The Saber Smart has been engineered for configuration flexibility, allowing customers to choose standard electronics (e.g., display, video controller, power supply), as well as optional electromechanical options such as display overlays (e.g., touch screens, vandal shields, heaters, EMI filters), I/O connections (e.g., video, touch, power) and other enhancements (e.g., optical bonding, film laminations).
Enclosures
The Saber Smart Series’ rugged enclosures are designed for durability, safety, design flexibility and long product life cycle. Constructed from heavy-duty aluminum, they are intended to survive in harsh environments such as factory floors, food processing, medical and military (MIL-STD-810F/MIL-DTL-901E) applications. They meet requirements for shock, vibration, EMI/RFI emissions and will accommodate many standard and custom display sizes/resolutions.
Our enclosures are completely Iridite® coated to provide protection from corrosion and improve shielding properties where parts make contact with one another. All external surfaces are finished with a durable black powder coat paint, although unfinished stainless steel, Federal Standard and custom colors are available upon request.
Often, some tailoring to our enclosure designs are necessary to meet a customer’s specific requirements. The requests vary widely from military requirements for environment, shock/vibration, and/or emissions, to unique mounting requirements or specialty cooling, to name just a few.
Available in rack mount, panel mount and standalone/VESA mount configurations.
Connector Panels
Limited only by the size of the enclosure, a variety of standard or custom interfaces may be provided on the configurable connector panel. Other interfaces are available for field programmability and firmware upgrades, CompactFlash readers, USB ports and more.
Gaskets
General Digital offers a variety of standard and custom gaskets to augment the performance of the Saber Smart:
- Watertight (NEMA 4/6) gaskets are installed between the LCD (or overlay) and the front bezel to prevent liquids from entering the enclosure through the display opening.
- Dust gaskets are often supplied for monitors that do not require a liquid-tight seal between the display and/or overlay and the bezel, or for systems that use a touch technology that are only compatible with certain gasket types.
- EMI/RFI gaskets reduce radiated and conducted emissions of the monitor.
- Desiccating gaskets can be used to prevent moisture/condensation from forming between the LCD and the overlay when exposed to high humidity.
Power
All Saber Smart models are available with an integrated or externally attached power supply. For applications requiring a thinner enclosure or a unique power source, we optionally offer a separate external supply, DC input and/or DC-DC converters with a wider input range.
Video and Controls
General Digital offers a wide range of video controllers, allowing you to fine tune the display features and support to your specific video requirements.
We can reprogram the video controller firmware/BIOS to support a variety of video timings and specialty needs, such as STANAG 3350 A, B and C, RS-343 and RS-170. Most of our video controllers will also support interlaced and non-interlaced analog video (separate, composite and Sync-On-Green), and live video signals such as NTSC, PAL or SECAM.
Other input signals we support include ARGB (VGA) to DVI, HDMI, HD-SDI, SD-SDI, DisplayPort, 4K UHD and more.
Please consult a Sales Engineer to optimize your video controller selection.
On-Screen Display (OSD) Controls
The Saber monitor can be configured with a variety of standard or custom user controls, most often in the form of membrane or silicone keypads. Choices of LED and NVIS backlighting are available, as well as configuration with electronics that allow backlight dimming.
Much like your home TV, the On-Screen Display controls allow the user to adjust important display parameters, such as input signal, brightness, contrast, color temperature, sharpness, phase, scaling (aspect ratio), language and dozens of others.
Display Brightness and Night Vision Enhancements
General Digital can integrate virtually any LCD display size/resolution, from almost any panel manufacturer (OEM), into our enclosures. To assist in selecting the right panel for your application requirements, we have provided a list of commonly used or recommended panels for standard/low luminance, high brightness, sunlight readable and NVIS compatible needs.
New display models are constantly being introduced to the market by the LCD manufacturers, making it extremely difficult for us to maintain a comprehensive list. For this reason, we encourage you to speak with a Sales Engineer to share your price and performance objectives, so we can assist you in making the best display selection.
Standard Displays
General Digital has provided a sample listing of some common transmissive displays that are not sunlight readable. Typically, these displays are suitable for applications that are not going to require specialty functionality, such as sunlight readability or NVIS compatibility, and for customers with cost-sensitive budgets.
LCD backlight produces sufficient luminance for use in office, shaded and low ambient/darkness light levels. However, luminance is insufficient to overcome reflected light for use in direct sunlight.
Transmissive-Enhanced View Displays
This type of technology boosts the efficiency of the backlight’s light utilization and minimizes surface reflection of ambient light. It is a transmissive LCD module that produces high contrast images, even in bright outdoor light and direct sunlight. These displays feature a wider color reproduction range than reflective LCDs. Featuring an LED backlight, these displays consume very little power and produce very little heat, making them ideal for integration into fully sealed enclosures, which are devoid of ventilation holes and cooling fans to dissipate heat. They also provide the additional benefit of a wide operating/storage temperature (as great as -30°–85° C), so that they can endure exposure to greater internal ambient temperatures.
As a design note, we have found that these panels work best when coupled with an overlay that has an antireflective (AR) coating. Overlays that inhibit transmissivity (e.g., resistive touch screen) or have antiglare (AG) coatings will significantly reduce the panel’s performance in high ambient lighting conditions. Since transmissive displays produce greater brightness from their LED backlights than traditional transflective displays, they are regarded as a better outdoor solution, as they can generate high contrast in total darkness, in direct sunlight or on a cloudy/hazy afternoon.
T-EVT technology uses the high brightness/efficiency LED backlight as a light source while minimizing the surface reflection of ambient light. The result is an LCD that produces high contrast images even in bright outdoor light or direct sunlight.
GenFlective™/Transflective Displays
This type of panel incorporates a highly reflective backlight that reflects the ambient lighting back out of the display to enhance its native brightness produced by its active backlight. Like the Transmissive-Enhanced View Displays, GenFlective panels work best when coupled with an AR-coated overlay. They are least effective with overlays that retard the light transmission (e.g., resistive touch sensors) or have a matte finish.
T-EVT technology uses the high brightness/efficiency LED backlight as a light source while minimizing the surface reflection of ambient light. The result is an LCD that produces high contrast images even in bright outdoor light or direct sunlight.
Sunlight Readable/NVIS Compatible Displays
These displays feature a value-add backlight, typically made from high efficiency LEDs. These displays produce significant active luminance. Often, the peak luminance is limited by internal ambient temperature constraints or must be connected to an intelligent backlight controller and thermal sensor that will automatically reduce brightness/power to avoid over-temperature conditions or thermal shutdown. The high luminance output makes them ideal for use with a wide variety of overlays such as touch sensors, EMI filters, heaters, etc.
Sunlight readable displays use a General Digital-enhanced, highly efficient, super bright/sunlight readable LED backlight to provide maximum functional brightness. The addition of surface treatments such as antireflective coatings and optical bonding reduce surface reflections and increase contrast so displays can be used in direct sunlight.
If our stock offering does not suit your needs in terms of size, fit or function, please contact a Sales Engineer and we will work with you to configure a system to your specifications. Customers can also request that we integrate one of our many LED-based sunlight readable, NVIS or sunlight readable/NVIS enhanced displays into their product. These solutions provide many advantages, such as increased longevity, improved durability, higher brightness, lower power consumption and/or NVIS compatibility.
One of our first customers was a local potato chip manufacturer that was struggling with their industrial touch display terminal facing constant reliability issues. When they sent us a unit for inspection, the culprit was clear—the humid, salty environment of the potato chip factory was corroding the internal electronics, rendering the device inoperable.
