As I haven't seen any reviews out there, so I'm putting this one up for those that may be interested. I searched for reviews myself after this monitor was announced last week for Windows 7 release 10/22/2009.
Thanks Engadget for bringing this wonderful news to my attention) http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/22/windows-7-launch-date-hardware-spectacular/
A bit of general info/description as seen at DisplayBlog:
HP's own page on the L2105TM screen:
http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/us/en/sm/WF05a/382087-382087-64283-3181050-3181048-4031739.html?jumpid=oc_R1002_USENC-001_HP%20Compaq%20L2105tm%2021.5-inch%20Widescreen%20LCD%20Touchscreen%20Monitor&lang=en&cc=us
My own general review/observations of using HP L2105TM Multi-touch screen.
This scren seems to have some how slipped beneath everyone's radar as there were no reviews up that I could find on this screen anywhere. It's currently $300 on HP.com direct and came to about $350 with tax and 2-day shipping/handling. There's a star that seems to indicate the price may go up after 10/31/2009.
It was released at the same time as Windows 7 as part of the "Windows 7 Hardware releases for the day". Again it seems to have been buried somewhat in all the main Win 7 news.
Dell has a similar screen it's pricier at like $450+ and it doesn't have a standard interchangeable VESA back mount. I get my monitor arms in tomorrow so will put it on and test there. Hopefully I'll have pictures for people eventually.
I've drooled for such a screen for a long time wanting to use it as the control interface for my home theatre. I use a Gefen 4x2 HDMI switcher with clone, meaning it switches between 4 different HDMI inputs but clones the output to two different screens. The other screen is a Mitsubishi HC5000BL 1080p LCD Projector. Where this gets interesting is that it clones the HDCP signal as well. Not always properly unfortunately, like with the PS3, testing with Wall-E Blu-ray disc, it creates green sparkles on the HP screen (tried different cables didn't fix the green sparkles), but connecting directly to the PS3 without the Gefen 4X2 HDMI switcher, is fine and has no issues. Connecting both the HP L2105TM and the Mitsubishi HC5000BL projector through the Gefen 4x2 switcher to a Toshiba HD-A1 works fine, connecting to an Xbox 360 also works fine, connecting to a Windows 7 HTPC with Nvidia 8800GTX running Slysoft AnyDVD HD and Arcsoft Total Media Theatre 3 Platinum also works fine no image problems. So it appears to be a problem with the HDCP handshake on the PS3 to the Gefen through to the two screens.
Test Platform:
AMD Phenom II X4 940 3.0ghz
8 gig of PC6400 memory
Asus M4N78 based motherboard
Nvidia 8800GTX graphics card
LG GGC-H20L HD-DVD/Blu-ray Reader drive
Microsoft Windows 7 Enterprise x64-bit RTM.
Arcsoft Total Media Theatre 3 Platinum
Cyberlink PowerDVD Ultra 9
Slysoft Anydvd HD
Slysoft Virtual CD
Combined Community Codec Pack CCCP 2008-09-21 (I wanted zoom player from this version, the latest version no longer has Zoom player). Fixed VirtualSub autoload extension manually.
Microsoft Touch Pack RTM
Microsoft Zune Player 4.0 x64 version
Art Rage 2.5 x32 win versino
Songbird
Microsoft Security Essentials
Unboxing/Setup:
It came in a typical cardboard box with foam, the stand is simple with a screw on the bottom of the baseplate to hold it to the main stand stem. Unfortunately it's not a telescoping/height adjustable stand. It only has some up/down and left/right swivel. I've ordered an Ergotron MX Desktop Monitor arm to improve this.
Included parts/Connectors:
The main parts include the monitor itself, display stand + plate, a simple stylus (found on the lower right corner of the screen, tucked into it's cubby hole), cables, quickstart guide and a CD for documentation and software. The monitor has 15-pin D-sub for Analog VGA, standard DVI with HDCP support, a 1/8 inch stereo input connector for sound via 2x1watt low-volume built-in speakers, which I suppose can be nice for some apps like Digital Signage for instance maybe. There is also a USB connector for the monitor to send an input signal to the computer. Standard computer power cable. Cables included were standard VGA cable, standard DVI cable, standard USB A-B cable, standard 1/8" M-M stereo PC audio cable and standard computer 3-prong power cable (yes the screen is 100-240V, ~50-60hz for those concerned with international usage).
