cost of touch screen monitors for museums quotation

I get this question from friends and clients fairly regularly. What kind of recommendations do you have for a touch screen in an exhibit for my budget?

I originally posted this on June 21, 2017, last week I did a presentation at the New Mexico Association of Museums conference and wanted embed my presentation. I"ve also updated the content to include some more ideas.

The prices below do not include the prices of software development because that depends on the complexity of your project and who you hire. Here are a price ranges to give you an idea:

Pros: Basically free - this is even in a price point where decently well-off hobbyists can get in on the action. They"re also easy to purchase and replace if something happens to them.

Cons: The Pi is a wonderful thing for the price, but it isn"t a super powerful computer. You won"t be able to run really fancy, graphically intensive programs on this. Also, the screen isn"t big - only 7" diagonal. Finally, I am not sure I"m ready to guarantee that this is museum quality hardware that can withstand children banging on it every day.

Cons: I"ve heard a lot bad about using them in exhibits when they"re mounted. They tend to overheat and break down. They"re really not made for that kind of thing. Also has a small screen.

Project Ideas: So they tend to work pretty well as reference guides for docents, but that can also backfire. I"ve been to museums where instead of interfacing with visitors, the docents have their nose down on the tablet and are just reading stuff to them. It"s pretty silly, frankly. Visitors are also capable of Googling things.

Pros: Small and inexpensive. Great for streaming media, also can purchase in Enterprise Mode if you want to manage a bunch of them or unlock other options. They"re compatible with some touchscreens, but you"re likely better off using something else if you"re trying to create a touchscreen kiosk program.

Project Ideas: One particular project that I know this is being used for is the ViewSpace theater in the New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science. The old computer died, so now they"re streaming the content using a Chromebox.

Cons: I"ve seen these get broken into a lot in exhibits. Apparently there are some better ways to lock them down now, though. Small screen. If you want to have your app run on it, you have to go through the Apple Store even if you don"t want it to run anywhere else.

Cons: Make sure you build a good case for this thing. I"ve seen people break into these with a flash drive if you don"t block all the ports. Also not a good choice if you want a huge screen.

Project Ideas: Nice educational games, video viewers, etc. Maybe an app that uses computer vision with the built-in webcam that some of them have. At this point, the only limit is your imagination. :-)

Pros: This is a really unique piece of hardware that allows you to include physical pieces in your interactive. You also get two touchscreens for the price of one, which is a good deal. There are free apps that you can download from the Sprout marketplace that are pretty neat - there"s a measuring app, an app that allows you to create stop-motion videos, one that lets you convert currency, and many more.

Cons: Sometimes difficult to work with. On the first version, the hardware was a little finicky. I had to have one of the touch mats replaced, but on the other hand, the support staff was really friendly and mailed the parts right away. Hopefully they"ve improved that. Also, the buttons to turn it on and off are in a really conspicuous place, so you should be mindful of how you use it in your space.

Project Ideas: 3D building applications, walk visitors through assembling items, Allow visitors to walk a figurine through a 3D model of a historical site - lots of cool stuff. Also see Sim Pueblo

Cost: Touch screens range from ~$250 for the smallish ones (in which case you should just buy an all-in-one PC) to $1600 for a 55" to $11k for an 80" one!

There are a lot of options for computers. You can get any tower to work with these, or you can look at a small form-factor computer like an Intel NUC. Ballparks - $500 - $800

Pros: You can get exactly what you need to run really awesome software that makes a huge visual impact. They"re also flat screens, so you have a lot of options for embedding it in the wall and making a seamless experience.

Interactive Projections are one of those wonderful and flashy fun things that people love. One of the great things about them is that they don"t really need to cost as much as you think - you just need a projector, a computer, and a 3D camera.

Cons: Software cost will be a little bit higher than a typical touchscreen because you have to spend more time on the installation and testing. Don"t expect to get perfect touch capability unless you buy an expensive all-in-one setup. This is better for more experiential interactives. Also, make sure you plan this for a dark room - if you want to put it somewhere near a window, expect to pay A LOT of money for a projector!

