Orange Pi has released a portable monitor that seems perfectly designed for use with its Orange Pi 800 all-in-one computer. The screen costs less than many other portable monitors, though there could be a reason for that.
The 14 inch screen has a 1080p resolution and a pair of speakers built in. It’s an LED-backlit IPS panel with a refresh rate of 60Hz, a 700:1 contrast ratio, and a metal stand built into the back of it. There's an HDMI port and two USB-C ports for feeding the screen power and a video feed, and you can plug your headphones into it too, using a 3.5mm socket.
Where the screen falls down is in its color response, only managing to display 45% of the NTSC gamut — 18bit or 262,000 colors — in a world where 24bit or 16 million is more common. The effect this will have in use will vary, as anyone using the screen for office tasks, email or coding may hardly notice, if trying to watch movies or streaming TV on the device you may end up with a dearth of detail in shadows, and a general lack of vibrancy all over. The screen probably uses dithering to simulate a wider response, but this level of response is unusual for an IPS screen, and points to it being a budget model.
Still, it’s nice to see an SBC manufacturer like Orange Pi branching out, and the screen should look nice when paired with the firm’s Raspberry Pi 400-like 800 model, running its new Android-based OS (with full Google Play Store support) that looks very much like Windows 11, with the option to mimic MacOS coming soon. It looks so nice we’d like to see it released for more Arm-powered boards.
Orange Pi’s new screen is available from AliExpress for $59 plus taxes and shipping at the time of writing, with delivery times in early January, or for $65.99 plus delivery on Amazon. Bundles with the Orange Pi 800 are available too. The Orange Pi OS, which is currently only compatible with the Orange Pi 400 (though the Orange Pi 5 SBC should also be supported soon) can be downloaded from the Orange Pi website.
