Panelview Plus 400

PanelView Plus 400

Being the de facto industry standard manufacturer in industrial controls, Rockwell Automation’s product lineup impressively spans nearly any market that comes to mind. Many of their hardware family names have become synonymous with their applications and solutions, a good example of which is found in their graphic terminal series known as PanelView. The PanelView name has seen many iterations over the years, and in this article, we’d like to dive into selection details of the PanelView Plus series - specifically the PanelView Plus 400 model.

PanelView Plus Overview

Looking back to the late 2000s, Allen-Bradley’s visualization solutions were in a bit of flux concerning branding, market positioning, and product generation evolution. Industrial computers and decentralized process automation schemes were rapidly displacing standalone solutions and competing high-tech SCADA software platforms were aggressively breaking into this market, fueling industry-wide repositioning. Allen-Bradley took a two-pronged approach, pushing out new thin- and thick-client hardware running applications to capture plant-wide visualization (EG, Bulletin ##6181 Industrial Computers), while simultaneously launching a new family of machine-level HMIs with updated features (EG, Bulletin number 2711P PanelView Plus 6). Between these two new families, the previous generation of HMIs known as PanelView Plus was in many ways stuck in the middle – still very viable and widely adopted in the market, but ‘old’ in terms of tenure and need of a refresh to attract customers.

The PanelView Plus HMI family consisted of three model groups in the late 2000s – PanelView Plus, PanelView Plus Compact, and PanelView Plus CE. These HMIs largely served small-to-medium scale projects at machine and system levels, though were very capable at large scales as well.

As we entered the early 2010s, Allen-Bradley obsoleted the larger PanelView Plus sizes to focus on their newer PanelView Plus 6 models instead. By 2011, as seen in that year’s Allen-Bradley Visualization Guide document number FTALK-BR007A-EN-P dated Sept 2011, only the PanelView Plus 400, 600, Compact 400, Compact 600, and Compact 1000 were still offered, while all other sizes were pushed to their PanelView Plus 6 family counterparts. 

In our guides, we often write about the potential confusion brought about by Allen-Bradley’s habit of using dissimilar Bulletin, Catalog, and Model numbers with their equipment. Thankfully here, we find that the 2711 number is consistent between Bulletin and Catalog prefixes, at least. The model number is easiest to understand as a rough analog for each screen size – for example, a PanelView Plus 600 has a 5.5” display size.  

Even PanelView Plus accessories gained the same Catalog prefix here, such as the PanelView Plus 600’s available ControlNet communication module having the product number 2711P-RN15C. That said, we still do suggest that readers check your model’s applicable User Manual and Parts List before purchasing components, in case numbering schemes change over time (or were different farther back in history). This complete family is obsolete and discontinued at the time of this article’s authoring, though it is still worth checking as there is always the potential for confusion between so many parts and model versions using very similar numbering.

PanelView Plus Features

Beyond the excellent quality, construction, and reliability that we expect from any of Allen-Bradley’s HMIs, the PanelView Plus lineup offered several additional unique capabilities of interest at the time. These terminals allowed for real-time monitoring via any ordinary web browser with permissions on the network, affording a low-overhead remote viewing option for managers and supervisors away from the plant floor.

The overall benefits of the PanelView Plus family include:

• Provides maximum flexibility, inventory reduction, and easy upgrades.
• Communicates through multiple ports.
• Includes keypad, touch screen, or keypad/touch screen combination terminals for convenient and flexible operator input choices.
• Features a 1250 high-bright display for outdoor installations.
• Provides conformal-coated and marine-certified components to meet specific environmental conditions.
• Offers field-replaceable bezels and backlights with a life expectancy of 50,000 hours to reduce maintenance costs.
• Includes CompactFlash card slot for transferring files, logging data, or system upgrades.
• Includes complete package for immediate startup.
• Offers unit-level immediate exchange program to reduce downtime.
• Powerful graphics providing clear and crisp visuals.

Key features of the PanelView Plus family include:

• Standard Operator Elements: Push buttons, indicators, numeric displays, alphanumeric data entry, gauges, and graphs.
• Trending: Create a time-based or x-y plot of up to eight pens per trend.
• Expressions: Modify data based on conditions using If/Then/Else statements and mathematical functions including log and sine.
• Data logging: Record up to 300,000 values of a single record locally or on a remote drive.
• Parameters: Reduce screen development time by reusing a single screen with multiple sets of data.
• Multiple port communication: ControlNet Unscheduled, DH+, DH-485, DF1 serial, DH-485 serial, Ethernet/IP plus multi-vendor PLC communications support.
• Language switching: Switch languages easily with the touch of a button. Includes 40 design-time and 20 run-time languages. 
• Security: Add user groups and centralized authority.
• Remote Connectivity: Extends visualization and real-time decision capabilities of the terminal to browser-based remote users.

