Resistive touchscreen
Encyclopedia
In electrical engineering
, resistive touchscreens are touch-sensitive
computer display
s composed of two flexible sheets coated with a resistive material and separated by an air gap or microdot
s. There are two different types of metallic layers. The first one is Matrix, which is a striped electrodes on substrates such as glass or plastic face each other. The second type of layer is Analogue which consists of transparent electrodes without any patterning facing each other and Low production costs.. When contact is made to the surface of the touchscreen, the two sheets are pressed together. On these two sheets there are horizontal and vertical lines that, when pushed together, register the precise location of the touch. Because the touchscreen senses input from contact with nearly any object (finger, stylus/pen, palm) resistive touchscreens are a type of "passive" technology.
For example, during operation of a four-wire touchscreen, a uniform, unidirectional voltage gradient is applied to the first sheet. When the two sheets are pressed together, the second sheet measures the voltage as distance along the first sheet, providing the X coordinate. When this contact coordinate has been acquired, the uniform voltage gradient
is applied to the second sheet to ascertain the Y coordinate. These operations occur within a few milliseconds, registering the exact touch location as contact is made.
Resistive touchscreens typically have high resolution (4096 x 4096 DPI or higher), providing accurate touch control. Because the touchscreen responds to pressure on its surface, contact can be made with a finger or any other pointing device.
-like object. In some circumstances, this is more desirable than a capacitive touchscreen, which has to be operated with a capacitive pointer, such as a bare finger. The costs are relatively low when compared with active touchscreen technologies. Resistive touchscreen technology can be made to support multi-touch
input.
For people who must grip the active portion of the screen or must set their entire hand down on the screen, alternative touchscreen technologies are available, such as active touchscreen in which only the stylus creates input and touches from the hand are rejected. However, there are now newer touchscreen technologies which allow the use of multi-touch
without the aforementioned vectoring issues.
Electrical engineering
Electrical engineering is a field of engineering that generally deals with the study and application of electricity, electronics and electromagnetism. The field first became an identifiable occupation in the late nineteenth century after commercialization of the electric telegraph and electrical...
, resistive touchscreens are touch-sensitive
Touchscreen
A touchscreen is an electronic visual display that can detect the presence and location of a touch within the display area. The term generally refers to touching the display of the device with a finger or hand. Touchscreens can also sense other passive objects, such as a stylus...
computer display
Computer display
A monitor or display is an electronic visual display for computers. The monitor comprises the display device, circuitry, and an enclosure...
s composed of two flexible sheets coated with a resistive material and separated by an air gap or microdot
Microdot
A microdot is text or an image substantially reduced in size onto a 1mm disc to prevent detection by unintended recipients. Microdots are normally circular around one millimetre in diameter but can be made into different shapes and sizes and made from various materials such as polyester...
s. There are two different types of metallic layers. The first one is Matrix, which is a striped electrodes on substrates such as glass or plastic face each other. The second type of layer is Analogue which consists of transparent electrodes without any patterning facing each other and Low production costs.. When contact is made to the surface of the touchscreen, the two sheets are pressed together. On these two sheets there are horizontal and vertical lines that, when pushed together, register the precise location of the touch. Because the touchscreen senses input from contact with nearly any object (finger, stylus/pen, palm) resistive touchscreens are a type of "passive" technology.
For example, during operation of a four-wire touchscreen, a uniform, unidirectional voltage gradient is applied to the first sheet. When the two sheets are pressed together, the second sheet measures the voltage as distance along the first sheet, providing the X coordinate. When this contact coordinate has been acquired, the uniform voltage gradient
Gradient
In vector calculus, the gradient of a scalar field is a vector field that points in the direction of the greatest rate of increase of the scalar field, and whose magnitude is the greatest rate of change....
is applied to the second sheet to ascertain the Y coordinate. These operations occur within a few milliseconds, registering the exact touch location as contact is made.
Resistive touchscreens typically have high resolution (4096 x 4096 DPI or higher), providing accurate touch control. Because the touchscreen responds to pressure on its surface, contact can be made with a finger or any other pointing device.
Comparison with other touchscreen technology
Resistive touchscreen technology works well with almost any stylusStylus
A stylus is a writing utensil, or a small tool for some other form of marking or shaping, for example in pottery. The word is also used for a computer accessory . It usually refers to a narrow elongated staff, similar to a modern ballpoint pen. Many styli are heavily curved to be held more easily...
-like object. In some circumstances, this is more desirable than a capacitive touchscreen, which has to be operated with a capacitive pointer, such as a bare finger. The costs are relatively low when compared with active touchscreen technologies. Resistive touchscreen technology can be made to support multi-touch
Multi-touch
In computing, multi-touch refers to a touch sensing surface's ability to recognize the presence of two or more points of contact with the surface...
input.
For people who must grip the active portion of the screen or must set their entire hand down on the screen, alternative touchscreen technologies are available, such as active touchscreen in which only the stylus creates input and touches from the hand are rejected. However, there are now newer touchscreen technologies which allow the use of multi-touch
Multi-touch
In computing, multi-touch refers to a touch sensing surface's ability to recognize the presence of two or more points of contact with the surface...
without the aforementioned vectoring issues.