Touch screen technology and the accompanying appliances have gained much popularity over the years. Now, even businesses are going the extra mile to bring in touch screen appliances and peripheral devices to make things a bit more modern and easier.
But there are different types of touch screen technologies available in the market, so it can be a daunting task to make a choice if you aren’t well informed. In total, there are 3 types of touch screens available, one of which is the resistive touch screen.
As you will discover, resistive touchscreen displays are the most preferred option in businesses, simply because they are more reliable than others.
The science behind resistive touch screen products
In order to operate, resistive touch screens make use of a pressure detector. The work of this pressure detector is to sense when the screen is touched under pressure.
Once the detector senses this pressure, it goes on to carry forward the appropriate action. The resistive touch screen itself consists of three layers: a conductive layer, a sensitive layer and a layer of air in between the two.
What happens is, these two layers, the conductive and the sensitive layer, are placed on top of each other with the space on the glass, and a coating of indium tin oxide is applied. The work of this resistive chemical is to provide a protective characteristic against scratches.
When pressure is applied on the top screen, a current is conducted through it, and passed down to the bottom layer once the two screens touch each other due to the applied pressure. It is at this point that the operating system of the device makes sense of the specific location that has been touched, and responds accordingly to carry out the command connected to that specific pressure point.
Where are resistive touch screen systems found?
The touch screens make the use of the mouse and keyboard redundant, and instead, go straight to the monitor’s direct use. Besides touch screen computers, mobile phones also make use of a touch screen peripheral.
However, mobile phones with complete touch screen capabilities are in more demand because people want a quicker access to the menu button via a mere touch, rather than having to make several clicks of the button to get there. It’s just too time consuming.
Now, with a mere touch of the finger or a stylus you can gain access to everything. With this kind of fast-paced follow up of touch screen technology, the chances are that you have interacted with both resistive and capacitive touch screens. But which one is better to use when it comes to a business’s point of sale system or for customer or employee interactions? In order to answer this question, it is good to make an understanding of both types of touch screen options to get the general sense of things. Let’s start with the definitions:
Resisitve touch screens have two flexible resistive layers with layer of air in between. A specific input is registered when pressure is applied on the top layer. If the pressure is significant enough to depress the layer, it bends and touches the bottom layer, and the precise location of the touch is realized.
In capacitive touch screens, there are two layers of glass placed on top of each other, and each layer is coated with a conducting agent, like indium tin oxide. This conducting agent has a special purpose. Once the fingertip or a special kind of stylus is used to touch the screen, the agent is made to react, thus causing the local electrostatic field to change. When this happens, the system automatically knows precisely where or what has been touched
Advantages of resistive touch screen controllers
Due to its pressure based touch operation using either your finger, stylus or basically anything else, it’s widely used in industries. Due to this rugged characteristic, and of course the higher number of sensors per inch, it doesn’t take a special something to operate it.
This means that even if you have a glove, it will register an input. Therefore, as far as capacitive touch screens are highly desired in most devices due to their sensitivity, places like restaurants which are ever exposed to all kinds of liquids, resistive touch screens will always remain functional.
Disadvantages of resistive touch interfaces
They aren’t as sensitive as capacitive screens are, meaning you’ll have to apply a lot of pressure for it to register an input. The extra layer of material that is usually placed on top of the screens makes the screen contrast horrible, and they don’t support multi-touch functionalities.
Advantages of capacitive touch screen controllers
They are more durable than resistive touch screens. They rarely, if ever, suffer the wear and tear that usually comes from touching a certain area for too long. Also, they are immune to cracks or piercings; a cracked or pierced capacitive touch screen will always remain functional.
Disadvantages of capacitive touch interfaces
They are prone to easy breakage, expensive to construct due to the complex technology involved, and they don’t have the ruggedness of resistive touch screens which is great for handling small icons. Finally, capacitive touch screens only sense the touch of a fingertip.
If, for example, you have gloves, you’re going to have a hard time getting it to respond. Now that you have a working understanding of the major touch screen options, we recommend that you contact us to speak with one of our touch screen experts.
We can help you determine the best technology and display size for your specific needs.