Selecting the Right Technology

the correct touch screen technology is critical to any products’ success

Selecting the correct touch screen technology for an application is critical to any products’ success because it plays such a major role in its operational reliability and the user’s experience.

When selecting and implementing a touch screen technology solution, there are numerous requirements and design factors to consider and a complex array of solutions and options.

A D Metro can assist you in prioritizing those requirements that are most important and relevant to your application.

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Some of the questions you should be contemplating include:

What is the operating environment?

Temperature, humidity, etc.

How will the touch screen be operated?

Finger, stylus, pen, tools, medical gloves, industrial gloves, winter gloves, edge of credit card, etc.

How durable must the screen be?

Exposure to scratches, abrasion, welding sparks, cigarette butts, etc.

What types of contaminants will the product be exposed to?

Chemicals, dirt, dust, cleaning agents, etc.

Will the application be unattended in a public location?

Must it be resistant to vandalism

Is the application going to be subject to electromagnetic interference (EMI)

Military, cockpit or first responder, etc.

What are the regulatory requirements of the application?

UL, FCC, MIL-STD, MIL-SPEC, EN, ROHS, etc.

What type of display will the touch screen be used with?

LED’s EMI, LCD, optical bonding

What production volume and supply chain logistics will be required?

Mass production, limited production runs, manufacturing location, delivery times

What is the required size of the screen?

Industry standard size, or custom form factor

What is the expected operational life of the product?

Number of touches, frequency of touches, years of operation, etc.

What types of screen based interactions are required?

Simple press-to-select, multi-touch, or gesture based interactions

Will the operating environment require special optical treatment?

Anti-glare, anti-reflective, night-sight, full plus reflected sunlight, chopped sunlight (helicopter)

How will the display be mounted and assembled?

Plastic bezel, metal bezel, gaskets, adhesives, bonding, etc.

How will the touch screen be connected and controlled?

Controller embedded on motherboard or separate control module, USB, I2C, RS-232

Cost versus performance in the design?

How important is the touch screen’s performance and durability to the application?

A D Metro can assist you in prioritizing your ojectives and the requirements that are most important and relevant to your application.

We can help you through the process of choosing the right solution for your application by guiding you through the advantages and disadvantages of each type of touch screen technology. A D Metro has extensive practical experience in supplying innovative solutions in touch screen technology for real-world applications since 1993. Get in touch with our experts who can help you with your project’s requirements.

Touch Screen Technology Comparison

What are the different types of touch screen technology and how do they compare?

Understanding touch screen technologies and the differences between them is important when contemplating design options and trade-offs.

There are different groups of touch screen sensor technologies:

Pressure Activated

Pressure Activated sensors overlay the display. They use pressure activation to create a contact between conductive layers and resistance to locate the touch point.

See our ULTRA Resistive and Standard Resistive touch screen sensors.

Projected Capacitive (PCAP) Sensors

PCAP sensors use conductive coatings, high frequency signals and changes in capacitance to detect the proximity of a finger and its location.

See our PCAP touch screen sensors

Peripheral Sensors

Peripheral Sensors detect touch as a disruption of a signal over a display surface; without embedded sensing in the glass they offer the highest optical clarity.

See our Linear Correlating Infrared touch screen sensors.

See our Surface Acoustic Wave touch screen sensors.