Manual/Software/Warranty:
TThe screen comes with a 3-year on-site, 3 -year parts and labor warranty. Drivers are already included in Windows Vista and Windows 7 so you don't need to install anything for those operating systems. The CD includes documentation and XP touchscreen drivers. It also includes .ICM color profiles and Monitor .INF files for Win XP/Win Vista/Win 7 (it supports 32/64-bit versions of each of those). Also there are instructions for setting up the screen with Windows 2000 (but no touch support).
Supported Display Modes:
Preset Pixel, HorzFreq(kHz), Horz Polarity, Vert Freq (Hz), Vert Polarity, Pixel Clk (MHz), Source
1 640 x 480 31.469 - 59.940 - 25.175 VGA
2 720 x 400 31.469 - 70.087 + 28.322 VGA
3 800 x 600 37.879 + 60.317 + 40.000 VESA
4 1024 x 768 48.363 - 60.004 - 65.000 VESA
5 1280 x 720 45.00 + 60.00 + 74.25 VESA/CEA-861D
6 1280 x 960 60.00 ± 60.00 ± 108.000 VESA
7 1280 x 1024 63.98 + 60.02 + 108.000 VESA
8 1440 x 900 55.94 - 59.89 + 106.500 CVT 1.30MA
9 1600 x 1200 75.00 + 60.00 + 162.000 VESA
10 1680 x 1050 65.29 - 60.0 + 146.25 CVT 1.76MA
11 1920 x 1080 67.5 + 60.00 + 148.5 VESA/CEA-861D
Note: DRAT! no 1080P/24f mode supported =( and yes I tested it to make sure it didn't sigh... To be honest I don't fault HP here as 1080P/24f support is a relatively new thing and computer monitors (which this is supposed to be, not a Home Theatre screen). On the Gefen the Mitsubishi displays the 24fps fine but the HP goes into "display mode not supported". Hopefully in the future every screen will be 120hz and take all standard refresh rates 15/24/30/48/50/60/72/75/85/100/100 etc. etc. etc.
Physical Characteristics(dimensions)/Power (taken from HP manual):
DCR: 3000:1 (typical)
Brightness: 300cd/m^2 (typical)
View Angle: Horizontal 170 degrees, Vertical 160 degrees
Response time: 5ms (typical)
Display Color: 16.7M colors
Native/Optimum resolution 1920x1080(60hz)
Width: 20.2in/513mm
Height: 15.5in/393mm
Depth: 9in/228mm
Weight: 14.1lb/6.4kg (guessing this is including stand).
Power: 48W Max when on, less than 1 watt in sleep. 100-240V, ~50-60hz support.
The Screen itself:
The screen surface is a shiny glass which doesn't flex and distort color when pushed unlike a normal LCD screen. The glass definitely seems thicker/harder than normal LCD screens. The bezel is about 1/2 inch on the sides and 1 inch on top/bottom. The screen is recessed about 1/4 of an inch from the all black frame. The controls on the front are pretty basic. 5-buttons Menu, left/right, Auto-size/select, power on/off. You can adjust brightness/contrast, Phase/position/size for analog connection, color temperature etc., on-screen-display position, input source, speaker volume, language, and there's a reset.
I haven't found a screen protector for it yet. I was hoping Zagg would have one but no response back from them yet on one.
Overall brightness/contrast is ok. It doesn't stand out as being really better than a lot of monitors out there. It's better compared to an old Dell 2405FPW, maybe a bit worse contrast wise compared to a Samsung LNA40A650 being used as a screen.
It's definitely light enough to put on a strong monitor arm which I plan to do and put it next to the sofa. I went with an Ergotron MX deskmount arm. http://ergotron.com/Products/tabid/65/PRDID/56/language/en-US/default.aspx It works pretty well and once tensioning is adjusted it holds it fine. Note if you're gonna use a monitor arm for this and put it on a short table next to the sofa, be sure to balance/weight the table with arm/screen properly so that it doesn't tip when fully extended in any direction. A plywood base screwed/secured to the bottom of the end table legs and then a few nice looking (pillowcase wrapped sandbags) should work great.
