14 DAY TRIAL // Touch support is expected to become a normal fixture for all monitors soon enough, which means that display makers have to start getting creative in order to stand apart from their rivals. Here is part of Philips' strategy.
Philips has introduced a display that doesn't turn out to be anything too special unless you reach out to touch it.
Called Brilliance 231C5TJKFU, it uses a projected capacitive 10-point touch technology called SmoothTouch.
In a nutshell, it lets you manipulate images, film, 3D objects and other interactive applications through various gestures, like tap, grab, pinch, rotate, and swipe.
One hand, two hands, even three or four hands (if you have a friend with you) can share the screen, although the display area might not be great enough for anything too complicated and interactive.
Still, a diagonal of 23 inches is pretty good, and we don't exactly have anything to complain about in regard to the rest of the specs, so we can safely say that the Brilliance 231C5TJKFU is a nice piece of work.
Sure, the price of €499 / $684 (possible $499 if exchange rates prove as irrelevant as ever) might put off a few people, but such is life.
For those wanting to know the technical details, here are the relevant ones: the monitor uses an IPS screen with a native resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels (Full HD), a contrast ratio of 1000:1, a 5 ms GTG response time, an integrated webcam of 1 MP, two 2W built-in speakers and three video inputs (HDMI, DisplayPort and D-Sub).
A 2-port USB 3.0 hub is included as well, allowing you to plug keyboards and mice right into it instead of going to the back of the system.
Finally, MHL is included with the HDMI. Mobile High-Definition Link, for high quality streaming of your phone's display onto the monitor.