Project Ideas: One of my favorite things I"ve seen with this is an interactive sandbox (shown above). You move the sand around with your hands and then it projects a topographical map on it. A fun program that my colleagues at Highlands did for a museum in Las Cruces is a thing where you step on dinosaur footprints to learn more about what dinosar made them. All kinds of good stuff!

A short-throw projector. You want a short-throw projector so you can mount it close to the wall and not worry about people"s shadows on the projection. I found a bunch of them on B&H photo. Look in to find the ones that are supposed to last a long time. The last thing you want to do is buy a cheap one and have it burn out in a month.

Pros: A lot of software possibilities. Some tables are safe for drinks, and Ideum"s even support tangible objects. They allow for a lot of interaction between visitors, also.

Cons: Expensive, debatable how long they last. I"ve heard that they aren"t projected to last much more than 3 years, but you can replace the touch screen if you need to.

If you really want to make a statement and put something huge in your space, think about a touch wall. They"re not as limited by light as a projection, and they"ll definitely turn heads. These can either be purchased as straight - up video or as touchscreens.

Cost: Goes up exponentially! You"re looking at $50k - 100k for the screens alone. You also need to get a beefy computer with a really beefy graphics card to be able to handle running a program on multiple screens simultaneously.

Cons: Very expensive! You"ll need to talk to a company that specializes in them. For my research, I talked to Planar Technology and they were helpful and great even though they knew I couldn"t buy anything. They make professional grade products, which is important. You don"t want to spend tens of thousands of dollars on a product that will break or not be able to hold up to the rigors of a museum environment.

If you’re the owner or manager of a museum, you should know that that installing interactive screens throughout your museum will make the information presented more accessible, more interesting for young people, and more modern. Visitors at your museum will take note of how convenient and easy it was to navigate and understand each exhibit with the help of your interactive touch screen solutions.

Imagine being able to explore the history of each exhibit through the combination of a variety of media. There’s no limit to what you can do with touch screens for museums by Digital Touch Systems. Our touch systems allow total synchronization among all devices, and integration of fully customized features.

However you want the software for your digital screens to work, we can accommodate you with them. Our talented and hardworking touch screen software development crew can make your ideas come to life. Your logo and museum name can be included in each page of your personalized touch screen software. If you choose, you can communicate directly with our touch screen software team to make sure they add all of the functions you want and design it the way you like it.

We can deliver all products straight to your museum. Setting them up takes only minutes. They will include all mounts and everything you need for installation. At Digital Touch Systems, we stand by the quality of our products. Let us provide you with touch screens for museums that bring your displays to life! Take the first step and contact us today!

Eliminate your software development costs and say goodbye to outsourcing. Intuiface museum exhibit software really really is easy-to-use. Our software for museums requires no programming skills, you"ll be creating exhibits in an hour!. It is backed by a 400+ article library, educational videos, pre-built templates, an active user community and excellent technical support

Museums, art galleries, and special exhibits are using an ever-increasing number of LCD video monitors and touch screens. Use LCD monitors to update or enhance exhibits with live video clips. Similarly, some cycle through a series of still images. Additionally, in attempts to provide a historical perspective, they often choose to use 4:3 aspect ratio monitors.

Firstly, TRU-Vu also provides 4:3 monitors (square monitors) to mimic old television sets.  Secondly, show classic films without distortion or annoying black bars.  Furthermore, the aspect ratio of a LCD display is the proportional relationship of its width compared to its height. The two numbers are commonly separated by a colon. The most common aspect ratios are 16:9 (aka widescreen) and 4:3 (aka square monitor, such as old CRT’s and TV’s). It is best to choose a monitor with the same aspect ratio as your video signal. However, you cannot customize a monitor’s native aspect ratio, so it is critical to know the aspect ratio of your incoming video signal beforehand.

For more modern displays, TRU-Vu provides 16:9 aspect ratio widescreen monitors. These provide the advantages of higher-resolution, digital video inputs, wider viewing angles, and greater longevity.

