New screens change perceptions of the machine

Schneider Electric believes that the perception of the quality and performance of any machine is most directly enhanced by its interface. Consequently, Telemecanique, a brand of Schneider Electric has unveiled a smart new touch screen HMI range that can be applied to just about any equipment. The latest Telemecanique Magelis XBTGT range has an enhanced display with superb clarity, high-resolution analogue touch screen, fast RISC 64-bit processors and USB connectivity among many innovative features.

The new range is also ready for video input, with MPEG4 format encoding and decoding, recording on demand, real time viewing or playback of recorded footage.

The compact units with depths from 40-60mm can be incorporated into practically any machine and have screen sizes spanning 3.8 inch, 5.7 inch, 7.5 inch, 10.4 inch, 12.1 inch and 15.1 inch.

With high-speed Ethernet and serial ports, they are also easily integrated with existing automation systems.

Magelis XBTGT touchscreens are available with a choice of three types of display.

For applications requiring maximum colour fidelity, true-colour (65,536 colour) displays are offered.

Impressive colour graphic facilities are also provided by models with STN (4,096 colour) displays, while the monochrome models, which can show sixteen shades of grey, offer a cost-effective option where colour is not essential.

The brightness and contrast of the displays are adjustable, allowing easy optimisation for any viewing conditions.

Innovations common to all models include the ability to flash symbols or text on the display at three different speeds to clarify important or urgent data presented, and an analogue touchpad that provides a fast, accurate and intuitive method of adjusting process variables.

The high-speed 64-bit RISC CPU used in the new Magelis touchscreen terminals ensures rapid response to changing data, and virtually instantaneous screen updating - four times faster than with previous generation units.

Up to 32 Mbytes of on board memory is provided, and this can be expanded easily and inexpensively with standard Compact Flash memory cards.

Also provided is Ethernet TCP/IP 10/100 Base T connectivity, together with two RS485 serial ports.

Support is available for interfacing the units with a wide range of PLCs not only from the brands of Schneider Electric, but also from third parties.

Separate USB connections allow easy transfer of programs to the Magelis XBTGT units, which are complemented by the powerful Vijeo Designer V4.4 configuration software package.

Designed to run under Microsoft Windows on a PC, this package is compatible with all Magelis XBTG/GT units with display sizes from 3.8 inches to 15.1 inches.

Among the huge range of facilities it offers are on-board scripting for customised control, historic and real-time trending, advanced graphic animation, recipe management, password security and a library of over 4,000 graphical symbols.