It does seem at this point that the defendants are committed to resolving the claim terms in their favor and hopefully settling after Markman for next to nothing...

Yes, and their commitment is confirmed by the fact that the defendants don't think settlement talks would be prudent until after the Markman result (claim construction order) is known. To me that clearly means EDIG has raised the bar compared to the TX 7 bar and the defendants are rolling the dice on winning the Markman. If they lose though, the bar will go even higher, putting more money in EDIG's pockets.

From Doc 240, page 12:

Defendants therefore submit that the most sensible and efficient path for this case is:
(1) An identification of the asserted patent claims and accused products to define the
scope of this case; followed immediately by
(2) the Markman briefing, hearing and claim construction order; and
(3) having then defined the scope of the case, narrowed the issues, and enabled
meaningful mediation and settlement, general discovery.