Raspberry Pi Unveils Affordable Touch Display. Summary: Nine years ago, Raspberry Pi launched its first official display. Now, the company offers a mild upgrade to this accessory, featuring improved specifications and enhanced compatibility across various Pi models. Best of all, its price remains the same.
The newly launched Raspberry Pi Touch Display 2 is an LCD panel crafted to enable multi-point capacitive touch controls for Pi-driven projects. The original Touch Display continues to be a top choice among Pi accessories nearly ten years after its release. The new version is expected to achieve comparable success, especially at the unchanged price of $60.
With a higher resolution than its predecessor—720×1280 pixels compared to 800x480px—the 7-inch Raspberry Pi Touch Display 2 offers a multi-touch capacitive panel that supports five simultaneous touches. Its notably slimmer design does not necessitate a separate power supply, drawing power directly from the host device instead.
The installation of the screen is straightforward, requiring just four screws, and is completely compatible with Raspberry Pi OS, including specific drivers for touch functionality and an on-screen keyboard. According to the Raspberry Pi Foundation, the Display 2 operates effectively without needing a separate keyboard or mouse. The screen supports rotation, although it defaults to portrait mode, which is why the resolution is noted as 720×1280 rather than 1280×720.
The Raspberry Pi Touch Display 2 reflects the company’s dedication to long-term product support. The original Touch Display will continue to be manufactured for the foreseeable future, although RPF will no longer endorse it for new Pi projects. The Touch Display 2 will serve as the primary screen component for Raspberry Pi until at least 2030, ensuring extended support for industry customers.
Touch Display 2 is compatible with all major single-board computers developed by the UK-based firm, beginning from the Raspberry Pi 1B+ onward. The only exception is the Raspberry Pi Zero, as it lacks the necessary DSI port.
Raspberry emphasized that it took nine years to refine the original Touch Display and perfect the new design. Developers can utilize Touch Display 2 for innovative interactive projects, including tablets, entertainment systems, or information dashboards. Creating your own LCARS-themed, wall-mounted smart home controller is merely a DIY project away.
