While there are several types of touchscreen technologies available for industrial touch screens, three stand out as the most practical and cost-effective options for most applications.
Resistive
This type of screen consists of 2 elements, a glass panel and a film screen, both with a thin metal coating. The panel and screen are stacked on top of each other, with the metal coating facing each other, with a small gap between the panel and the screen. When the user presses down on the membrane screen, the charged metal layer contacts and transmits an electrical current. This action means touching the screen at the specified location. As long as enough pressure is applied to trigger a screen touch, many different objects can be used on resistive screens to interact with the interface. Therefore, it is a popular choice in facilities where touchscreen users are required to wear gloves when interacting with computer screens.
Surface capacitive
Utilize the electrostatic capacity of the human body to record its screen touch. The screen is designed by adding a thin layer of electrodes on top of a glass panel. When the panel comes into contact with human skin or other capacitive objects, such as a charged stylus, the screen transmits a small amount of current to the user’s skin. This energy transfer is recorded by the device as a screen touch. Unlike resistive-based touchscreen technology, capacitive screens cannot record screen touches without direct contact with capacitive objects.
Projected capacitive
Like surface capacitive screen technology, projected capacitive screens use a layer of electrodes to generate an electrical current that is read by sensors in the screen. Unlike surface capacitive screens, however, projected capacitive screens use a three-dimensional electrostatic field to precisely locate and record user touches on the screen. Unlike surface capacitive screens, this technology allows the use of thin gloves on the screen, as well as multi-touch input from the user.
Available solutions
Industrial Touch Monitor offers a wide range of industrial displays for a variety of applications, with dedicated units that are waterproof, sunlight readable or explosion proof. Whether you are looking for resistive, surface capacitive or projected capacitive screens, we have a solution for your specific operational needs.