What are the Best Touchscreens to Buy?

Hello everyone,

I want to buy touchscreens, and am not sure which ones to get.

It is sort of a unique situation, though. I am in the process of placing an order with Mixtuur's American dealer (Mixtuur USA) for a five-manual Block Organ V Model C Open Table Console. Unlike most purchasers of the Mixtuur Block Organ, I already have a computer built by Arnold Organs/Custom Organ Works in Minnesota. The person helping me at the dealer recommended that I not purchase Mixtuur's touchscreens they build themselves at their plant in The Netherlands. The reason for this is that:

A). They are expensive (somewhere in the range of US $850 to US$1150 - I do not know if the pricing is proprietary or not, so I am not going to give the exact amount);

B). Mixtuur's proprietary touchscreens they build connect to a European-style computer port, whereas my Arnold-built computer has American-style ports, so I would have to buy an adapter to make them work with the computer

C). Mixtuur's proprietary touchscreens are designed specifically to work with Mixtuur's proprietary computers, so since I already have a computer from another manufacturer, the issue is moot regarding item #C.

So, can some of you please give me some advice on which are the best touchscreens to get? Initially, I was wanting either four touchscreens or three touchscreens plus one regular monitor. One of the people at the American Mixtuur dealership said that instead, I could get to very large touchscreens (implied that they are mounted portrait-style), and then just have two windows open on each, especially given the fact that my computer only has two DVI ports open on my computer.

I intend to use the touchscreens for adding stops/activating the Hauptwerk master couplers while in the middle of playing. I intend to use the thumb pistons for changing registrations, and I intend to use my two Novation Launchpads MK2s as a toy counter for my theater organ sample sets, and for a variety of different purposes for both my classical and theater sample sets. For registering the organ before playing, I intend to mainly use the computer mouse. I also intend to keep at least one window open in case I need to use the ctrl+alt+del.

Also, does anyone have recommendations on a good, high-quality, long-lasting, affordable powered USB hub?

Thanks for all of your help.

P.S. To get ahead of the seemingly inevitable question regarding why I did not just purchase a MIDI console from Arnold Organs given the fact they built my computer, the main reasons are that I personally know the person who runs the Mixtuur USA dealership, I like having dealership support for any organ that I purchase, Mixtuur is one of the longest lasting and most successful Hauptwerk console builders, and the dealer is allowing me to trade-in my existing 2-manual 2021 Rodgers Inspire Classic Edition that I currently use as a MIDI controller for Hauptwerk in conjunction with a 34-inch NON-touchscreen monitor placed on a monitor stand above the organ cabinet, allowing the monitor screen to be above the Rodgers music rack.

I don't know for sure. I've never bought one, and they seem to change pretty quickly! What I would advise though is wait until you get the console and measure the hole. If you don't know that, our advice is pointless. Once you know the size of the monitor you need, that will narrow it down to a handful of contenders. Once we know what those are, we can help you pick one. When the time comes, the best may be one that isn't available now, so no sense trying to speculate this far out.

Hello everyone,

To answer @Larison's question regarding touchscreen holes, basically, right now the size of the holes for touchscreens does not matter, because A). the Block Organ does not come with holes in its standard configuration (although Mixtuur headquarters says they can probably have the holes drilled in any size I ask for if I want them), and B). Touchscreen holes can be added after the organ arrives (according to Mixtuur USA, the dealer).

So basically, I am looking to have 4 or more windows open on two touchscreens mounted "portrait style". My Hauptwerk computer has two DVI ports open, and 4 USB-A ports open.

I would greatly appreciate any suggestions. Thank you all for your help.

Mr. M. Tozer

What I'm getting at is what size of monitor will fit? For instance, there's some reasonably priced touch screen monitors available from Lenovo or Viewsonic at Best Buy about 24 inches. Will that fit? If I was to buy touch screens for the same purpose, I'd probably get some of those. Just make sure they are multi touch, and connect to the computer by USB for the touch information. I don't really know what your console is going to look like and where on your console you're going to mount them, so hopefully that would work?

So, according to a schematic/blueprint Mixtuur sent me that shows the dimensions of a similar block organ (the schematic has 4 manuals; my organ will have 5), the relevant dimensions of the console are the following:

The width of the entire console table/keydesk is 1824mm, which translates to 71.81102 inches or 5.984252 feet, according to Microsoft Calculator's converter. The width of the keyboard stacks/keyboard blocks (including the key cheeks) 928mm, which translates to 36.53543 inches or 3.044619 feet, according to Microsoft Calculator's converter. There is flat table space on either side of the keyboard stacks/keyboard blocks and accompanying key cheeks. My belief is that each flat space is on either side is about 448 mm wide, which translates to 17.6378 inches or 1.469816 feet, according to Microsoft Calculator's converter. I derived this figure by the following sequence of equations: 1824 mm - 928mm = 896mm. 896mm divided by 2 = 448 mm. However, I could be wrong, as mathematics was always my worst subject in school.

So, to summarize, my belief is that there is 448 mm = 17.6378 inches = 1.469816 feet of space on either side of the keyboard stack/block and keycheeks.

