Touch Screens for Engineering Consultants/Product Design Engineers

“Color touch control surfaces are what the market calls for now.”

- Stuart Linzer, Inclusive Electronic Design

Who do we serve?

Reach serves embedded engineering consultants and product design engineers who need to add LCD touch screens quickly and cost-effectively to their customers' products. They want to: 

  • Get their customers' products -- with LCD touch screen– to market in weeks,
    not months (or longer).
  • Know exactly what’s involved in adding an embedded display, before they start, and minimize development risk and schedule surprises.
  • Get help from LCD touch screen industry experts, so they don’t have to do it alone.
  • Be able to go to a higher resolution, or larger embedded LCD screen, without major software changes.
  • Devote time and effort to developing the unique aspects of their products,
    not re-inventing a display controller.

Reach LCD touch screen solutions are used by engineers for all purposes

The engineers Reach serves work with a broad variety of products, from hotel room kiosks to medical control systems to tugboat engine monitors. They typically serve manufacturers of custom electronics products including industrial and medical equipment.

Don’t have be one of the “big boys” to benefit from Reach products

Engineers we work with represent the entire spectrum of company sizes, from huge organizations, like Steris International, a billion-dollar-plus sterilization systems company, to one-man engineering consultancies. However, the type, size, and duration of the project can determine whether or not Reach is a match. For example, hobbyists and companies not considering a board-level solution are not a good fit.

The top reasons customers buy from Reach are:

  1. They benefit from our products, our experience, and our expertise.
  2. We offer competent, responsive, and personal technical support.
  3. We help minimize complexity and risk.
  4. We keep their investment in LCD expertise to a minimum.

“It was really a pleasure to finally find someone who knows something about adding an LCD to an embedded device.”

– Mark Brown, software engineer, Sonara Engineering, Inc.

Benefit from embedded touch screen product and industry knowledge

Reach has been involved with embedded LCDs for more than 20 years. We started with monochrome displays, moved up to color STN (passive) displays, and now focus on TFT color modules. Our engineers have vast experience with the complexities of LCD displays, including cabling, signal levels, timing, backlight powering, and dimming. When you buy from Reach, you’re putting our LCD touch screen knowledge, experience and expertise on your team.

What embedded display products are available?

Visit our Embedded Touch Screen Product Guide to see product recommendations based on project type, technical specifications, or application.

How does it work?

A standard asynchronous serial port connects your system's microcontroller to the Reach SLCD controller. Simple ASCII commands are used to draw images, text, controls, and other interface elements, on the screen. The controls report back over the serial line when they are activated or changed. Images are stored on the SLCD controller in flash memory. More 

“My client did not want to use a Windows-based platform such as a PC or a PC-104 with our software riding on top of the operating system or executing within a third party application.  We wanted to use our own processor, running only our code, and your product fit in perfectly.  It’s exactly what we were looking for.”

– Joe Russial, Technical Director, Russial Engineering  

How can you get started?

You’ve decided you want to get started with a Reach product. What do you do next?

  1. Call Reach Technology at 510-770-1417 or download an Order Form and order the appropriate development kit. LCD development kits contain everything you need to get a touch interface up and running in a matter of days. The kit includes a serial LCD controller board, a LCD display, a touch screen, cables, sample images, sample code, and power supply. It also includes technical support. Nearly 1,300 LCD development kits have been sold to date.

    You can download the Technical Requirements Survey and Embedded Touch Screen Product Guide to help you determine the kit you need. If questions remain at the time of your call, we’ll help you make the final determination.

  2. When you’ve ordered your kit and you’re waiting for it to arrive, you can do the following, to help you get a jump-start on your project:



Order Development Kit


Looking for a touch screen consultant?

Visit our SLCD Applications Consultants page for a listing of individuals who have experience using Reach SLCD controllers in embedded applications.

© 2012 Reach Technology Inc. All right reserved.