Raspberry Pi official touchscreens now available for $60

By Jon Martindale September 8, 2015

Official Raspberry Pi DSI Display launch video

As good a job as the Raspberry Pi has done in offering unique programming opportunities for bedroom coders and school children around the world, it has not kept up with the input method du jour of the past few years, which has undoubtedly been touch. That’s all about to change though, as fans of the Pi can now buy an official touch-screen interface for their miniature system, and it costs just $60.

The reason it has taken so long for Raspberry to offer such a display isn’t because it was woefully ignorant about what people were tapping away on, but because finding one that was within the right specifications and price range was very important for the developers. There have been HDMI plug-in alternatives from third parties in the past, but the official version is much more suited to the task.

Recommended Videos

The result of this effort is a 7.1 inch, 800 x 480 pixel panel, with 10-point capacitive touch detection, and it hooks up to the Pi via the DSI connector. You can power it from the driver board, as well. That means the HDMI port is now free for alternative displays.

Related: Build a killer home media center with a $35 Raspberry Pi

The screen’s viewing angle is 70 degrees and even has a metal back to it with mounting holes for the Pi itself, so a standalone device could be created. It could even be battery powered, as this screen only draws 2.25 watts.

The standard bezel is black, but the display actually comes with six more colorful options too.

The uses for such a new input method are numerous, though the official Foundation has been testing a touch-based home thermostat control system which it will showcase in future blog entries. And although — as the developers described — a ten-point sensitive touch screen is overkill on such a small device, this does mean there are even more potential uses for collaborative work or more complicated inputs.

Topics

Evergreen writer

Jon Martindale is a freelance evergreen writer and occasional section coordinator, covering how to guides, best-of lists, and…

Computing

I have Meta Quest 3S and this is the best VR accessory yet — it’s on sale

Kiwi Design best VR accessory Meta Quest 3 headstrap

Ahead of the holidays and some prime family time, I've picked up the Meta Quest 3S. So far, my family is absolutely loving it, and my kids are constantly bugging me to play games, explore worlds, and get virtual. Naturally, I manage the time we're all spending -- you don't want too much screen time. But regardless, every one of us ends up becoming immersed, which means spending a lot of time with the headset on. One of the biggest drawbacks of the stock setup is that the headstrap is uncomfortable, and it puts a lot of pressure on your face. That means, the Meta Quest 3S's best VR accessory -- and the Meta Quest 3, too -- is a new, custom strap.

We grabbed the Kiwi Design Quest 3-Quest 3S headstrap and it's fantastic. It's also on sale right now for 20% off. Normally $30, it's discounted to $24 with a coupon code. Why am I sharing? If you pick up a Meta Quest 3 or 3S for yourself, or you're planning to gift one to someone over the holidays, I highly recommend ordering one of these straps. It vastly improves the experience and makes wearing the headset much more comfortable. It's also easy to adjust the fit, which is a big deal for kids. You have no idea how frustrating it was to constantly adjust the headstrap for my children between each turn.

Computing

Best early GPU Black Friday deals: Save on top graphics cards now

The Gigabyte RX 6750 GRE graphics card over a dark background.

Building a PC from scratch can be a lot of fun, and with the upcoming Black Friday on November 29, it's a perfect time for you to pick up hardware. One of the most fun bits of any build is picking the parts, and for that, graphics cards are probably the most fun to pick between. That said, GPUs also tend to be the most expensive pieces of hardware that go into a desktop, especially if you're trying to aim for something in the mid-to-high-end range that can easily reach $500 or even $1,000. That's why we've gone out and collected some of our favorite early Black Friday GPU deals for you below.
GIGABYTE NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 -- $290 $350 17% off

This RTX 3060 is a great starter card for those who want to be on a budget and will handle most slightly older games pretty well at 1080p and 60Hz, potentially up to 100. It may struggle a bit with newer titles without compromises, but that's fine given the reduced $290 price point.

Computing

Nvidia just scaled down DLSS 3, and that’s a good thing

The RTX 4080 Super graphics card sitting on a pink background.

Nvidia's signature tech, DLSS 3, just got yet another update -- and although it's subtle, it actually seems like a good thing for some of the best graphics cards. The latest version, 3.8.10, bundled with the GeForce 566.14 driver, doesn't seem to introduce any major changes, but Nvidia enthusiasts noticed that it's about half the size that it used to be. Where's that difference coming from?

No, Nvidia didn't downgrade DLSS 3 -- at least not in any major way. Although this hasn't been confirmed by Nvidia itself, it appears that the company removed a whole bunch of DLSS presets and replaced them with just two. These presets make it easier for gamers to choose the type of focus they want to apply to each game.