Now, based on my own searches, it seems hard to find a touchscreen I am looking for: I have 2 DVI ports, at least 1 HDMI port, and 1 unknown port (which may by HDMI or VGA or something like that) that can be used on my Hauptwerk computer. I have 4 USB-A ports available. I will probably also purchase a powered USB hub. I am seeking to purchase at least 3 normal sized (17" to 24") touch screens, or 2 large portrait-style touchscreens (34"?), but regardless of which solution I use, all touchscreens must have a DVI and/or HDMI (ideally both) port, and USB A port, along with capacitive touch and multi-touch ability. It seems like there are no touchscreens out there that meet these requirements.

Also, is it possible to use a converter, say a HDMI to VDI (or vice-versa) for the display connections? Is it also possible to use a USB-C to USB-A converter as part of the processes transmitting touch data to/from the computer?

Thanks for your help.

A modern standard 24 inch monitor is about 20 inches wide and 12 inches tall. So they should fit, but might be a bit small for the space.

Most modern monitors use HDMI, but you can also get DVI to HDMI adaptors. Shouldn't make any difference. The main thing is make sure your video card supports 2 simultaneous monitors when using the 2 ports on it you plan to use.

As for USB-A or USB-C, you can plug a USB-A cable into a USB C port with an adapter, but not vice versa. Most monitors are USB-A, so it shouldn't be a problem.

There are many touch screens that meet the requirements you have said. As I said, most these days use HDMI and a USB A port. Capacitive touch just means it's a touch screen (like a phone), they all have that. It used to be hard to get multi-touch ones, but not anymore!

34 inches seems awfully large. Remember that if it's ultrawide, you'll struggle to reach up that high when playing, and if it's regular aspect ratio, you'll struggle to reach laterally, and it won't fit in your console. So I think going with 24 inches is enough, that's already plenty big. If you want a third screen to see what's going on that's ok, but again you'll struggle to reach it, so no point it being a touch screen (and it is possible your video card doesn't support three concurrent monitors, you'd have to check). There are practically no sets that have three panes for stop controls anyway (it's even hard to get portrait controls for a lot of sets!).

The idea for the 34" Monitor is to have the monitor mounted portrait-style, but have two or more windows open landscape-style on each monitor. The reason for this is that I want to have landscape-style stop jambs on either side of the keystack, then above the left stop jamb have another window for registration/the master couplers/other controls, and on the right side, have either an additional open window for non-Hauptwerk purposes (mainly if ctrl+alt+delete is used), or, alternatively, additional Hauptwerk controls. The 34" figure also derives from the fact that I have a 34" inch non-touch screen mounted on a monitor stand on the top of my Rodgers Inspire Classic Edition organ's cabinet, so that the screen is above the music rack (for reference purposes, if you go to the Rodgers website, the Inspire 233 uses the same cabinet shape/size/specs, but the stoplist is pretty much, if not entirely identical to the Rodgers Inspire 227). I use one half of the current screen for viewing the available stops, and the other half of the screen has registration toolbars, master couplers, etc. I wish I could use the current screen, but it does not have touch capacity.

Also, where do I look on my computer to find out if the video card can handle two touchscreens operating at once?

Well, I guess you know what you want. Still seems big to me though! Maybe a good idea to mock everything up when it arrives to make sure everything is ergonomic! 34 inch touch monitors seem awfully pricey!

Usually you can find the model of your video card and look it up online. I think it's likely it supports two concurrent monitors, but they don't always support three. As long as it will display the monitor, it will support the touch screen, the touch is a separate layer on top of a standard display.

I was wondering, which technology for touchscreens is best for Hauptwerk? Projected Capacitive touchscreen, surface capcitive touchscreen, or resistive touchscreen technologies? Thanks for your help.

Projected capacitive. If it has multi touch, it's projected capacitive. Surface cap only allows for a single touch. Resistive touchscreens are like what was used on the palm pilots of old.

I have noticed several MIDI-only Hauptwerk organ builders take what appears to be a normal landscape-/horizontal-style touchscreen, and turn in 90 degrees to make it portrait-/vertical-style. Yet, though the screen is rotated 90 degrees, the content on the screen is not rotated 90 degrees. How does one orient what is on the computer screen to be in normal position while the screen is rotated 90 degrees? Thank you, @Larason, for all of your help and information.

So, I found out my computer has a Nvidia GeForce 710 (not the 710M). I have seen conflicting information as to whether it can run only two screens at a time, or three screens at time. Does anyone have a definitive answer on this? Thanks for your help.

When you set up your extra screens, you can set them up as portrait instead of landscape in Windows, so that shouldn't be a problem.

Hmmm. Graphics cards are tricky. There are graphics chipsets available, but every card manufacturer uses them differently, and so they have different specifications. There are two chipsets with similar names from Nvidia, the Geforce GT 710 from 2014 that is no longer being made, and the more modern Geforce 710M. That's just the computer in the core of the card that renders graphics. The chip manufacturer takes that and uses it to make a graphics card. How they make the card determines the number of outputs. Do you know the actual company that made it and the model number? You'll have to review their documentation, as knowing the chipset doesn't tell you the information you need. Do you have two graphics cards? I'm not seeing any graphics cards with those chipsets with the number of outputs you say you have. For instance, MSI is a company that makes graphics cards using Nvidia chipsets. Some graphics cards take two slots, and that lets them support more outputs, but it would be better to know which one exactly you have.

@Larason, Thank you so much for all of the information you have given me in this thread. It is greatly appreciated. If I have any more questions, I will continue to post in this thread. Thanks again!