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Touchscreen Technology Overview

Capacitive Technology

Primary
Advantages

Primary
Disadvantages

•	Glass front, hard to scratch	•	Requires bare finger or conductive stylus
•	Good optical clarity

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Resistive Technology

Primary
Advantages

Primary
Disadvantages

•	Activated by any blunt object	•	Reduced optical clarity
•	High resolution	•	Plastic front can scratch

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Surface Acoustic Wave Technology

Primary
Advantages

Primary
Disadvantages

•	Glass front, hard to scratch	•	Requires bare finger or conductive stylus
•	Good optical clarity	•	Susceptible to noise interference
•	Z-axis capability	•

Touchscreen Solutions Capacitive Technology
CRT and LCD Touch-screen Monitors
Capacitive Technology
Primary Advantages	Primary Disadvantages
• Glass front, hard to scratch	• Requires bare finger or conductive stylus
• Good optical clarity
Image Key
A - Controller calulates touch location by measuring voltage drop
B - Controller
C - Voltage applied to all corners of touchscreen
D - Uniform Electric Field
E - Touch draws current from each corner of electric field creating voltage drop
Applications: Capacitive Technology
• Capacitive Technology	• Video Gaming
• Information Kiosks
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Touchscreen Solutions Resistive Technology
CRT and LCD Touch-screen Monitors
Resistive Technology
Primary Advantages			Primary Disadvantages
• Activated by any blunt object			• Reduced optical clarity
• High resolution			• Plastic front can scratch
Image Key
A - Spacer dot
B - Conductive coating
C - Bottom circuit layer
D - Glass or acrylic backing panel
E - PET film
F - Top circuit layer
G - Conductive coating
H - Touch creates contact between resistive circuit layers, closing a switch
I - Controller alternates voltage between layers to get touch coordinates
Applications: Capacitive Technology
• Retail POS			• Industrial Process Control
• Medical Monitoring			• Portable Products
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Touchscreen Solutions Acoustic Wave Technology
CRT and LCD Touch-screen Monitors
Acoustic Wave Technology
Primary Advantages			Primary Disadvantages
• Glass front, hard to scratch			• Requires bare finger or conductive stylus
• Good optical clarity			• Susceptible to noise interference
• Z-axis capability
Image Key
A - Transducers emit sound waves along sides
B - Sound wave reflector
C - Sensor
D - Controller measures wave amplitude change to determine touch location
E - Touch absorbs some acoustic energy from sound waves
F - Sensor
G - Sound wave reflector
Applications: Acoustic Technology
• Medical Monitoring
• Rugged Kiosk Applications
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