Touch technology in professional audio applications

[Audio Network Information]
The touch screen is rapidly affecting our interaction with technology. Caroline Moss uses this as a perspective to analyze the professional audio field.

Although the idea of ​​touch screen technology has been launched for nearly half a century, it is widely believed to be a phenomenon that has only recently emerged. The Royal Radar Establishment in the UK explored the applicability of touch screens in wireless traffic control in 1965, while the Nuclear Research Organization of the European Institute of Particle Physics in Geneva (known for turning on Internet nuclear particle impact) is in the Proton Synchrotron. A touch screen was installed in the control room, which was in the 1970s.

The music industry is also an early adopter of this technology, such as Bob Moog, Hugh Le Caine and Fairlight, the developers of synthesizers that experimented with touch sensors between the 1970s and 1980s, and in the 1990s. There have been PDAs and game consoles that touch the feedback. Despite this, the real impact of our interaction with technology through the screen is the era of smartphones and iPads, which have deeply embedded touch screens into our daily lives.

The professional audio field is eagerly capturing the possibilities of touch screens, which develop a variety of applications to enhance product performance and assist in workflow. But how do manufacturers implant this technology into their hardware products? Where will the touch screen technology in their eyes go? Some people think that the touch screen is far from the complete control of the product, while other manufacturers have put the touch screen into their own products a few years ago.

At the forefront is Soundtracs, the familiar DiGiCo that has been used since the introduction of DPCII in 1997.

“Depending on the size of the console, users may be exposed to up to eight touch panels,” said James Gordon, general manager of DiGiCo. “At the time, the technology was revolutionary because the touch screen was not as deep into our lives as it is today. Most of the digital device solutions we offer operate in a menu mode. So we hope that you are seeing it. At the same time, you can touch it without having to find the corresponding physical button. It works, people can quickly learn how to operate the console through the touch screen. Another advantage is that we can update the software and change the interface. Design is unscrupulous because there are no hardware factors that need to be compromised."

Dominik Stepanek, who is the head of the Salzbrenner Stagetec Mediagroup Polaris R&D project, shares the same view. “As software is constantly updated, even with remote control or simple internal options, you can make your control interface a console or media controller,” he pointed out on Stagetec's latest Polaris project.

The mixer's hardware is designed based on a modular touch control panel that can be arbitrarily defined, optional or combined for any particular system. Unlike other consoles, Polaris' control interface consists of a touch screen that performs functions ranging from audio downmixing to operational control.

“The Polaris concept is dedicated to reducing hardware costs, such as those with more than one stage,” Mr. Stepanek continued. “Usually these theaters need to have a mixing console for each stage, even if each console can't fully play its role. Polaris can be used on any stage when you need it. The touch screen allows us to create A versatile downmix and control interface, its hardware is extremely portable and easy to operate. The use of the touch screen gives us a simple opportunity to make complex consoles easier than ever before. Most of the operations can be adjusted by direct use. Listen to the music table without having to read the technical manual."

Since launching Vista7 in 2002, Studer has been pursuing a higher standard. It calls this touch screen combined with the technology of the knob called Vistatrons, and strives to provide an interface similar to analog devices. “We have done a lot of research on the development of the Vistronics interface, which will provide you with a 'spot-and-control' mode of operation without having to stare at a central screen and ignoring the creativity of the mix,” said Senior Marketing Manager, Soundcraft Studer David Neal said.

Studer's engineering team in Switzerland customer service has had problems with early touch screens and successfully embedded the knobs into the screen. “Over time, we found a new way to complete this process, and the cost of the screen dropped, so we were able to implant Vistanics technology on a lower-priced mixer like Soundcraft Vi1,” Mr. Neal Said. “The new version of Vistonics has been used in the Soundcraft Vi series, while the Si+ and Si Compact products are also set up and managed using a touch screen, as well as information such as equalization curves and snapshot lists. We have touch screen technology. There is nothing to worry about, it has proved itself."

Now, not everyone is starting to share this confidence from touch screen technology. “Midas currently has no touch screen technology for two reasons,” said Richard Ferriday, Brand Development Manager at Midas and Klark Teknik. “Our mixer is designed for live sound reinforcement, which means it is often used outdoors under strong light. Touch screens are easy to see in direct sunlight or even light. Second, the touch screen usually requires two or more clicks to reach the interface that needs to be operated, and we believe that this feature is not suitable for live sound reinforcement applications that require fast operation."

Like the Soundcraft Studer, DiGiCo chose resistive screen technology, which is an important guarantee for touch reliability. “The resistive screen requires the operator to make an accurate press to react,” explains Technical Director John Stadius. “Other technologies that use infrared or capacitive screens can easily lead to misuse. If the operator taps the screen in the field, it can have very dangerous consequences. At the same time, the resistive screen allows operation through gloves and stylus. And these are not enough for capacitive screens."

For those manufacturers whose budget is limited or who are unwilling to entrust their brand reputation to touch screen technology, the iPad app has become a powerful complement and enhancement of the product. Mackie is at the forefront of this, introducing the 16-channel Mackie DL1608 console with the iPad as the primary control interface. The place where the faders and level meters were originally placed became a base station, which can connect the iPad directly to the console, or remotely via a wireless network. The product can support up to 10 iPads simultaneously.

“The DL1608 is designed around the iPad, leaving the traditional console style,” says Ben Olswang, Mackie Product Manager. “The calculation of downmixing and audio processing is done inside the hardware of the DL1608, and abandoning the traditional downmixing hardware is also a very difficult choice. It is expensive to equip a mixer with high resolution and high color screens – so The manufacturer must expect customers to have crazy purchasing power. So we decided to replace the expensive fader, fuzzy V-Pot and ugly black and white screen with iPad. It will provide users with a touchable control interface, and It can be used over the wireless network anywhere in the venue."

“This is a fundamentally different change than digitally mimicking a traditional analog console. Software-based controls allow us to continuously personalize and enhance the console through software updates. With the success of this new technology, we will continue to advance on this basis and bring it to a farther future."

One thing is certain: touch screen technology will survive and the future will be bright. “You will see the touch screen in more and more places, and this trend will continue,” Mr. Stepanek said. He believes that the bottleneck that this technology needs to break through is the sliding of the finger on the screen. Will be limited by speed.

Obviously, the advancement of technology is very rapid. Polaris uses a sophisticated multi-touch capacitive screen technology with a response time of 6 milliseconds. “Even if you operate with 20 fingers at the same time, the touch information for each finger is presented quickly and accurately, ensuring that the user has complete control over what he sees,” he added.

“This is a well-documented technology that is already in our lives. So the question we hear is just 'Is it equipped with a touch screen?',” Mr Gordon said. "When your answer is 'yes', this means that the product will be easier to browse and use. Today, if a person goes to a screen, most of his first reaction will be to touch this screen. What kind of reaction?"

Even skeptics believe that touch screens are widely adopted as technology evolves. “The iPad has multi-touch sensing and display capabilities,” Mr. Ferriday said. “Once this quality touch screen can be made into the right size, we might consider implanting it into future products.”

It seems ridiculous that for a technology that has been developed since the 1960s, the touch screen is still in its infancy; conservatively speaking, only people's imagination can limit where it will go.

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