Product Review: Crestron 70 Series Touch Screen

Crestron 70 Series tabletop unit in black
(Image credit: Crestron Electronics)

Crestron’s new 70 Series touchscreens are designed to provide automation in the modern workplace. According to the company, the touchscreens provide a gateway to control a variety of building systems—including AV, unified communications, lighting, and building automation across the most demanding of locations including sports stadiums, command centers, classrooms, boardrooms, training rooms, and more.

I evaluated the 70 Series TS-1070-B-S, 10-inch tabletop model. At first glance and holding the touch screen, the panel looks and feels more robust and solid than previous Crestron touchscreens. It has a sleek and modern look that is more aesthetically appealing than the current model and the tabletop dock. Visually, the first thing you’ll notice is the removal of the side buttons—which leaves more real estate for the panel itself. The higher screen resolution allows for better looking graphics and icons.

Of course, the panel offers standard features such as PoE+, security, SIP intercom, and connection to the XiO Cloud Service, but the new generation really does offer so much more than previous generations.

Crestron 70 Series tabletop unit in black running Microsoft Teams

Crestron 70 Series tabletop unit in black running Microsoft Teams (Image credit: Crestron Electronics)

The increasing demand for a better user experience across all verticals is driving redesigns of equipment across the board in the pro AV industry. Specifically, for touchpanel solutions, the user experience is about more than just the interface; nevertheless, the product is still the primary way users interact with equipment. New advancements in automation, such as proximity and even voice control, are becoming more prevalent, and Crestron was sure to implement them in the TS-1070-B-S.

The panel itself is very responsive with smooth scrolling—especially compared to older versions—and the increased processing is immediately apparent. The smart graphics and the enhanced processing allow for more commonly accepted gestures, feedback, and widgets.

Designing HTML5 user interfaces for the Crestron TS-1070-B-S gives greater flexibility to programmers. Upon loading our own interface, we immediately noticed the difference. Having this standards-based development tool will certainly give the flexibility demanded by modern day programmers.

The TS-1070-B-S offers the ability to stream video directly to the panel from security cameras, conferencing cameras, and even live media. Not only can it stream live video, but it allows for multiple simultaneous video streams—a very useful, bona fide upgrade from previous iterations of this product.

Crestron 70 Series wall-mount unit in white

Crestron 70 Series wall-mount unit in white (Image credit: Crestron Electronics)

There are many applications native to and compatible with the Crestron 70 Series Touch Screens, and they provide a whole host of features and flexibility. Crestron Scheduling, Sonos, Zoom Room, Microsoft Teams, and many third-party applications are supported. As is typical of many touchpanels, this model integrates directly with Microsoft Exchange Server software (for users of Outlook software and Office 365 software), and the Google Calendar app (including G Suite software). These features will offer users many different possibilities and ways to integrate one type of product easily on small jobs or enterprise deployments.

Overall, the new 70 Series is far superior to the previous generations of panels from Crestron in both style and performance. This will become a great tool and addition to the Crestron lineup of products for versatile offerings and installations.

Jeremy Caldera, CTS-D, CTS-I is the CEO and chief design engineer of audiovisual systems at IAS Technology, and is a member of the AVIXA University senior faculty. Caldera helped develop the Audiovisual System Design curriculum at Columbia College Chicago where he sits on the academic advisory board and teaches AV design. He is the former chair of the AVIXA CTS Certification Steering Committee, former member of the AVIXA governance Leadership Search Committee and is the current chair of the revision task group for the AVIXA/ANSI Standard for Audiovisual Documentation and Coordination Processes.

 

Jeremy Caldera, CTS-D, CTS-I

Jeremy Caldera, CTS-D, CTS-I is an expert in the professional audiovisual industry with over 25 years of experience. Currently a senior vice president of audiovisual technology at Pearl Technology, a leader in AV and IT services based in Peoria, IL, Caldera specializes in the planning and design of audiovisual systems, organizational management, employee motivation, and the development of corporate standards and business growth strategies. Caldera is also a partner at BNCO Consulting and Top Shelf Digital Media.

Caldera is passionate about sharing his knowledge with others. He worked with his alma mater, Columbia College, to form a partnership with the Audiovisual and Integrated Experience Association (AVIXA) to develop an Audiovisual Systems Integration concentration within the college’s Audio Arts and Acoustics department. This partnership served as a model for what is now a major tenant of the AVIXA Foundation, which provides access to skills education, career pathways, and hands-on experiences to inspire the next generation of leaders in AV.

Caldera is an active volunteer both within the pro AV industry and his community. He previously served as the chair of AVIXA’s Certified Technology Specialist (CTS) Certification Program where he oversaw the development and administration of CTS, CTS-D, and CTS-I certifications. From 2017 to 2019, Caldera was a member of AVIXA’s Leadership Search Committee which appoints and develops mentors to serve on the AVIXA Board of Directors. He also is the chair of the committee for the renewal of the AVIXA/ANSI 2M standard. He currently serves on the board of directors for the Junior Achievement of Central Illinois and the Morton Premier Soccer Club.

Caldera holds a B.A. in Audio Arts and Acoustics from Columbia College, and has won several industry and community awards and honors, including: Systems Contractor News Hall of Fame (2021); iBi’s Peoria Top 40 Leaders under 40 (2017), the NSCA’s Randy Vaughan Founders Award (2017), AVIXA’s Educator of the Year (2017), Commercial Integrator’s 40 under 40 (2015), and AVIXA’s Young Professional Award (2015).