Planar Systems founded by Jim hurd, chris King and John laney in 1983. Acquires electroluminescent (El) rights from tektronix and becomes the first U.S. Manufacturer of commercial El displays. Establishes headquarters and first manufacturing plant in beaverton, Oregon. In 2015, planar become a subsidiary of leyard optoelectronic Co., Ltd. Leyard was founded in 1995, is headquartered in beijing, China and is traded on the shenzhen stock exchange. Leyard is a global leader in the design, production, distribution, and service of digital displays, video walls, and visualization products worldwide.
J**H
Good touchscreen, display, and value
Having used both Elo and Planar touchscreens, I've always found the planar units to be more responsive and to have slightly crisper displays. This new model from Planar's "value series" did not dissapoint. I used it to build a touchscreen kitchen PC and paired it with a VESA100 undercabinet mount from 'Premier Mounts' (also available on amazon) and an old laptop.THE GOOD:*Most importantly the planar passes the "wife test" for ease of use.*The 15" size at 1024x768 resolution is large enough for iTunes and Windows Media Center without any scrolling/resolution issues and yet leaves space below the screen for plates and objects on the counter.*The other nice thing about this model is that the bezel around the screen is on the smaller side. Too many touchscreens have huge/ugly bezels.*No drivers/software required for Windows--just connect the USB cable to your PC and it starts working. An optional calibration program can improve accuracy.THE BAD:*As with all touchcreens, response time is slower than a normal LCD which causes a trace of ghosting during fast action video (e.g. sports), but this issue is barely noticeable... especially on a kitchen PC where you are only half paying attention.*The vertical viewing angle is "OK" but not great. Standing above the screen while it is tilted slightly up, you get some washing out of colors. You may need to tilt significantly to avoid this.*The 1-watt speakers built into the monitor are better than many built-in speakers, but they still aren't "good enough." You're going to want external speakers if there is any kind of ambient noise nearby. Zero bass.*This isn't really a negative but I just wanted to mention that this is NOT a multi-touch monitor. You can only touch one place at one time.Overall -- I'm very happy and would purchase again!