Touchscreen Technology: How does it Work?
Touchscreens have become an integral part of our way of life. When we interact with a product that has a touchscreen, we expect it to execute the action we want without a second thought. It wasn’t too far in the past that the idea of a touchscreen was a dream. Yet, today we see it as a common feature in many devices.
While most of us use this technology on a daily basis, most of us do not know how it works. How does a screen know what to do when we touch an icon? There are various types of touchscreen technologies but they all function based on a similar idea.
Resistive touchscreens
Many touchscreens today operate on the resistive model. Resistive touchscreens are coated with a thin electrically conductive layer. When you touch the screen, your fingertip causes the electrical current to change. This information is instantly sent to the device’s controller, which causes the device to react to your touch. Resistive touchscreen technology is cheaper, and is the most frequent form of touchscreen used in products today. However, such touchscreens aren’t the most sensitive.
Surface wave touchscreen
This form of touchscreen relies on ultrasonic waves that pass over the screen. Whenever your finger touches the screen, you absorb part of the wave. This data is sent to the device’s controller and an action is preformed. Simple right?
Capacitive touchscreens
Capacitive touchscreens tend to have the sharpest image quality. Capacitive touchscreens are coated with a material that sends a continuous electrical current over the sensor. The good news is, the body is also a type of electrical device. Which means that when you touch the screen you absorb some of the current. The device registers this disturbance, causing it to send information to its controller. The device will then perform the action that you requested.
It’s a good thing we don’t have to grasp the touchscreen technology to enjoy it. But it is nice to have a grasp, if only slightly, on how a technology works that we use everyday, particularly as we know that touchscreen technology isn’t going away any time soon.
