PanelView Plus 6 / 1000 to PanelView Plus 7: replacements, cut-outs, power and the ME application

PanelView Plus 6 terminals and the earlier PanelView Plus terminals are shown as discontinued on Rockwell Automation's product pages, and for the 700 to 1500 models checked here Rockwell names a PanelView Plus 7 terminal as the replacement. The FactoryTalk View Machine Edition (ME) application moves across: restore the .apa archive or convert the .mer runtime file, open it in a current FactoryTalk View Studio ME, fix what the new terminal does not support, and create a new .mer for the terminal's firmware. The hardware needs its own checks: the panel cut-out, the 24 V DC supply and an Ethernet-only connection to the controller.

Which PanelView Plus do you have?

Three older families are still common in panels:

• PanelView Plus, the generation before PanelView Plus 6. Rockwell's page for 2711P-T10C4D1, described only as a PanelView plus terminal, shows it discontinued on 31 December 2012 with no replacement named.
• PanelView Plus 6, sizes 400 and 600, and 700 to 1500. They run Windows CE 6.0; catalog numbers ending in 9 add extended features such as a media player and Office file viewers. Every size comes with AC or DC input, and the 700 to 1500 models can take a communication module for DH+/DH-485, ControlNet or a second Ethernet port.
• PanelView Plus 6 Compact (2711PC, 400 to 1000), limited to 1 controller, 25 screens and 200 alarms.

The catalog number on the nameplate decides the path. The table shows what Rockwell's product pages listed on 2 November 2026 for common DC touch and keypad models.

Two details in this table change the work. The keypad model is replaced by a keypad and touch terminal, so operators get a touch screen as well. The 1250 is replaced by a widescreen 12.1-inch terminal, so every screen of the application has to be laid out again to use the wider display. The Performance replacements in the table are all described on their product pages as Windows 10 IoT Core terminals, which limits what the application may contain (see Series B below).

The AC touch models follow a longer chain. For 2711P-T7C4A8, 2711P-T10C4A8 and 2711P-T15C4A8, Rockwell names an AC PanelView Plus 7 Performance terminal that was itself discontinued on 30 November 2021, and that terminal's listed replacement is the 24 V DC model in the table; the HMI article traces the 1000 case. A listed replacement can itself be discontinued later, so check the product page again on the day you order.

PanelView Plus 7 Standard or Performance

Rockwell sells PanelView Plus 7 in two families, both designed in FactoryTalk View Studio ME:

Rockwell's PanelView Plus 6 to PanelView Plus 7 conversion guide (2711P-AP004F, April 2021) names a Performance terminal with an adapter plate as the primary replacement for the 700 to 1500 models, and a Standard terminal as the secondary option for the 700, 1000 and 1500 sizes. It gives no recommended Performance conversion for the 400 and 600 models. The guide was written before some of the replacements it lists were discontinued, so take its tables as a map and the product page as the answer.

A Standard terminal fits when the application stays within its limits and the panel can be cut for the new size. A keypad, more than one controller, more than 100 screens or the adapter kits all point to Performance. The software side of the choice, ME versus FactoryTalk Optix, is covered in FactoryTalk View SE vs ME vs Optix.

The panel cut-out and the power supply

The new terminal can need a smaller opening than the old one. A PanelView Plus 6 1000 touch terminal needs a cut-out of 224 × 305 mm (height × width); a PanelView Plus 7 10.4-inch touch terminal, Standard or Performance, needs 224 × 269 mm. Rockwell's adapter kits close that gap without cutting the panel:

The kits are for PanelView Plus 7 Performance terminals only. Rockwell warns that a Standard terminal installed with them can have its bezel damaged and its seal compromised. To keep the NEMA Type 4X rating, the instructions give a torque of 3.90 N·m (30 lb·in) for the adapter plate nuts and ask for no sealing compound on the gasket. The Performance manual also sets a panel thickness of 1.5 to 4.8 mm and minimum clearances of 51 mm above, 102 mm below and 25 mm at the sides (102 mm on the side with the SD card slot). At VinWonders Nha Trang, TDL replaced a PanelView Plus 1250 on a roller coaster console with a PanelView Plus 7 Performance 12-inch terminal and its adapter kit, without cutting the console.

Then the power. PanelView Plus 6 700 to 1500 terminals accept 18 to 32 V DC (70 W max) or 100 to 240 V AC. The PanelView Plus 7 DC range is 18 to 30 V, and Series B Performance and all Standard terminals are DC only. Where the old terminal ran on AC, add a 24 V DC supply; the Performance manual lists 2711P-RSACDIN (85 to 265 V AC input), 1606-XLP95E and 1606-XLP100E.