Looking at the PanelView Plus / CE terminal part number matrix provided by Allen Bradley / Rockwell Automation, we can see a rather straightforward selection process. Input type, display size, color or grayscale, communication protocol, and power type made up the selection means for PanelView Plus base models. CE and Compact versions added a few additional selections, but overall, these terminals are relatively simple to specify.

Note that at some point later in time, another communication protocol option was added to the offering. Customers could select a “3” instead of a “5, 20, or 4” value in the Communication column, which provided DH-485 communication over the onboard RS-232 port. Before this addition, DH-485 required the use of a separate communication module.    

Also, many PanelView Plus models were sized to be direct replacements of the earlier PanelView Standard and PanelView Enhanced models, keeping consistent mounting cut-outs and attachment methods.

PanelView Plus 400 Models

As far as small, local interface terminals go, Allen-Bradley’s PanelView 400 series evenly balances capabilities with cost-consciousness. Combining a nominal 4-inch display, logic module, memory, and power supplies (AC or DC) into a single chassis, the 400 series was arguably the default small-machine interface for many years.

PanelView Plus 400 displays are available in grayscale (320 x 240) with keypad input, or in color with keypad or keypad/touch screen input. Note that only the 600 and above models were made available with full touch screen inputs. Additional offerings of the 400 series include:

• Unique mounting mechanism requiring only a single die-cut and no special tools for installation.
• Replaceable bezel ID labels for custom terminal or system identification.
• Function key legend kit and software for customizing the function key legends of the PanelView Plus 600 keypad terminals.

Onboard standard communication options include:

• RS-232 Only Unit: Contains an RS-232 communication port, USB port, and CompactFlash slot for file transfers and data logging.
  • For applications with limited budgets that require only basic PLC communication, the RS-232 port of this unit supports DF1, DH-485, and other multivendor PLC protocols.
• Ethernet and RS-232 Unit: Contains Ethernet and RS-232 communication ports, USB port, and CompactFlash slot for file transfers and data logging. This unit also supports a network interface for optional communication modules (DH-485, DH+, ControlNet, Isolated RS-232).
  • For more distributed and complex applications requiring PLC communication, this unit can provide simultaneous communication with multiple networks.

The part number matrix from the Allen-Bradley Visualization Selection Guide document publication number VIEW-SG001E-EN-Pm (dated September 2009) shows the available PanelView Plus and PanelView Plus CE options.

Certain models within the PanelView Plus range are grouped as similar versions with common features and option sets. As we discuss the PanelView Plus 400 series, it may help to understand that the 400 and 600 were one such grouping of common terminals, and Allen-Bradley’s marketing material largely treated them as their sub-family separate from the larger 700-1500 grouping. If you’re using this guide to understand the differences between the 400 and 600, the simple answer is different screen sizes, and the 600 adds the option for touch-only input, whereas the 400 is available in only either keypad or touch-keypad. 

Since we’re talking about display interfaces, let’s expand on the 400 series’ display technologies to understand why they were quite desirable in their time. 400 Grayscale models were built using Passive Matrix FSTN display panels, and their 400 Color variants were built with Active Matrix TFT display panels. Both were LED-backlit. FSTN and TFT panels are both types of liquid crystal displays (LCDs), which are still common options for industrial interfaces today thanks to their power efficiency, long life, moderate resolution, and relatively low cost. 

FSTN (or film compensated super twisted nematic) displays offer added sharpness and contrast for monochrome applications over the standard STN design, which came to popularity in cell phone screens in the late 1990s. TFT (or thin-film transistor) displays offer great energy efficiency where detailed, sharp, zone-reacting color screens are desired. Screens on keypad models of the 400 series measure 3.8 inches, and Keypad/Touch model screens measure 3.5 inches.

Migration and Accessory Considerations

Display terminals in the PanelView Plus 400 series are pretty straightforward, as there aren’t many special accessories or options needed to get a system running. Commonly available options were limited to communication modules, anti-glare overlays, adaptor plates, cables, and a few miscellaneous others.

While the larger PanelView Plus 700 to 1500 models got most of the interesting and advanced accessories, a few other notable mentions were made available for the 400 models, including the 2711P-RVAC AC power terminal blocks and the 2711P-RTFC mounting levers.