Dell has been steadily increasing its product range in the large format display category and at BETT it was showing, for the first time globally, an 86″ interactive UltraHD display with FlatFrog ‘InGlass’ touch, the C8618QT. The display has anti-glare and anti-smudge coatings. Dell has designed so that a standard Optiplex micro chassis can fit on the back using a special case moulding. This means that regular PCs, which have been qualified for IT use and security can be used to drive the display. Dell suggested to us that the case that is used to fix the case to the display could be fabricated using a 3D printer, so even if another PC or form factor was used in the future, it shouldn’t be difficult to make a case.
Dell has an Optiplex Holder for the back of its displays. Image:Meko
Connections include HDM, DisplayPort and RS-232 and the display has 40W speakers, so is suitable for quite large rooms. The display is expected to cost less than $11,000 and will ship from May, with pre-orders in March. A 55″, the C5518QT is similar in specification and will cost less than $5,000. Both displays, and all of Dell’s touch displays include access to the DisplayNote software.
As well as direct view displays, the company was showing the S560T projector which is a currently shipping product and was launched at Infocomm.
Dell also showed new Latitude 11 convertible ($579) and Chromebook 11 convertible ($349) with fully sealed keyboards and the Latitude uses a 7th generation Celeron or Pentium processors, while the Chromebook uses 6th generation Celerons. There are also 11″ 180deg 13″ versions and all of them are designed to Mil-std 810G to withstand the classroom environment!
Dell’s Canvas is for creatives. Image:Meko
We got a chance to have a quick look at the Dell Canvas system which is a flat-mounted 27″ touch display designed to act as an interactive surface and which is due to start shipping in April and is expected to cost $1,799 in the US. The display has 2560 x 1440 resolution with 100% AdobeRGB coverage and comes a pen and with two ‘totems’ which are ‘dials’ that can be detected by the display and used as rotary controls and push buttons. They use Wacom technology and are similar to the Surface Dial that Microsoft has for its Surface Studio PC.
Analyst Comment
I like the idea of the Dell Canvas and it’s easy to see how good it might be for those that have to interact with PCs without using a keyboard. The only real issue I can imagine is that the unit completely occupies the space in front of the user, so would not be very practical for anyone that sometimes has to use a keyboard. Maybe you would need a desk with a shelf that slides away. (I have one of those, but don’t use the keyboard shelf as it it’s just a bit too low for regular use. I can imagine a pull out shelf that could sit very close to the Canvas display. BR