Communications: Ethernet only

PanelView Plus 7 terminals communicate over Ethernet only, and Rockwell states that PanelView Plus 6 applications set to serial communication must be changed to Ethernet. There is no DH+, DH-485 or ControlNet module for the new terminal. For other protocols, Rockwell points to its Encompass partners and names Anybus and ProSoft Technology gateways. The other route is to put the controller on EtherNet/IP; the controller-side options are in upgrade paths for legacy Allen-Bradley systems. On the PVEP DMDP-A platform, ControlNet bridge modules were replaced with 1756-EN2TR EtherNet/IP modules and the PanelView Plus 6 terminals with PanelView Plus 7 Performance.

Inside the application, communications are set up in FactoryTalk Linx, formerly called RSLinx Enterprise. The drivers, devices and shortcuts the terminal uses are set on the Runtime (Target) tab of the Communication Setup editor, and when the .mer is loaded the terminal asks whether to replace its communication settings with the ones defined in the application. If the new terminal shows no data after the swap, follow PanelView Plus 7 shows no data from the PLC. Third-party controllers are reached through KEPServer on both families.

Converting the FactoryTalk View ME application

Find the right file. An .apa file is an archive made by the FactoryTalk View ME Application Manager; restoring it creates the development application again, with its security configuration. If only the .mer runtime file is left, it can be converted back to a development application when it was created with FactoryTalk View ME 5.00 or later and its conversion setting allows it: a .mer can be set to always allow conversion, to never allow it, or to require a password. Conversion restores the shortcuts and the runtime communication configuration, not the communication setup of the original design computer. When the old terminal has failed, the application may still be recoverable from it, as at the WindStarZ ride at VinWonders Grand Park, where TDL loaded the recovered application onto a PanelView Plus 7 Standard terminal.

Open it in a current Studio. An application from an earlier version is converted to the current version when it is opened, and after that earlier versions of Studio cannot open it, so keep the original archive. IP addresses with a leading zero must be corrected first, because FactoryTalk Linx reads them as octal.

Resize the screens. Apart from the 7-inch and 15-inch models, PanelView Plus 7 terminals have a higher resolution than PanelView Plus 6. An application that is not resized runs in the top-left corner of the screen; resizing means reworking the layout of each display, especially when moving to a widescreen terminal.

Check what Series B does not do. On Windows 10 IoT Core, Rockwell's release notes list: third-party ActiveX controls are not supported (only the FactoryTalk View ME ActiveX controls are); the web browser ActiveX control becomes a button that opens Microsoft Edge; data logs and recipes cannot be stored on a network share; third-party applications, .exe files and autorun are not supported; screenshots, the screen saver and Office file viewers are gone; ViewPoint runs without HTTPS. Count every ActiveX control and data log path in the application before choosing Series B.

Fonts. By default only plain fonts are installed on the terminal, so bold or italic text that looks correct in Studio can be cut off at runtime. The bold and italic versions are on Rockwell's font CDs and can be transferred to the terminal as .ttf or .ttc files with the ME Transfer Utility.

Create the runtime file for the terminal. In Create Runtime Application, "Save as type" selects the ME Station version of the target. An earlier ME Station cannot run a .mer made for a later version, so match the firmware on the terminal. If the application uses a feature that version does not support, validation fails, no .mer is created and the reasons are written to a ValidationResults text file.

Firmware. Rockwell's release notes say Series B Performance terminals do not ship with firmware pre-installed, and the user manual asks for the firmware to be updated with FactoryTalk View ME Station before the terminal goes onto a production network. It is installed from a USB storage device or with ControlFLASH or ControlFLASH Plus, using files from Rockwell's Product Compatibility and Download Center. Standard terminals are updated from a storage device, with a firmware upgrade card or over the network.

Step by step

1. Record the old terminal. Catalog number and series from the nameplate, firmware, the ME version used for the .mer, the controller path, and a photo of every screen.
2. Back up. Copy the .mer from the terminal with the ME Transfer Utility and find the matching .apa. If only the .mer exists, check that it converts before going further. FactoryTalk AssetCentre can keep these files afterwards.
3. Choose the terminal. Look up the replacement on Rockwell's product page, then check Standard against Performance, the cut-out, the adapter kit and the power supply.
4. Convert on the bench. Restore or convert, resize, replace unsupported objects and fonts, set the Runtime (Target) shortcut, and create the .mer for the terminal's firmware.
5. Test before the shutdown. Load the .mer on the new terminal and run it against the controller, or a test controller, screen by screen with the operators.
6. Swap. Fit the adapter kit, wire 24 V DC and Ethernet, load the .mer, answer Yes to replacing the communication settings, and test again on the real machine.
7. Archive both applications, old and new, with the runtime files.

TDL's work on these upgrades is described on the PanelView Plus HMI migration page and in the PanelView Plus 6 to Plus 7 service package. PanelView Standard, PanelBuilder32 and other HMI platforms are covered in legacy HMI/SCADA migration paths, and controller upgrades on the Rockwell upgrade page.