High brightness Sunlight Readable displays are used in outdoor or very brightly lit indoor areas. With over 1,000 nits of brightness, TRU-Vu Sunlight Readable displays are four times brighter than typical LCD monitors. These high brightness monitors are also used to produce stunning images with maximum visual impact in indoor areas, where maximum impact is desired. TRU-Vu Touch screen monitors are used for interactive displays, control, ticketing kiosks, or communication. Museums choose industrial-grade monitors and touch screens due to their ability to withstand abuse from high numbers of users and their long expected life cycle.

Museum curators often have very specific design concepts for their unique new displays. TRU-Vu Monitors has partnered with numerous prestigious museums and exhibit houses throughout the U.S. and Canada to produce one-of-a-kind custom monitor solutions. These have ranged from modern LCD panels housed in traditional CRT-type enclosures, to traditional 4:3 aspect ratio monitors with modern digital interfaces and state of the art controls.  See some of our most recent collaborations with others in the industry.

To help guide and educate visitors through their current exhibits, MCA have integrated the InTouch 22” and 32” touch screens throughout the museum. Every detail of the museum’s appearance is important, and the attractive pure flat edge-to-edge industrial glass and brushed silver trim fit nicely into the building’s newly renovated style.

We’re proudly Australian owned and operated, offering local support and expert advice. With extensive experience delivering and supporting hardware solutions to some of Australia’s leading companies, our local manufacturing strategy gives us full control of the quality, timing and  customisation which ensures a smooth roll-out every time. Many of Australia’s leading museums have chosen to work with InTouch for their touch screen solutions.

Visitors may have appreciated looking, and yet their opportunities to interact, discover, learn and engage were limited. But todaytouch screen solutionsand touch screen kiosks allow museum visitors to interact with exhibitions in ways that could only be imagined. At InTouch we joke with our museum customers that they can now add a new sign “LOOK & DO TOUCH”

Amuseum touch screen kioskis a powerful and effective tool for assisting museum visitors in finding their way to the exhibitions that they are interested in as well as making them aware of other exhibitions that they may not be aware of.

Galleries and museums are now creating virtual touch screen exhibitions where expensive, rare and fragile artefacts, artwork and displays are now presented virtually.

A touch screen display in a museum can bring an exhibit to life in a way that a printed display cannot. Add a map, picture, video, sound or narration. Engage them at a whole new level.

Easy and space effective provision of information in different formats that is suitable for different audiences and demographics (whether they be young children, school groups, adults or experts).

Many manufacturers change their models’ form factor regularly. This means that if you purchase a monitor this year, and then another one next year they are unlikely to match. If you have built one into a display it may not fit. If one breaks, you are likely to get a different look. But at InTouch we rarely change the look and feel.

We back this up with a 3 year 24 x 7 warranty which means that you can expect to run your touch screen monitor day and night, without turning it off, for three years without a problem.

Ask us about one of our customers in Melbourne who ran an exhibition with over 100 screens for over 3 years without a single touch screen failure. (even with daily busloads of school students engaging with them)

Many museums throughout Australia have entrusted InTouch to supply the commercial touch screens for their projects. In 2015 the ACMI in Melbourne worked with us over a 4 year period to rollout an extensive mixture of touch screens throughout their museum – these included 15”, 19”, 22”, 32” and 42” sizes.  To date there has been a 0% failure rate on all screens and the customer is thrilled with the outcome.

Another exciting project was Sydney’s Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) – they integrated a mix of 22” and 32” into the museum with their major renovation in 2018. The InTouch commercial touch screens were a perfect addition to the newly renovated style with their attractive pure flat edge-to-edge glass and silver trim.

Teguar provides touch screen computers and monitors that are built to last, even in the harshest settings. With durable, IP65 rated front panels, Teguar Interactive Displays are ideal for touchscreen applications in public areas, such as restaurant ordering boards and interactive venue maps. They are also suited for applications in high traffic areas where hundreds of users may interact with the touchscreen daily, including employee clock-in/out and interactive room signage. For outdoor interactive displays, Teguar has computers that are fully waterproof, have high-brightness screens for readability in sunlight, and can operate in a wide temperature range.

