The Raspberry Pi Foundation has rolled out a new piece of hardware today – the official Raspberry Pi touchscreen display which can be available for $60 through online and brick-and-mortar retailers. The launch comes a year after the organization unveiled the device and is the work of UK-based Inelco Hunter.
The 7” unit flaunts 800 x 480 panel working at 60fps, with a 70-degree viewing anger and a 10-finger touch. It will let users custom build their own devices and tablets that need screens to be usable. Users can connect their Pi to the display through two connections from the board – one for power and the other for data. It is powered from the Pi’s GPIO port while a ribbon cable connects to the DSI port. The display doesn’t rely on HDMI.
Raspberry Pi touchscreen display
The Raspberry Pi Foundation says the touchscreen drivers will soon be released along with an update to accommodate on-screen keyboard functionality. Raspberry Pi Foundation will integrate the on-screen keyboard functionality into the latest version of the OS along with pre-select touch enabled educational and software programs for Pi.
The Raspberry Pi 7-inch display is compatible with Raspberry Pi 2 Model A+, Raspberry Pi Model B+, and Raspberry Pi Model B. It can work with Model A and Model B boards too, but would require extra efforts.
The Raspberry Pi, a bare-bones device, was created as an easy entry point for enthusiasts and budding programmers to create computers and electronic equipments and for kids to learn to code. Although, lately it has gained a new label as an affordable means of hacking new technologies in emerging markets. Launched in 2012, it only supported a few operating systems, including Linux, a processor upgrade in the Raspberry Pi 2, which launched back in February.
The launch of the official Raspberry Pi touchscreen display makes things a lot easier for budding developers. The frame of the display is available in six colors to choose from: red, blue, black, orange, green and purple.
