At a 3” diagonal size, the screen is larger than most point-and-shoot cameras of this size. The size of the screen allows menu items and choices to be larger, which is beneficial to all, and will be especially welcome to those who struggle with aging eyes or vision problems.

This Lumix has a lot of real estate dedicated to the 3” LCD screen, so it is only fitting that Panasonic made the screen sensitive to the touch so that it could be used to control some of the camera’s functionality. The screen is bright and clear even in direct sunlight and it responds well to touch.

We were happy to see that Panasonic created a good balance between the controls and the touch screen. The touch screen can be used in many circumstances, but you don’t have to rely on it. You can also use the buttons for most choices. After you use the camera for a while, you settle into using a convenient combination of the touch screen along with the buttons.

For example,  use the switch to put the camera in playback mode. Then press the Mode button. As shown in Figure 7, you are then presented with the playback mode choices and you use the touch screen for your selection. If you choose Slideshow, you can  choose the pictures to put in the slideshow as well as several effects and several music choices. If you want to impress someone while the pictures are still in the camera, the  large LCD screen presents a nice slideshow complete with music and transitions. You can also use the touch screen to trim and resize the photos as well as add titles with an onscreen keyboard.

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Figure 7: Playback mode choices on touch screen.

In the Playback mode you can scroll through the pictures that you’ve taken by using the on-screen arrows. Those of us who have been jaded by the touch screen on the iPhone will find this method inferior to the gestures of the iPhone touch screen where you can simply drag your finger across to screen to scroll. Yet, this method is quite workable.

In the Record mode you can also tap the picture anywhere and the autofocus and autoexposure systems will focus on the area you tapped. The aperture and shutter speeds can also be adjusted using on-screen sliders (shown in Figure 8).

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Figure 8: On-screen sliders for adjustments.

You can also overlay graphics on the screen. For instance, you can bring up a grid overlay or  a live histogram.

The LCD screen has several brightness adjustments which are welcome because there is no optical viewfinder  in this camera.

As shown in Figure 9, the Lumix also comes with a small plastic key-type stylus that can be used to make choices on the touch screen. Some may prefer that over using a finger, but we found the screen large enough and responsive enough that we seldom used the stylus.

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Figure 9: The stylus plastic key.