back to article Reg hack runs Windows 8 on 82-inch touchscreen

Back in July, Microsoft acquired a company called Perceptive Pixel which makes 82-inch capacitative multi-touch screens. Here at TechEd Australia, there are a couple on display running Windows 8. We couldn't resist the chance to have a play with one, to see what The Interface Formerly Known as Metro feels like when running on …

COMMENTS

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  1. Knoydart
    Unhappy

    Poor video

    Dear El Reg,

    please a) sort out the audio as the background noise is almost drowning out the man speaking and b) please get a tripod. Shakey video looks likes Amcam from the 90's

    Thanks

    your (dis)loyal readers on the other side of the ditch

  2. Field Marshal Von Krakenfart
    Joke

    Oh!! The horror!

    It reminds me of the (old) joke about the tourist seeing the soilder outside buckingham palace In full highland kit. She turns to her husband and says "You know they can't react to you no matter what you do, and I've always wondered what they wear under the kilt".

    As she lifted the Scotsmans kilt she let out a cry of horror' "Oh my god, its gruesome!"

    As they walked away they heard a heavy scots accent "have another look lassie, it's gruesomemore"

  3. This post has been deleted by its author

  4. Kevin McMurtrie Silver badge
    Joke

    82 inch TV

    You have a large child.

    1. This post has been deleted by its author

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Was never Metro...

    ...according to Microsucks talking heads.

    Spare me if I'm not pining to own an 82" touchscreen.

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Up

    Started Out OK

    The webpage looked great, bet even I wouldn't need specs to read a screen that big. But it went downhill after when you touched the side of the screen and that kiddies cartoon show started.

  7. Gerrit van Amerongen
    Coat

    Great vid

    But am left wondering what the hell a 'Beezil' is at 00:30

    1. nrta
      Coat

      Re: Great vid

      Bastard love child of a bee and a weasel.

  8. nematoad
    FAIL

    And the final change is...

    ... no longer the bsod but The Blue Wall of Death!(tm)

    Oh, and by the way I though he was actually running "In the Night Garden" not an OS for grown ups.

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Facepalm

    Really? What use is there to stand 1 foot from a TV that large to use touch? Your practically headbutting it to move a page on the web browser. Ok, so say we stand a good arms length away, and use the touch, we still have to lean over to reach that "single pixel charm" rubbish! Gah, worse idea ever. Add a air remote/mouse/wii controller or something, please! (Or even motion sensors)

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      hmm...

      Think interactive whiteboard.

      1. keithpeter Silver badge
        Boffin

        Re: hmm...

        "If the video above has you salivating at the prospect of a monitor with these colossal dimensions, prepare to shell out US$80,000."

        Yup, one of the 3m anamorphic projector heads that fold out of the top and a choice of hard board with UV finger sensing or smartboard for the interactive whiteboard. I use those most days. Set you back £3K or so plus a bit for installation.

        However, multi-touchy type gestures could be problematic depending on the IW sensing technology and the software the IW manufacturers provide.

  10. SpitefulGOD

    Windows 8 is amazeballs

    look at these commentards... If you saw it, you'd be straight over there to mess with it. Stop being retards.

    1. hplasm
      Windows

      Re: Windows 8 is amazeballs

      Where [amaze] is silent.

  11. Alex Walsh

    the thing about trade shows...

    ...is TV's looks titchy. The diagonal on that is 32 inches bigger than our not insignificant plasma TV but it doesn't look THAT huge.

    1. Paddy 1

      Re: the thing about trade shows...

      Its would look chavtastic in your home though

  12. h4rm0ny

    Resolution?

    Article would have been better with a note saying what the resolution on the display was.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Resolution?

      1280x1024?

  13. RonWheeler
    FAIL

    Elephant in the room

    It is a pointless gimmick. The number of palces I've seen spnd a mint of stupid whiteboards because some marketing drone or trainer wanted it. Then used it twice and never again. You have to stand in front of the most interesting part of the screen to use it, inherently blocking the view for everyone who isn't carefully positioned at a sideways angle.

    .

    1. keithpeter Silver badge
      Boffin

      Re: Elephant in the room

      I use IWs every day, 4 to 6hours a day, 9 hours on Thursday (love the evening classes).

      You develop strategies (I annotate PPTs based on whole group q&a and use some of the interactive reveal thingies the software provides, then we print the results to pdf and pop them into Moodle - too much of my handwriting looks pants anyway). Some kinds of board have a storage facility so you can 'play it again' - students find this endlessly cool for some reason (and this is the iPad generation teenagers!). Good for recap the next week. Plenty of maths widgets and backgrounds available in the IW software freebies. Plenty of interactive stuff on t'interwebs.

      I'm looking forward to cheap tablets with stylus that have projector sockets. Could do the whole thing for the cost of the projector then. Fat finger tablet screens not quite fine enough for writing.

      Shadows: You need to avoid looking into the projector for safety anyway, and I like the anamorphic lensed projectors that fold out the top, no problem with shadows, and left-handed teachers don't need to change writing style.

      Anyone use the Mimio stuff here? I imagine clipping a thingy onto the flipchart might be more effective for commercial training than the full IW.

      PS anyone who drops 80K on one of these screens for training use wants their head testing. I'm assuming this thing is a 'concept car' for marketing types.

      1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge
        Thumb Up

        Re: Elephant in the room

        We just filled a school with similar screens. Only 62" jobbies though, PC bit is inside the unit, price was only slightly more than the price of a SmartBoard+projector+PC+projector mount, cabling all over the place, mains wiring to the ceiling projector etc,etc, etc.

        The screen, including the inbuilt PC gubbins just hangs on the wall and needs a power and ethernet connection, job done.

  14. El Andy
    FAIL

    Lucky?

    Luckily I got it right first time

    Was it lucky, though? Or is it actually just working exactly as designed? It didn't actually seem to cause you any issues whatsoever, so quite why you make out it will is beyond me.

  15. Adam T
    Pint

    Charm Bar

    "easy on a tablet or conventional touch screen if you swipe in from the left, but tricky to get right on the 82-incher because it has a thick bezel that makes it hard to get a finger in to find that single column of pixels."

    You could have shortened that to "tricky because you have to walk over to it."

  16. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Up

    Liked the video

    That it wasn't a perfect video only adds up to it IMO. I only see a guy (possibly) suddenly thinking "hey, that could be cool for an El Reg article" and without any planning shot a video with the help of a colleague or friend or helpful bystander.

  17. Primus Secundus Tertius
    Go

    Perfect Acronym

    Full marks to Simon for the perfect acronym: TIFKAM, The Interface Formerly Known As Metro.

  18. Daniel Harris 1
    Facepalm

    Charms come in from the right hand side of the screen, not the left

  19. Ralph B
    Happy

    "Touch Screen"?

    It's a "Punch Screen", Shirley?

  20. harmjschoonhoven
    FAIL

    Re: Resolution

    According to the info on the Perceptive Pixel website the resolution is 1920x1080.

    You 'll be disappointed if you can compare it with a 4k monitor.

    Oh, and if you spend 80k$ for the 82", do not forget a few decent hooks in the wall.

    It weights 120 kg.

  21. C. P. Cosgrove

    To do the 82 inch monster justice, I ran the vid at full screen. Mistake.

    The Vulture - at full screen ! Aarrgh !

    Chris Cosgrove

  22. Simon_Sharwood_Reg_APAC_Editor (Written by Reg staff)
    Coffee/keyboard

    Thanks all for the comments. I knew as I tried this that the results would be a tad ropey, but an 82-incher is not the kind of thing that works well with words and I had no video kit other than my Californian phone to hand. I'll do better next time!

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