Touch Screen Monitor For Mac
Finding any information on using a touch screen and a Mac with Studio One 3 seems to be a little difficult, there are some discussions on the PreSonus forum which are helpful, but nothing definitive. To be honest using Google to see how people are getting Macs running with multi-touch monitors yields fewer results than one would expect, it's as if because Steve (Jobs) said it was a bad idea that no-one wants to talk about the idea in public.
- Dell Touch Screen Monitor For Mac
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Skip to main content. Try Prime All. The premium choice for the best touch screen today (probably tomorrow, too), is the Dell 23.8-Inch LED-LIT Touch Monitor. It provides excellent connectivity options for both upstream and downstream such as HDMI and USB (although there’s no DVI port), while the touch screen responsiveness is well ahead of other products on this list.
However with the information I could find and a little help from the PreSonus dev I knew that it was theoretically possible to get a Mac running on multi-touch using a third party app.
So after extensive reading up and research I know that I needed a multi-touch monitor and a piece of software called Touch-Base UPDD (Universal Pointer Device Driver) to get things running. The monitor getting a lot of love in reviews is the Acer T232, but remember they are not expecting it to run on a Mac, but on Windows 8 et al.
Anyway I ordered the Acer T232 at £200, so not a lot to lose if it doesn't work out, apart from a night at home setting it up. I also ordered the software at £95 plus VAT, so all in the whole gig is going to set you back around £300.
The monitor arrived and set-up was a doddle, in fact the hardest part was figuring out how to use the stand on the desk, but in the end common sense prevailed and I realised the sheer weight of the monitor would bring it to rest in the right position for touch control.
I ordered the software, via a slightly odd method which means having to email the company and ask them for an invoice, so if you head over to the Touch-Base website and can;t find a store to buy from that's because there isn't one. Anyway after 2 emails and a phone call I had placed an order and an hour or so later get the software. The install instructions are comprehensive, but if you are in any doubt then watch this helpful video here.
In Use
It's fair to say that although the software installed as expected and the tests worked, the performance of the software with the Acer T232 monitor was patchy. Recipe software for mac. It ranged from full and smooth multi-touch to not working at all, with most options in between. This was nothing to do with Studio One 3 as this kind of behaviour was exhibited in various applications. Oddly enough one of the applications you use to add functionality UPDD Gestures seemed to give it less functionality - rather than more.
Reading other experiences online with the software leads me to think that it may not be the software but the monitor when using a Mac. Suffice to say I got to the point where I couldn't figure out if it was the monitor, one component of the three applications needed to run, UPDD Console, UPDD Gestures and UPDD TUIO or me that was the problem.
There's a high likelihood that this could have been down to user error, however I followed the installation instructions to the letter but still had, as best, patchy results from this combination on the Mac.
I'm now returning the monitor and trying another one, which seems to have shown better results on a Mac, so watch this space. If I don't buy another monitor then I'm £95 plus VAT down for the software.
Conclusion
What conclusions have I reached so far?
That there's not nearly enough information anywhere about running a Mac using multi-touch, with the guys at Touch-Base being the exception, there's even less about Mac users running Studio One 3 in multi-touch mode. So if nothing else that may be a new mission for us, getting as much information as possible to help Mac users wanting to do this.
In the meantime there's the Slate Raven MTI, it's not the cheapest option but it works and in my world that goes a long way to being the best option.
If you've tried and got a good result then please let us know more in the comments.
Corrections & Clarifications: An earlier headline on this story referenced the wrong MacBook model.
NEW YORK—I used a touchscreen MacBook Air to write this column.
No, you didn’t misread the previous sentence. Nor did you overlook a new product announcement from Apple, which despite all the company has done to popularize multi-touch on the iPhone and iPad, has long resisted the urge to put touch screens on its Macintosh computers.
