You have probably interacted with a touchscreen monitor regularly in your daily activities. You may have seen them in ATMs, vending machines, computers, and more. The keyboard is no longer the best way to interact with your electronic devices. With just a finger tap, pinch, or swipe, you can navigate the pages of your device quickly and conveniently, making modern touchscreen monitors more reliable than the keyboard and the mouse.
However, if you’re not familiar with the industry, you may not know that there are different types of touchscreen monitors, and each has unique functions and benefits. But the question we seek to answer is; what are the top two types of touchscreen monitors? Learn more about the most commonly used types of touchscreen monitors from the experts at ACS Industrial Services.
A touchscreen monitor responds to the touch of a finger or a stylus and provides a faster response to act. A user should perform direct touch on the surface to enter data and send orders to the devices. Touchscreen monitors have a strong base to prevent the screen from wobbling when touched. Most touchscreen monitors have the same feel and look as mobile devices to help users understand how to interact with them.
The functionality of a 5-wire resistive touchscreen monitor depends on the pressure being applied to the screen. This is the most used touchscreen in industrial applications. It has a glass panel and a film screen separated by a thin metallic layer. Whenever a user touches this screen, the layers come into contact, creating an electrical flow that indicates the presence of a point of contact.
Advantages:
Disadvantages:
The capacitive touchscreen is the leading technology today, used in most smartphones and computers. They work by sensing the conductive properties of an object, usually the fingertip or stylus. Capacitive touchscreen monitors come in two types; projected capacitive touchscreen and surface capacitive touchscreen.
This is the second most prevalent touchscreen monitor type in the market. It has a glass panel below a transparent electrode layer that is under a protective screen.
Advantages:
Disadvantages:
While it’s similar to a surface capacitive touchscreen, the projected touchscreen can be operated even when the user has gloves on, making it ideal for use in many industries, such as the medical field. This touchscreen is more resistant to scratches, and it has a multi-touch function. The only disadvantages of a projected capacitive touchscreen are that it is expensive to produce and needs to form an electric circuit, so it must be configured for glove use.
Now that you know the top two types of touchscreen monitors, reach out to ACS Industrial Services for all your industrial electronic repair services. Our team of professionals will provide you with a free evaluation and repair quote.
Use our RMA Form link or Contact Us for a free evaluation. You can also call us at 800-605-6419 to speak with a member of our customer service team.
We all use touchscreens every day. Touch panels are so common, that we don’t notice them anymore. Think about all the times when you use touch panels: typing out a text message, getting cash from an ATM, and adjusting the temperature in the office.
You might be aware of the differences between particular touch panel modules. Touch panels vary in response time, required pressure or different texture under your fingers.
Each type of touch panel responds differently because of the underlying technology.
You want to choose the best type of touchscreen for the project you’re working on? Try to decide based on what environment and what circumstances the display will be used in.
The three main touch screen components are:
Our shop gives you two versions to choose from: capacitive and resistive touch panels.
Table of Contents
Toggle
Let’s start with resistive touch panels.
The history of resistive touch panels starts in the 1970s. For years, that was the most common touch input technology. But it wasn’t just the number of years the resistive touch panels had over capacitive ones. Resistive touch panel technology is cheaper than the capacitive touch screen components.
According to the technology name, the resistance measurement is what detects the touch. The pressure on the screen of the touch panel translates directly to change in the Ohm value.
A resistive touch panel has several layers:
The conductive layers of ITO or Indium Tin Oxide (see the image above) are separated by spacer dots. That prevents them from touching one another while the touch panel is not in use. What happens when a finger touches the touch panel? This space between spacer dots disappears and the layers detect the resistance change. Then the coordinates of the touch are being calculated.
The main advantages of resistive touch panels are:
Resistive touch panel disadvantages:
Capacitive touch panel technology relies on the capacitance of the human body. Meanwhile, the resistive technology depends on pressure applied on the touch panel., and not on pressure like resistive technology. There are two types of capacitive touch panels – surface capacitive and projected capacitive.
Both touch panels work on detecting the change of capacitance on the screen.
Surface capacitiveCapacitive touch panels are more often used for big surfaces, as they need less accuracy.
Let’s see take a look at how capacitive touch screen components work.
As you probably may already know, a thin glass surface covers capacitive touch screens. Under this glass surface, covered with a protective layer, lies a thin layer of electrodes. The electrodes on the corner of the touch panel provide the voltage for the thin film layer. As your finger touches the screen a small electrical charge is transferred to the finger and the electrical circuit is complete. This creates a voltage drop on that part of the screen, and the touch is being detected.
Projected capacitiveThe projected capacitive touch panel is a more complex capacitive technology. Beneath the glass with the protective cover (mentioned above), there is a pattern of electrode layers – called the matrix. This pattern forms the plane of X and Y coordinates, which the controller uses to calculate the touch event.
This variant of touch panels is used for smaller dimensions, as it’s more accurate than surface capacitance.
This is why you can’t use a capacitive touch screen when you’re wearing gloves.
Capacitive technology advantages are:
The disadvantages are:
So, next time you’re starting a project and you don’t know what type of touch screen components you should choose, check out this article. Think about what kind of environment the touch panel will be in. If you are planning to use this device in a more rugged, industrial setting, a resistive touch panels will work better. It’s because you can use this touch panel with both gloved hands and a stylus.
But if you design the device for a more sophisticated application, then a capacitive touch panel is our recommendation. With capacitive touch panels multi-touch is not a problem, you can easily scroll and have excellent sensitivity.