Interactive displays can come in two forms: all-in-one panel PC, or rugged box PC plus industrial monitor. Both forms provide high processing power and rugged bezels. Teguar provides interactive displays that are fanless and fully sealed, allowing them to function in dusty or dirty environments and protecting the system’s internal parts from sprays or spills. Teguar industrial computers are available with resistive touchscreens, which are highly durable and will register touch, even if the user is wearing gloves. Or, Teguar’s panel PCs can have a projective capacitive touchscreen, which allows multiple users to use the touch screen at once.

Teguar’s interactive displays can be found all over the world in settings including museums, amusement parks, conference rooms, restaurants, and even inside a monkey habitat, where primatologists are using innovative touchscreen technology to research and interact with primates. Whatever your application, Teguar has an interactive display that can provide a long-lasting, reliable solution.

Something we’re asked quite often over here at blackbox-av is “what’s the best type of touchscreen technology for use in a museum/heritage environment”, so we thought why not write a post that answers that question!

There are currently 4 main categories of touchscreen technology, Capacitive, Resistive, Surface Acoustic Wave (SAW) and Infrared. Although there’s a new kid on the block called Optical Imaging which is gaining in popularity but hasn’t really taken over the more conventional technologies yet, you should certainly watch this space though.

A capacitive touch screen is a control display that uses the conductive touch of a human finger or a specialized device for input.When a capacitive panel is touched, a small amount of charge is drawn to the point of contact, which becomes a functional capacitor.

The change in the electrostatic field is measured to find the location. In some designs, circuits located at each corner of the panel measure the charge and send the information to the controller for processing. In multi-touch screens, sensors are arranged in a grid to enable more complex input.

With resistive technology the main screen is covered with three layers. Two layers are placed over the screen and kept slightly apart, one is conductive and the other resistive, when the screen is touched these panels are pushed together registering the input. A scratch resistant surface completes the setup.

The best thing about resistive touchscreens is their ability to register inputs from any object, be it your finger, a pen or a gloved hand. They are also more accurate than other systems although more prone to damage and less responsive to a lighter touch.

When most people think of Infrared touchscreens they think of the classic 1980’s computers with orange/green text and a massive frame around the monitor, the fact is this technolgy still very much has a place in the modern world, it’s one of the more robust options and works by simply setting up a pattern of criss crossing infrared that when broken registers as an input.

There are a number of drawbacks to this technology however, for example bright lighting can interfere with the beams, as can dust and dirt. It’s most useful for applications outdoors where it can detect any input and not just a ‘conductor’ such as a finger (not in a glove!). However for the average indoor museum exhibit it’s a strong option.

This technology utilises ultrasonic waves that are projected over the front panel, when the panel is touched some of these waves are absorbed and receivers register this change while controllers pinpoint where it happened.

If the panel is touched by a finger which then remains motionless, only the initial touch is registered, this can be a positive or negative depending upon the application, for example it can have an effect on the software used with the screen but makes it perfect for use as a workstation where objects are likely to be rested on the panel, such as a hand or elbow etc.

Until recently this could be a tough question to answer, due to technological restrictions and costs involved, the question of “which touchscreen technology is best for the public environment?”could havebeenanswered in various ways, with the ultimate decision depending on a number of factors.

These days however thanks to technological innovations the answer is practically always Capacitive, there’s a reason almost all modern tablets and phones use this technology. On a larger scale this was once more expensive, so for touch tables you might have been tempted by another option such as Infrared however this is no longer the case.

The only time you will want to use a technology other than Capacitive, is if your touchscreen needs to allow gloved use… for example a touchscreen kiosk installed in an arctic research base…

The 22″ All-In-One Touchscreen/PC provides a simple yet elegant interactive platform for use within public displays. Contending with a separate PC and screen and all the associated cabling can be a thing of the past. This unit is easily installed via Vesa Mount fixings or the (removable) panel fixing wings which make it perfect for custom installations. Build it into practically any unique displays easily and quickly.

