Touch Screen HID Windows 8

I recently purchased a Mac Mini and I have a Dell P2714t touch screen monitor connected to it. Im running Windows 8 using Parallels for Mac, but I can't get the touch interface to work. Does Parallels allow a touch interface?

Thanks,
Stephen Warren

 

I don't think so, you can however try this, the touch part of the monitor works via USB, have you tried connecting/assign that USB device to the VM?

However if this works you should know that the drivers won't know that they are running in a VM and when you switch to the OS X desktop and touch the monitor it will interpret as touching the Windows space instead. Also, it will only work correctly in Full Screen.

 

I have also just purchased the same Dell P2714T touch-enabled monitor based on the fact that this non-Parallels article states that Windows 8 touch UI has been supported in Parallels since version 8:
http://www.v3.co.uk/v3-uk/news/2224946/parallels-desktop-8-for-mac-adds-touch-support-for-windows-8
I understand that the Dell drivers don't know that the monitor is connected as a virtual device (in fact the Dell driver utility states that no compatible display is found) but is it true or not that Parallels can support a Win8 touch UI?
For my setup, I have a MacBook Pro connected to the P2714T monitor via DisplayPort to HDMI plus a USB3 link all running on OSX 10.9.5 and Parallels 9.0.24251. USB is working as I have other devices connected to the monitor's USB ports. I tried reinstalling Parallels Tools and am running the Win8 VM in full screen but can't get the touch UI to work. FYI, the only reason I need touch is for trade show events where we run a self-service kiosk presentation.
My backup plan is Bootcamp :-(

 

Well, that article requires registration to be read.

But most likely refers to the gestures support on the trackpad, often referred as touch also, which was added around the time the article was written, it probably doesn't mention 'touch screen' anywhere, and if you go to parallels site and look at the latest version feature list you won't find any mention of touch screens either.

 

I am a bit further forward with my Dell P2714T setup. I reverted to Win7 on BootCamp to test the monitor's touch panel and it wasn't working until I disconnected another USB-enabled monitor (running on a USB to VGA converter connected to one of the P2714T USB ports). So, having confirmed that the touch monitor works, I went back to OSX and ran Win8 in full screen. I then opened the Tablet PC Settings to see that Windows believes that there is a working touch panel attached:

But when I click on either Setup or Calibrate, the touch panel is unresponsive.

 

I should warn that I never said in my initial post that it would work, it was just an hypothesis of what I would try myself, which I never did. The fact is that there is no built in support in Parallels for touch screens.

 

There are two components here, the display and the USB device, you can connect the USB part directly to the Guest OS under Parallels, but the display you can't, it has to be virtualized, so under Parallels the touch screen drivers will never see the Dell display, if this is, somehow, a requirement for the whole touch screen thing to work, then it will never work.

 

Thanks for the comments and steering Specimen. It's weird that the article URL is behind membership because I am not a member and found it with a search. This is the opening paragraph from the article written on 14 Nov 2012:
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Parallels has updated its Parallels Desktop for Mac virtualisation software with expanded support for Microsoft's Windows 8 platform, providing touch control for users running Windows 8 apps on a Mac.
Although Parallels announced Desktop 8 for Mac back in August with some measure of support for Windows 8, the update adds better support for the Windows 8 gestures and other enhancements such as a tile added to the Windows 8 user interface that provides access to shared Mac apps.
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I had already put in a support ticket to Parallels, prior to seeing your response, to get a definitive answer although from what you said above, it looks like the answer will be no for the time being. However, the screenshot above does lead me to believe that "something" is supported.

 

I don't believe it. I just woke my Mac from sleep to start the day and without any changes, touch is working in Windows 8 VM full screen with Parallels 9! It seems to be intermittent so I need to investigate further... There's a worrying statement in the Dell troubleshooting section of the guide that says something along the lines of "power cycle the display to reset the touch panel" and "unplug and plug back in the USB cable" so perhaps the intermittency is with Dell's embedded hardware/software.

 

Some more discoveries.
1. When the Dell P2714T touch panel is working, the Touch Keyboard icon appears in the Windows 8 task bar: (leftmost shown)

2. The icon disappears at certain points, not always consistently. For example, when taping a desktop icon.
3. When the icon disappears, the touch panel ceases to work.
4. The icon may reappear by itself or it can be forced to reappear when using the mouse to wake the on-screen cursor and click something.
5. In Parallels / Devices / External Devices, the Dell Touch Panel I/F (USB) must be selected but it's called "Vendor 2149 - Composite".
6. Unplugging the USB connection to the monitor can cause the touch panel to stop working.
7. Turning the monitor off can cause the touch panel to stop working.
8. Invoking the Windows 8 Tablet PC Settings / Setup or Calibrate can cause the touch panel to stop working.
All very "unstable" but "supported" nevertheless somehow.

 

The touch is working not because it's supported specifically, it's just because of the USB support. And basically all those scenarios just show the obvious, which is the touch screen stops working when the usb device is unplugged from the VM. The fact is, the touch screen is just a pointing device just like a USB mouse, with an added complexity which is the fact of being paired with a monitor.

The article is not particularly clear but what they mean is not touch screen support but touch gestures on trackpad and equivalent devices (pinch to zoom, etc).

 

Just to add a bit more information, the probable reason why the calibration doesn't work it's because that's where it requires direct communication with the display device. Supporting touch screen would require to work out all these kinks.

With that said I'm glad you got it working!

 

Just to wrap up my experimentation with this setup, here's the official response I received from Parallels:
Parallels Desktop currently does not have built in touch user interface with Windows 8. However you can try connecting the Dell touch monitor with a USB cable directly to Windows virtual machine but we cannot guarantee that it will work. If it works it might not be stable in the virtual environment.
And followed up with this after I asked if there were any plans to officially support touch UI as one of the key features of Windows 8:
Parallels Desktop 10 or any previous versions does not support Windows based virtual machines that runs in a touch screen device. But our development team is seamlessly working to improve and foster the features and reliability of our products.
Because of the instability, I have had to revert to my Plan B (Boot Camp) because I can't afford for this not to work in a live trade show environment. Such a pity that Parallels has missed out this support for what is essentially one of the key differentiating features of Windows 8.

 

My take on this is that It wouldn't be impossible to add support for touch screens in Parallels Video Driver in Parallels Tools, however, because of the fact that Macs do not come equipped with touch screens that serously limits the scope and target market. AFAIK, this is the only thread about this and only has 2 interested users, if there are other users out there wanting this feature I urge them to speak out.

 

I also have an Acer 27 inch 10 point touch screen. I have been waiting for some time for Parallels to integrate touch screen support into their product. Since you said that it is theoretically possible; is there any possibility at all of this happening? I realize that this would be a tool aimed at a small niche market at best, but the option would be nice to have for all those who do have touch monitors out there. Especially now that we're on Parallels 13 and over two years have passed since the last update on this subject. Touch monitors are becoming more and more prominent on peoples desktops these days.