Rather, I’ve been testing the AirBar sensor from Sweden's Neonode. It's a thin and light $99, brushed-aluminum strip that converted my 13.3-inch non-touch MacBook Air display into a touch-screen computer. That meant I could pinch, zoom, swipe and tap directly on the laptop display, as if I were using a tablet, smartphone or any number of Windows PCs and Chromebooks.
It worked OK, but still felt a little awkward. It's probably best for Mac users who find themselves frustrated that their Mac screens won't respond like their phones.
Setting it up
AirBar comes with two small magnetic dots that you stick just below the computer’s screen. These secure the AirBar strip magnetically against the bottom edge of the display. The bar is sized to match the dimensions of the computer, with tiny markers on either side to help you align it properly below the screen. Sticking out of the right edge of the strip is a short wire with a USB connector that plugs into the port on the computer's side.
You can easily remove the AirBar from the MacBook Air while leaving the magnetic dots in place, and you’ll have to do so if you want to fold the lid of the laptop back into its closed position. There’s a pouch for carrying AirBar when you’re not using it; I stashed it in my backpack.
During the initial setup, I had to install software and update the firmware on the AirBar. From then on you just connect it and are good to go.
Dell Touch Screen Monitor For Mac
When it works
AirBar makes it possible to “touch” the screen by projecting an invisible light field on the surface of your display.
I was able to take advantage of common multi-touch gestures: I pinched and spread my fingers, for example, to zoom in and out of photos and webpages. And pressed two fingers against the display to scroll inside my calendar or in the Safari browser. I also used two digits to rotate an image. And I dragged a map around with a single finger.
My favorite use of touch was being able to rapidly pore through a bunch photos with my finger.
I was also able to tap the screen with a stylus, regular pencil and other pointy objects, and use touch, however imprecisely, while wearing a glove.
When it doesn't
Unfortunately, the fact that AirBar works with such gestures on the Mac doesn’t necessarily translate into an ideal experience. I sometimes detected a slight delay between when I gestured and when there was a response. On a few occasions the screen went a bit kaflooey.
What’s more, Apple didn’t design the MacOS with a multi-touch display in mind, preferring you to tap, pinch and perform other gestures directly onto the computer’s trackpad. As a veteran user of the MacBook Air, gesturing on the trackpad is second nature. Changing well-worn habits on the other hand is difficult.
About the closest Apple has come to designing a touch-screen Mac is through the context-sensitive Touch Bar controls feature that debuted last year on some higher-end MacBook Pro models. There’s a bit of a learning curve there, and the Touch Bar really isn’t the same thing as a full-fledged multi-touch display.
Apple’s thinking is that having you reach up or out to touch the display on a Mac just doesn’t feel right and natural. I’m inclined to agree, especially when I strained to tap the upper, side or bottom reaches of the display while using AirBar. I struggled, for example, to tap the icon for the Mac’s Notification Center, and didn’t always hit my target when I tried tapping the tiny onscreen buttons to close or maximize a window.
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Windows competition
That said, I generally do just fine with the touch displays on several Windows 10 PCs, as well as Google Chromebooks, with the Windows operating system better designed to take advantage of touch than the Mac. And sometimes after I’ve used a touch-capable Chromebook or Windows PC and then come back to the Mac, I reach out to make contact with a screen that is oblivious to my touch.
Neonode also makes $79 versions of AirBar for non-touch Windows PCs with 13.3-, 14 and 15.6-inch display sizes. Other Mac sizes are said to be coming soon.
Maybe at some point Apple will relent and produce its own touch-screen Mac. But it's a touchy topic. In the meantime, though far from perfect, Neonode’s AirBar provides the next best thing.
Email: ebaig@usatoday.com; Follow USA TODAY Personal Tech Columnist @edbaig on Twitter
The bottom line
Touch Screen Monitor For Vending Machine
AirBar for MacBook Air from Neonode
$99, air.bar
Pro. Light sensor strip blends in and supplies multi-touch to Apple's MacBook Air Easy setup.
Touch Screen Monitor Amazon
Con. Multi-touch on the Air is not always smooth, responsive and natural.