Touch controls:
Using the screen with Windows 7 Enterprise x64-bit was a lot of fun for sure. It only supports 2 point multi-touch, so you can do things like pinch/squeeze/separate zoom in/out and two finger rotate image etc. Bing Virtual 3D Earth worked really well. Note: When first using the MS Touch Pack I had an issue where the Touch Pack didn't fire up "no multitouch device available" I unplugged the usb cable to the monitor, replugged it, and touched two different points at the same time and then Windows 7 detected it properly (Taction installed) I didn't have to calibrate it for this to work. Has problems recognizing along the edge, but the stylus does ok there. Suggest using a cropped workspace area if you're planning to do fingerpainting style manipulation. Works fine in low-light/no-ambient conditions. I was a bit worried since it's optical camera and IR camera with reflective screen, I suppose I shouldn't have been worried since it also has that IR camera looks like it works just fine. One thing when selecting things it's best to hold down a bit on what you want to select. A problem with the multi-touch I noticed is when trying to use one hand to do two points sometimes i'd left the rest of my hand get too close to the screen and it would register that as the 2nd point of contact. You don't have to actually touch the screen for it to detect a point of input. This causes problems for sure for those wanting to use this as a real Cintiq/Wacom tablet sort of drawing tool.
Stylus control:
More accurate than touch for sure, but less accurate than say my Lenovo Thinkpad X60 Tablet's built-in Wacom digitizer. It's not bad at all in my opinion. Certainly not bad considering it was only $350 (including tax/ship) vs a Cintiq 21" 1680x1050 which runs about $2000. Btw you can use other pointers, just be sure not to use something that'll scratch the screen. I tested with my X60's Digitizer pen and it worked fine. Using it with Microsoft's Touch Pack for Windows 7 was fun. It was pretty accurate here. Use with Art Rage was also pretty good. More than adequate for my tastes, but then I'm not a professional or even gifted amateur artist. I used the calibration with \Control Panel\Tablet PC Settings\ Calibrate button and it seemed to be a bit of an improvement over the default settings. Works fine along the edges.
Please don't try to think this really can replace a Cintiq/Wacom Tablet. It cannot, that is for sure. There's a huge disadvantage for this compared to a Cintiq/Wacom Tablet. You can't rest your hand on the screen since it's multitouch and doesn't distinguish between your hand or anything else, like the stylus. A point of interference is a point of contact to the sensors on this screen. With a Cintiq the artist can rest their hand on the surface of the screen while drawing and this makes it a lot easier. This screen would do ok for pictionary and if one got used to it I think it would perhaps be ok for large brush stroke style drawing/sketching, but don't try to use this for professional design/graphics. You'll probably end up disappointed unless you're really into finger painting.
Media Center/Netflix:
Works like I imagined in my dreams. Browsing Music, Videos, Pictures, scrolls/pans selects well like the best remote control I could ask for (now I just need wireless USB and HDMI and a coffee table with this screen built into it and spill/water/shatter proofed and I'll be set (or I need Project Natal to be done and setup to do video motion cap/voice recognition for all my controls, why yes I am a lazy couch potato, but I'm a lazy couch potato with a new remote control and dreaming of the next one, thank you very much). I would like a button in the corner to be able to call up the onscreen keyboard in Media Center on demand instead of it only popping up when keyboard interface is explicitly called for to fill in a field. So I could do things like type in a movie/song to find.
I need to reinstall Boxee and try it out with that sometime when I have more time.
Wish that Netflix HD was available for PC already. Tired of using a nice 1080P screen with Netflix and only getting poor DVD quality streaming. Are you reading this Netflix and Microsoft? Please please pretty please?
I also wish that there was a Zune HD plugin for Media Center, I think the Windows Zune's player is awesome, just wish it supported OGM and FLAC and was integrated into Media Center as an option to replace the music section of Media Center. I have to integrate My Movies 3 when it comes out and really vamp this box up.
Gaming:
I didn't buy this screen to play games with, but the Blackboard game included with MS Touch Pack is a pretty fun MouseTrap/Incredible machine style game. The aquarium is amusing
I would imagine that there are some fun uses with RTS's though a mouse's reaction time is probably better.
Zune/Songbird:
Wish that flicks were better supported in the main song browser intefrace. Certainly usable. For both I wish for a way to resize the scroll bars I think that would help a lot, or a way that if you hold your finger near the "scroll bar dragging button" that it auto-grabs it for you.
