A new generic calibrator
Since I originally created this overview, I have started the xinput_calibrator project, hosted on freedesktop.org. Xinput_calibrator is an easy to use generic touchscreen calibration program that can calibrate all Xorg drivers (except tslib).
To understand how touchscreens are handled nowadays, check out this other page that tries to explain it all.
Historical overview
The rest of this page gives an overview of other calibration software for Linux.
Unfortuantely, most calibration software either works for only one Xorg driver, or only event devices (and no other Xorg drivers). This overview is a result of my long search to find a generic one for my dynapro serial touchscreen. I ended up combining the best interface(from soren) with the best approach(from tkxinput), which resulted in xinput_calibrator.
Historical calibration software overview:
| Name | Application | Config | Notes | Requires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| tslib | ts_calibrate | dynamic | Appearently the standard for touchscreens on embedded ARM systems (according to this post). Originally developed for Kdrive, but there is a port for Xorg called xf86-input-tslib (packaged in ubuntu and gentoo among others). | a /dev/input/eventX device and a /dev/fbY video framebuffer device |
| tkxinput | tkxinput | in xorg.conf | A calibration program that gets coordinates by registering for xinput events. Not driver dependent (but the brittle gui wrongly makes you believe it is) | none (uses XInput) |
| Soren's calibrator | my_calibrator.cc | dynamic | A small and clean fullscreen app that gets coordinates from the GUI and calculates the new values. | usbtouchscreen driver |
| evtouch | ev_calibrate | in xorg.conf | Aimed to integrate pointer support for X, but seems unmaintained at the moment. According to this post it has a calibration utility called ev_calibrate. According to this post evtouch is superseded by evdev now (though a calibration program may not yet been written). | a /dev/input/eventX device |
| joystick | jscal | in custom config | According to this post it is possible to use the calibration of the joystick driver. | a /dev/input/js0 device? not sure... |
| tabletvk | calibrater | in custom config | According to this page it can be used for devices using the input event layer. | a /dev/input/eventX device, I suppose |
| touchkit usb | calibrator | in xorg.conf | Uses plain X stuff to draw the gui, but it didn't read any touches from the device file ? | a /dev/input/eventX device, I suppose |
| plpevtech | getcal.sh | in xorg.conf | Another event device driver that can calibrate (like tslib and evtouch but written by one man). Calibration is not with a program but by checking your logfile for printouts. | a /dev/input/eventX device |
| touchcal | touchcal | in xorg.conf | Self declared as 'loosely maintained', only for 2 drivers. | mutouch or elographics driver |
Other projects interested in clearing the touchscreen calibration jungle:
- Ubuntu on this blueprint and more recently this wiki blueprint page
- Others undoubtedly...
Suggestions and remarks welcome by email on tias@@@ulyssis.org (one @).