If you bought a display that has the AR1100 built into it, we already did a calibration procedure for you here in the factory, so you should be able to use it out of the box.

However, you may want to recalibrate it, say you don't think it's set up well for you, or you want to change modes. Or you're using the breakout board and want to change resolutions or layouts.

To calibrate the AR1100 chip, you must use a Windows computer. We know, that sucks, but that's the only software Microchip wrote! The good news is you only have to calibrate once, and then the calibration is stored permanently in the chip, so you do not have to re-calibrate every time you turn it on.,

Download and Install AR1100 Configuration Software

Start by downloading the AR1100 Calibration/Config software here

and install like any other software. Now start up the AR1100 Calibration Utility software

If and only if you are using the display as a SECONDARY monitor (not your main monitor) perform the steps below

Secondary Monitor calibration

If you have two monitors (one main one and a second with touch) you'll need to tell the software to use the secondary monitor! To do this start up and select Exit Screen to get out of the config screen

Click Options

Then in the options window, select the secondary type of monitor

Then quit and restart the software, next time you run it - the program will be in the secondary monitor

Manual Setup

Select USB Mouse as the type of AR1100 interface you want (this is the most universal!)

And 4-wire for the type of resistive screen

And 9-point Calibration as the type of calibration (or skip calibration if you don't want to re-calibrate)

You'll get some driver unloading and reloading and then the calibration screen will pop up. Use a stylus to hit each point. There are 9 points, so if you dont end up poking the screen 9 times, something went wrong, rerun the software to restart calibration

When done, you'll pop back to the 'control panel'. That's it! You can test out your calibration with the Scribble Demo if you are using the monitor as a main screen. If its a secondary monitor, it wont work right because the mouse shows up on the first screen.

Advanced Configuration

There's a lot of settings you can adjust if you like to the AR1100. For more details, check the datasheet but here's the stuff we find handy:

Note that if you're using a small screen, you may want to drag the window over to the main monitor with not calibrating since the software has a lot of buttons on the sides!

Verifying Communication

This is kind of the fix-all button if you ever find you got the AR1100 in a weird mode. The chip can act like a mouse, digitizer or raw 'USB HID generic'. For many of the settings adjustments you'll need to switch to HID generic since that's how the software sends commands.

Yeah it would be handy if it did this for you but just bear with us and switch modes as necessary. When you're done, dont forget to set the mode back to Mouse (or digitizer if you wish) and Verify to set that mode

Adjusting Filters and Threshholds

Depending on your setup and screen, you may find that the touch is too sensitive, not sensitive enough, a little noisy, a little slow, etc. You can tweak just about all of the settings in the top panel. Note that you must be in HID generic mode to do this! Then set back to mouse when done