General Windows Control:
The onscreen keyboard could be a bit bigger to make typing easier. Otherwise with the stylus things work great, with touch it takes a bit of getting the hang of but also works very well except that the edge of the screen doesn't work so well because it doesn't register as well there. On the edges I suggest sticking with the pinky it tends to work better. This is problematic of course since the Start button is in the corner. People with thicker fingers may find things more difficult, but I think with practice/calibration/adjustments it may get easier.
E-book style navigation works well. Flicking/Scrolling through web pages/documents etc works fine. I'd suggest turning on selection checkboxes under Explorer\Tools\Folder Options\View Tab\check on "Use check boxes to select items" if you really want to use general file explorer functions with the touch/stylus control.
IE8 supports pinch/squeeze zooming, and navigation scrolling via flicks or drag with multi-touch.
Handwriting recognition:
Works VERY well actually. Surprisingly well. Windows 7 has really improved this over Windows Vista. My handwriting is HORRIBLE. It's pretty much chicken scrawl that I won't recognize my own notes after 2 weeks. I apologize to all my elementary school teachers for ignoring my penmanship grades. Turns out there was a purpose to all that work after all darn it, oh well my cursive and kanji suffer, but actually the recognition is REALLY REALLY GOOD with using the stylus. It's really amazing what MS has done here. If it's this good with no handwriting training to date, then I'd love to see what it is like after it's been trained.
Conclusion:
It would have been nice if HP/Microsoft had advertised this a bit more, but I'm guessing HP probably doesn't want to compete with it's own set of TouchSmart computers. It would have also been nice if Microsoft had made the Touch Pack software readily/freely available.
This screen rocks as a control interface for Media Center that's for sure. Wish it did 1080P/24f but at $300 this screen is still quite a bargain for what it brings to the market. So if you clone your signal out to this screen and your main theatre screen it's a great interface. For me it works well as I can use it with the main projector off if I want to just play music for instance.
It's not a Cintiq or a Wacom Tablet replacement. It is a good start though and works pretty well compared to the HP Touchsmart series. It's certainly good enough to play Solitaire or Hearts via touchscreen only interface. It's enjoyable to use and works very reliably once you're used to it.
Could it be better, sure, there is definitely room for improvement. I wish for instance they had included a nice screen protector like Zagg's in the box, but maybe it won't work well with one applied? I have no idea right now, if anyone finds out lemme know.
I really hope that they make adjustable onscreen keyboards. Maybe skinnable? Anyhow thanks to HP for making a great screen and to Microsoft for Windows 7. Just a bit more work and things will really be grand =)
*Updated 4:23AM PST 11/01/2009*
How do you think about my project:
The Audio video receiver and satellite cables as well as new HTPC are in the remote closet. I have two existing 35 ft, Cat5(RJ45) cables from closet to kitchen. Project is to control W7 WMC through a touch panel monitor in kitchen. I come up with two options. I am wondering which one if any would work better.
1- Have a all-in-one desktop with touchscreen in kitchen and control the WMC in HTPC through network connection or through other software as PC Anywhere.
2- Mount a touch panel monitor in kitchen and hook-up it to HTPC in closet. In this case I should use a pair of DVI via Cat5 (Iogear GVE 200 1920*1200) and a pair of USB 1.1 via Cat5 ( Cable To Go 29341) adopters to be able to connect the DVI and USB port of monitor to HTPC through existing two cat5's.
Thanks very much,
How to disable Multi-Touch feature and switch to Stylus mode in Windows 7?
On the L2105TM? You can't the stylus uses the same sensors/input mechanism as the multi-touch operation. So you can't use the stylus without turning off the multitouch. It's not a true stylus like a Wacom where it relies on a magnetic interface to sense where the digitizer pen is.
Hi Omidreza,
That sounds pretty cool. With Windows 7 I've found the Remote Desktop is significantly improved over Windows XP/Vista. So you could get away with option 1 the AIO Touchscreen desktop. 2 would require building a PC for it. I don't know about the extending the USB across CAT 5 as I've never done it myself. I assume that it should just work fine as video which is much higher bandwidth works fine across CAT 5. I don't know if there may be a lag in response time though. Good luck with your project!
Any way we could get ride of multi-touch feature and keep single touch feature because multi-touch is a painful feature for graphic design.
Excellent review. What are the specific native drivers being used by the touchscreen w/ Windows 7?
great review! do you need a multitouch screen to do the swipes etc in MCE?