Overview

Introduction Components Technologies Advantages Disadvantages Applications Conclusion

Introduction
Touch screen refers to touching the display of the device with a finger or hand Touch screen can also sense other passive object such as stylus.

Components

A basic touch screen has three main components :

Touch sensor Controller Software driver

Touch sensor

A touch screen sensor is a clear glass panel with a touch responsive area. The touch sensor is placed over a display screen so that the responsive area of the panel covers the viewable area of the screen.

Controller

The controller connects between the touch sensor and the PC. Take information from the touch sensor and translate it into information that PC can understand.

Software Driver

The driver allow the touch screen and computer to work together This makes touching the screen as same as clicking the your mouse at the same location on the screen.

Technologies

Resistive Surface acoustic wave Capacitive Pen Style Capacitive

Resistive
A resistive touch screen panel is coated with electrically conductive & resistive layer. When the layer is touched, causing a change in the electrical current and a touch command to be registered.

Capacitive

A capacitive touch screen panel is coated with a material that stores electrical charges. When the panel is touched, a small amount of charge is drawn to the point of contact. Circuits located at the corner of the panel measure the capacitance of a person touching the overlay.

Pen Style Capacitive Touch Screen

The Pen Touch Capacitive screen is a durable capacitive type touch screen with an attached Pen Stylus. The Pen touch screen can be set to respond to finger or pen input only or both.

Surface acoustic wave

Uses ultrasonic waves Surface wave touch screen panels can be damaged by outside elements. When the panel is touched, a portion of the wave is absorbed.

Comparison
TYPE Activation Clarity Can handle Dirt Touch Resolution Operation Warranty RESISTIVE Pressure Sensitive Minimal Good High Finger 1 year CAPACITIVE Human Body Electricity Best Best High Finger 5 years SAW Wave Absorption Medium Poor Average Finger or soft tip stylus 3 years

Advantages

User friendly Fast response Error free input Use finger, fingernail, gloved hands, stylus or any soft tip pointer Easy to clean Does not interfere mouse and keyboard Make computing easy , powerful and fun It benefits children

Disadvantages

Finger stress Fingerprints Screen has to be really big not to miss things when pressing them with your finger Fatigue

Applications
Museums Library resource guides Corporate information Airport terminal passenger internet and emails ATMs Restaurants Grocery stores

Conclusion

Designers are trying to use touch screen to simplify input commands Today , touch screen has becomes adopted by computers users of all abilities because it is simple, fast and innovative. In future there is no usage of mouse and keyboards as they will be replaced by touch screen.

References

http://www.google.co.in http://www.wikipedia.com http://www.ieee.com http://wiki.fluidproject.org