Application of EM theory in

resistive touch screen display &

capacitive touch screen display
 HOW DOES A TOUCHSCREEN WORK?

A basic touch screen has three main components:

Ø touch sensor
Ø controller
Ø software driver

§ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yU5kPoc7sL4
§ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFvh7qM6LdA
 1. TOUCH SENSOR

Ø A touch screen sensor is a clear glass panel with a touch responsive

surface which is placed over a display screen.

Ø The sensor generally has an electrical current or signal going through it

and touching the screen causes a voltage or signal change. This voltage
change is used to determine the location of the touch to the screen.
2. CONTROLLER

Ø The controller is a small PC card

that connects between the touch
sensor and the PC.

Ø It takes information from the touch

sensor and translates it into
information that PC can understand.
 3. SOFTWARE DRIVER

Ø The driver is a software that allows the touch

screen and computer to work together.

Ø It tells the operating system how to interpret the

touch event information that is sent from the
controller.
 DIFFERENT TOUCH SCREEN TECHNOLOGIES

q RESISTIVE

q CAPACITIVE

q SURFACE WAVE

q INFRARED
 RESISTIVE TOUCH SCREEN TECHNOLOGY

1. Polyester Film .
2. Top Resistive Layer.
3. Conductive Transparent Metal
Coating.
4. Bottom Resistive Layer .
5. Insulating Dots .
6. Glass Substrate
• Pressing the flexible top sheet creates electrical contact with the coating on
the glass.
• A Resistive Touch Screen panel comprises several layers, the most important of
which are two thin, transparent electrically-resistive layers separated by a thin
space.
• The touch screen controller gets the alternating voltages between the two
layers and converts them into the digital X and Y coordinates of the activated
area.
• These layers face each other, with a thin gap between. One resistive layer is a
coating on the underside of the top surface of the screen. Just beneath it is a
similar resistive layer on top of its substrate. One layer has conductive
connections along its sides, the other along top and bottom.
Capacitive touch screen
A capacitive touch screen panel consists of an insulator
such as glass, coated with a transparent conductor such
as indium tin oxide (ITO). As the human body is also an
electrical conductor, touching the surface of the screen
results in a distortion of the screen's electrostatic field,
measurable as a change in capacitance. Different
technologies may be used to determine the location of
the touch.
The location is then sent to the controller for
processing. Unlike a resistive touch screen, one cannot
use a capacitive touch screen through most types of
electrically insulating material, such as gloves; one
requires a special capacitive stylus, or a special-
application glove with an embroidered patch of
conductive thread passing through it and contacting the
user's fingertip. This disadvantage especially affects
usability in consumer electronics, such as touch tablet
PCs and capacitive smart phones in cold weather.
 Difference between resistive and
capacitive touch screen
Resistive touch Capacitive touch
screen screen

Operation with non-conductive object Yes No

Optical Transmittance Low High

Durability Less High