Free Standing Multi-Touch Kiosks from blackbox-av combine uncompromising technical performance with outstanding design, elegance and style to provide stand-alone, finger controlled, multi touch interactivity and information to visitors on demand. This is the 22″ ‘Modern’ version in our Free-Standing Range. The Kiosk works perfectly with our off-the-shelf multi touchscreen software, Lightbox 3 (perfect for museum environments).

By combining precision touchscreen technology within a professional-grade large format LCD panel this kiosk is ideal for use in high traffic public access environments. Utilising Capacitive touch technology to ensure reliability throughout extended use, the screen supports up to 10 touches and gesture controls.

Engage visitors with our elegant and ‘Sleek’ range of Multi-Touch table. Choose from a 46″ or 55″ multi-touch screen housed in an attractive white or black table unit. Thanks to the powerful inbuilt computer this system is able to run any windows 10 multi touchscreen software including off-the-shelf solutions such as our very own Lightbox 3 software or any bespoke interactives developed for your chosen application.

What use is a touchscreen without software to use with it? Which is why we not only supply cost effective hardware options, but have also developed Lightbox 3, our multitouch off-the-shelf interactive software package perfect for use in Museum environments.

The University maintains contracts with a number of vendors (Dell, GovConnection, OfficeDepot, etc.) for steep discounts on technology.  OMT makes the following recommendations and can discuss options with you during the selection and purchasing process. If you are new to it purchasing at the museum or have questions about the process, check out our article on IT Purchasing at the museum.

Please note that any Mac with an Apple Silicon M1 or M2 chip cannot run a VM of Windows. This is a hardware incompatibility that we cannot work around, please contact OMT for options if you are looking to replace a computer that runs a Windows VM.

Please note that due to the COVID-19 situation, demand for webcams is at an all-time high and product availability in stores is very low. Delayed shipping times and increased costs are possible. In some cases, higher quality, more expensive webcams are the only ones in stock.

** These are “ballpark” prices and may be subject to change. For detailed system specifications or for a price quote, please place a Support Desk ticket.

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The new monitors, which are ADA compliant, were installed on Thursday, February 27 at a total cost of $25,000 and funded through the City of Alpine Hotel/Motel Tax.

“We are extremely grateful to the City of Alpine for our longstanding partnership,” said Museum Director Mary Bones. “Thanks to the City’s support, the Museum now has six touchscreen monitors that show our classic videos as well as the West of the Pecos Cattlewomen, Texas Aerial Photography and Lobo Legacy films.”

According to Bones, one of the goals for the video system upgrades is to help Sul Ross departments tell their story to visitors, parents and students.

City Manager Erik Zimmer said, “The City of Alpine remains excited about the support it provides the Museum of the Big Bend. The Museum provides a rich history of the area and highlights the many people that have helped develop our region.”

“The storyboards and depictions are fabulous and are in-line with the experience people seek in these venues,” he said. “We continue to point visitors to the Museum of the Big Bend as a Top 10 attraction in Alpine and the Big Bend area.”

A touchscreen media kiosk developed for museum patron interaction and information display. The screen angle is adjustable to allow for users of all heights.

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Keetouch touchscreen monitors support gesture control for multimedia. Touch technology features intuitive and easy operation - even a child will figure out how to launch the electronic guide, surf the menu or scale the desired image. We have touchscreen models that are able to withstand thousands of touches daily, are water-, dust- and scratch- resistant. Our rugged touchscreen monitors are equipped with metal casing, so that your equipment lasts longer.

DISPLAX TILE is the easiest way to implement touch video walls both for signage and collaboration markets, combining great functionalities with great sleek design.

It’s designed for professional integrators, allowing them to turn their LG UHD displays into truly touch-responsive experiences, delivering reliable and superior commercial-grade products.

DISPLAX has a complete product range offer of both customizable and standard touchscreen solutions for different markets such as retail, hospitality, entertainment, transportation, health care, corporate, education and many others.

DISPLAX has a complete product range offer of both customizable and standard touchscreen solutions for different markets such as retail, hospitality, entertainment, transportation, health care, corporate, education and many others.

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