The Raspberry Pi is very low cost, but all you get for your money is the actual bare-bones device itself. You will still need to add an SD card, cables, a USB keyboard and mouse, and a screen before you can use it -- some of which you will likely already have lying around at home.
There are numerous add-ons available to buy too, including an official case, and today the Raspberry Pi Foundation introduces one more addition to its range -- a superb (and affordable) 7 inch touchscreen display.
Priced at $60/£48, the 800 x 480 screen only requires two connections to the Pi -- power from the GPIO port and a ribbon cable that connects to the DSI port. The Pi sits behind the screen, and it’s a really well thought out design.
Drivers, which support 10-finger touch, and an on screen keyboard, will be integrated into Raspbian OS, so just grab the latest version and you’re good to go.
The technical specs of the new screen are as follows:
- 7" Touchscreen Display.
- Screen Dimensions: 194mm x 110mm x 20mm (including standoffs)
- Viewable screen size: 155mm x 86mm
- Screen Resolution 800 x 480 pixels
- 10 finger capacitive touch.
- Connects to the Raspberry Pi board using a ribbon cable connected to the DSI port.
- Adapter board is used to power the display and convert the parallel signals from the display to the serial (DSI) port on the Raspberry Pi.
The display is compatible with all three of the latest Pi models -- the Raspberry Pi Model A+, Raspberry Pi Model B+, and Raspberry Pi 2 Model B. If you have an older model, you might want to think about upgrading to a new one. It won’t break the bank after all.
You can find out more about the screen here, and buy it from the Swag Store, RS Components/Allied Electronics and Premier Farnell/Newark. It will be available at other retailers in due course.