You hear a lot about miniaturization in the automation world, especially
when it comes to HMI panels, but smaller isn’t always better. A six or eight inch
screen may be ideal for mounting directly on a machine, but operators of a complete
production line or batch process need to see as much information as quickly as
possible. That’s why Siemens Industry has released the Simatic
HMI SCD1900 monitor -- a 19-inch, high resolution widescreen LCD industrial
monitor.

“You can only fit so many graphic objects on a small display,” says Paul
Ruland, Siemens spokesperson. “Typically, for larger or more advanced systems,
operators and maintenance people have to page through multiple screens to see
what’s going on with their process. That’s just the reality of lower resolution
small HMI panels where real estate is a major issue. This widescreen monitor changes
that. You can really simplify the graphical screen design and pack more info
into a smaller space so instead of 30 or 40 screens you have half a dozen. For the right applications this will lead to quicker development.  Engineers don't have to code as many screens, will get faster response times to problems, and, generally, will result in easier management."  

The Simatic HMI SCD1900 Widescreen Monitor is a 16:10 widescreen display
and can accommodate formats up to 1440x900 pixels and has a list price of $1265
USD. It is fully ruggedized, with an IP65 protection rating, making it suitable
for deployment directly on the machine in a wide variety of environments. The SCD1900 comes in two versions, with or without touch screen
interface, and is equipped with both VGA and DVI interfaces. It can recognize
the resolution of the operating screens coming from the PC and therefore
eliminate the complicated setting of video driver formats. For example,
resolution formats are scaled automatically in the Vesa standard, say VGA, SVGA,
XGA, and larger, and displayed correctly.

“And it’s an HD-TV quality resolution screen,” adds Ruland. “It usually
takes longer for that kind of technology to be designed for an industrial grade
product, but we’re seeing screen technology being adapted pretty quickly and at
a remarkable price point.”

For more information on the  Simatic
HMI SCD1900 Widescreen Monitor, please click here .