Large Multi-Touch Monitors For Bitwig - What are you using and how does it perform?

[Made In Machines]

I'm looking for a large multi-touch monitor that's very responsive and accurate with no noticable latency.

I recently tried an XPS 9575 2 in 1 and found touch very useful and fun for tweaking knobs, sliding faders and playing in notes and especially for recording or drawing automation. For everything else i'm not so convinced. I'm not sure if that was down to 15 inch being a bit small or whether fingers just aren't very good for precise functions (a digitiser pen may do things the other things much better but I didn't have one during my testing).

Part of me thinks I should just make do with midi controllers but I much prefer dealing directly with the original interface of the plugins rather than going through an intermediary or mapping things. It's so much more intuitive - everything is there on a big screen labelled with icons and graphics - it's so direct and easy. As close as you can get to using hardware aside from the physical feel of the controls.

With that in mind I wondering what the options are without blowing two or three thousand on a wacom cintiq pro 24 or a surface studio? If anyone has experience with using a cintiq pro with pen or touch and bitwig i'd be very interested to hear your experiences though.

The only high resolution one i've come across is the Acer T272HUL but I have no idea how well it will perform on mac or windows. Most of the options i've come across seem to be almost legacy products that were produced 4 years ago or more and I have no idea if they use older inferior technology compared to todays tablets and 2 in 1 laptops or just aren't really supported anymore on the software side of things. It seems difficult to know what is going to work well without just buying and returning a bunch of them until I find something that works which is a very laborious process. Some reviews of touch screens seem positive others claim they are high latency and unresponsive. I'm not sure what to think anymore.

Thanks,
Pete

[amadeusp]

Hey Pete

I am only here to chime in and say that I am interested in trying a Cintiq Touch with Bitwig Studio on macOS (as well).

Ever since I used a Surface Pro and Bitwig "with my fingers" I am kind of hooked with the idea of upgrading my main macOS rig with touch.

I will see if I can find a store that maybe has a demo unit to try it first.

At the same time I hope that touch for Bitwig Stduio is improved with future releases as well. My assumption is that touch still only accounts for a very small portion of Bitwig users.

All the best!

Amadeus

[lunardigs]

I'm running two Dell P2418HT (1920x1080, 24"). I've had them for about a year and they work very well. The color isn't super, but touchscreen monitors with graphic design characteristics ends up in the $1k+ range--at least when I looked last. Meanwhile, these were roughly $500 for the pair.

Yes, I definitely agree that touch-control upon BWS is a huge boon. I specifically got touchscreens just to have the ability for my desktop DAW. In fact, as the conversations have come up about 'what's the best controller for Bitwig?' I've suggest entertaining the idea of a good touchscreen, instead of physical controller--get a physical controller too; you can have both.

Btw, I know it's been expressed that touch ability in BWS is perhaps a gimmick, to some. I think I may have felt that way too, or rather it wasn't important to me. Although, I must say now that it's something I wouldn't want to be without. This isn't to say there's not room for improvement, because there is. Overall though, they've done a good job at implementing mult-touch functionality.

[amadeusp]

Hey lunardigs, great read!

You are on Windows, right?

I agree, I also like the touch implementation of Bitwig Studio a lot. At the moment I primarily use it on the Surface Pro when I am on the go. But when I am in the studio I constantly find myself wanting to touch the big screen too.

[Tj Shredder]

Does a touch monitor also work on a Mac with Bitwig?

[amadeusp]

Hey Tj Shredder

Yes, but macOS needs a driver for the specific touch display. There's also some generic driver manufacturers out there.

[lunardigs]

Hey amadeusp, glad to help!
I'm on Linux and so I look for class compliant stuff. Many if not most touchscreens are class compliant these days and the Dell P2418HT is one such. Ultimately though, it's the application in question which is either multi-touch aware or not. BWS is multi-touch and should behave the same across all OSs.

Btw, I've heard really good things about the Surface Pro for BWS. In fact, I think Bitwig went to some length to enhance/integrate the experience for those upon Surface.

Yes, I find myself constantly reaching out for my screen now, be it a touchscreen or not . I gotta say, it's quite a handy thing when I have a guitar slung--it's definitely faster than a mouse, or keyboard should BWS not have focus. I also like my hardware controllers too, for variety.

One useful thing I've discovered too is that plugins which are not multi-touch aware, can be used in a multi-touch manner if mapped via the BWS remote control pages. Of course, this doesn't make the native plugin GUI multi-touch, but it does make those select parameters available via the BWS GUI multi-touchable.

One other thing, the BWS touch-keyboard widget (I don't know it's exact name) is great! It's clever and leads to creative results for me.

[amadeusp]

Hey lunardigs, interesting! Thanks for sharing!

Yes, Bitwig Studio indeed is a lot of fun on the Surface Pro. BTW: I have Ubuntu running on the Surface Pro 6.

Ultimately I would love to have multi touch on my main macOS system. This is where I am at home.

If I find a good solution for that (I heard of bad/failing macOS drivers, even for things like the Wacom Cintiq line), I will post it here.

Too bad Microsoft does not make a Surface Studio display. I would love that. I like the smart hinge design and the minimalist nature of it a lot.

[peteb2006]

Hi,

I have switched from a 4k display to a 27" 1920x1080 touch screen (Ilyama T2736MSC) and so far have found it much more intuitive and loads of fun, just occasionally reaching for the mouse! I had to get a better stand as the one supplied couldn't take the pressure from the touches in the corner but other than that .

P

[brunomolteni]

so far I've used bitwig with my convertible touchscreen ( hp spectre x360 13' ) and I love it, now ordered a vinpok split ( look it up) that's 15' so when I get it I will have double touchscreen to work with im eager to try it with bitwig

[FutureHorizons]

Perfect timing I have just finished a over 5 year project and thought I'd celebrate with a new monitor. I haven't used one for ages & just using my laptops screens.

Haven't looked at the Iiyama T2736MSC in detail https://iiyama.com/gl_en/products/prolite-t2736msc-b1/ specs yet.

Found the Elo 3202L Infrared 32inch https://www.elotouch.com/touchscreen-signage/3202l.html

Haven't really tried a touch screen with Bitwig or with any app yet besides iPad.

One issue is I do VisualFX also so want a reasonable spec for that as well if possible.

Acer T272HUL looks nice. https://www.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/m ... .HT2AA.002

[FutureHorizons]

Just for completeness:
ViewSonic TD2740
27inch
1920x1080
MVA
3,000:1
https://www.viewsonic.com/us/td2740.html

[ThomasHelzle]

This tool may also be interesting in this context:
https://hi.computer/chameleon/
Build your own controller for a touchscreen...

Cheers,

Tom

[zengel]

Wow ! Thanks ! It seems just great !
You can make part of the software transparent and layer it with your DAW !!

that's orginal !

https://hi.computer/chameleon-user-guide/

[zengel]

...."Image button allow you to use images in your buttons. This is a great way to customize, and decorate templates. Supported file formats are JPG, PNG, transparent PNG, GIF and animated GIF."....
Ok i buy it now.
It seems to be a crazy touchscreen controller !