibration is needed.

All Touch-dX monitors come with a comprehensive programming and diagnostic utility that enables andersDX to fine tune the sensitivity of the touch sensor based on customer application requirements. As well as allowing configuration of parameters for performance optimisation, the software allows touchscreens to report all signal level information between the LEDs and touch sensors for detection and diagnosis of possible fault conditions.

andersDX Touch-dX monitors offer VGA and DVI inputs and provide a plug-and-play USB interface. Monitors feature an ultra-thin form factor, are Microsoft® Windows® 7-compliant, and have an on-screen display (OSD) menu for rapid adjustment of key parameters. Typical contrast ratio for the 19” model is 1000:1. Horizontal and vertical viewing angles are 170° and 160° respectively. The unit supports 16.7 million colours.

andersDX CEO Rob Anders says: “With its revolutionary optical tracking technology delivering amazing performance at low cost, and with a form factor that allows drop-in replacement of existing technologies, Touch-dX monitors are a the ‘obvious choice’ for industrial and commercial applications that need a rich, responsive and accurate multitouch experience.”

Intelligent touch screen display

Anders Electronics has added a 5.7” VGA (640 x 480 pixel) resolution display to its popular UMR 5 Series of products. The new Anders 5.7” display platform offers manufacturers of industrial and medical devices a standard form factor with high-end optical specifications, guaranteed long term availability, and easier, more cost-effective integration of colour, touch and other embedded functionality.

The display component of this newest member of the UMR 5 Series is a 5.7” VGA amorphous silicon-based TFT display with LED backlight, produced by a tier-1 manufacturer with guaranteed long lifetime availability. The display is suitable for a wide variety of demanding industrial and medical applications, offering high colour saturation, excellent brightness (400 cd/m2), high contrast (600:1), ultra-wide viewing angles (up to 75/70/50°), and integral 4-wire resistive touch functionality.

The UMR 5 Series embedded system features PXA270 Intel XScale® architecture, ARM5TE ISA with WMMX extension, running WIN CE 5.0 with options of 312 MHz or 520 MHz clock speeds, 64 or 128 MB SDRAM and 128 or 512 MB NAND FLASH. The embedded systems offer standard interfaces such as I2C, SPI, GPIO, serial ports, 10/100-Base-T Ethernet, and USB Host and Slave. Together with the Anders Software Development Toolkit and sample code for the various on board interfaces, the UMR 5 Series embedded system enables rapid development, testing and deployment of end user applications.

Designed with device end user experience in mind, the Anders UMR 5 Series of intelligent displays provides a unified platform for rapid creation and integration of the iPhone™-like user interfaces that device manufacturers need to differentiate their offerings. The unique Anders IDS (Interface Development Suite), comprising a desktop interface builder and embedded vector graphics engine, enables rapid creation of feature-rich user interfaces. Integration of the Anders IDS with evC++ and Visual Studio enables interaction between embedded system physical interfaces and screen objects with minimum effort.

“We launched the 5.7” UMR Intelligent display specifically to meet the demands of clients seeking upgrade legacy industrial monochrome or CSTN products with colour and touch functionality,” said Ian Ritson, Business Development Manager, Intelligent Displays. “Anders Intelligent Displays let manufacturers avoid the hassles of upgrading the display experience, while still delivering friendly, easy to use devices that excel not only in performance, but also in usability,” he concluded.

Invisible displays?

High performance, cost-effective sunlight readability, together with outstanding indoor colour saturation

Anders Electronics has announced the availability of its newest sunlight readable 2.8” TMR TFT display. Specially designed for portable applications like mobile handsets, remote monitoring systems, industrial and metering products, portable measuring devices, and medical devices, the Anders 2.8” TMR TFT offers excellent indoor and outdoor optical specifications, superb guaranteed availability, and unprecedented cost-performance advantages.

Traditional sunlight readable products rely on either a power-consuming bright backlight, unsuitable for portable applications, or cost-prohibitive transflective technology. The newest Anders display leverages highly cost-effective transmissive micro reflective (TMR), a recognized and viable alternative to transflective displays for designers of indoor/outdoor OEM products.

For outdoor use, TMR displays are comparable in performance with transflective displays. For indoor use, the TMR display’s high transmission rate actually results in better colour saturation and better performance compared with transflective technology.

Anders’ portrait mode TMR TFTs are currently available in 2.8”, 4.3”, 5.7” and 7.0” screen sizes, with a resolution of 240 x (RGB) x 320 pixels, 262K colours, and an integrated backlight. The displays offer a display surface luminance of 300cd/m2, a contrast ratio of 300:1, and a 12 o’clock viewing angle. Designed for rugged industrial and outdoor use, Anders’ TMR TFTs offer operating temperatures from -20C to +70C and storage temperatures from -30C to +80C.

“Our TMR TFTs offer all the advantages of transflective TFTs – in terms of performance, durability, and sunlight readability – at a significantly lower cost to OEM designers than transflective displays,” said Mike Logan, Product Manager at Anders Electronics. “In today’s competitive environment, this gives our clients better value, with no compromise on quality – ultimately translating into increased sales,” he concluded.