The Raspberry Pi Touch Screen Display, regarded as having a low resolution even nine years ago, has been a popular accessory for the Raspberry Pi due to its compatibility with the Raspberry Pi DSI connector, power options through GPIO pins, and support from Raspberry Pi OS.
New Touch Screen Release
Ebon Upton, the founder of Raspberry Pi Trading, announced today the launch of the Official Touch Screen 2. This latest version comes with a built-in touch screen controller, which replaces the external ribbon and daughter board found in the previous model, making it thinner overall.
Improved Specifications
The new Display 2 features a resolution of 1280x720. While this may still seem low compared to today’s standards, it is an improvement from the older version. You can still power the unit using GPIO pins on your preferred Raspberry Pi and it supports multi-touch, though the number of fingers recognized has decreased from 10 to just 5. One notable change is that this display is designed for portrait mode, so you will need to adjust the screen rotation in your operating system to view it in landscape.
Compatibility and Pricing
Similar to the previous model, the Pi can be attached to the back of the display and is compatible with all Raspberry Pi models that have a DSI connector. The package provides ribbon cables for both the smaller DSI on the Pi 5 and the full-size DSI connector used in the Pi 4 and older models. However, the mounting holes on the new model differ from those on the old one, meaning that direct replacements in projects using the old holes will require modifications.
Currently, the Raspberry Pi Touch Display 2 isn't available on Amazon, where only the older version can be found. However, you can buy the new model from retailers like Pimoroni and Sparkfun for the same price of $60.
