touch screen technology

Touchscreen is an electronic visual output that can detect the presence and location of a touch within the display area. It enables one to interact with what is displayed directly on the hand, where it is displayed, rather than indirect with a mouse or touchpad and lets one do so without requiring any intermediate device, again, such as a stylus that needs to be held in the hand. Such displays can be attached to computers or, as terminals, to networks. They also play a prominent role in the design of digital appliances such as the personal digital assistant (PDA), satellite navigation devices, mobile phones, and video games.


INTRODUCING THE TECHNOLOGY.............
A touch screen is an input device that allows users to operate a PC by simply touching the display screen. The display screen has a sensitive glass overlay placed on it and we could give the desired input by touching it . A touch screen is based on CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) technology, that accepts direct onscreen input. The ability for direct onscreen input is facilitated by an external (light pen) or an internal device (touch overlay and controller).



HOW DOES A TOUCH SCREEN WORKS

Main touch screen components :

Touch sensor

Controller

Software driver

TOUCH SENSOR

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

CONTROLLER

The controller is a small PC card that connects between the touch sensor and the PC. It takes information from the touch sensor and translate it into information that PC can understand.

SOFTWARE DRIVER

The driver is a software that allows the touch screen and computer to work together. It tells the operating system how to interpret the touch event information that is sent from the controller.Most touch screen drivers today are a mouse-emulation type driver. This makes touching the screen the same as clicking your mouse at the same location on the screen.

TOUCH SCREEN DIVERSITY

•Resistive Touch Screen.

•Surface Wave Touch Screen.

•Capacitive Touch Screen.

*Surface Capacitive.

*Projected Capacitive.

•Near Field Imaging Touch Screen.

•Infrared Touch Screen.

ADVANTAGES & DISADVANTAGES

Advantages:

There are many advantage for using touch screen monitor-

—Touch screen technology is now an affordable alternative to older VGA character based point of sale applications.

—Touch screen monitors are considered standard PC technology and are here to stay. Applications designed around this technology have many flexibility in using this.

—The intuitive nature of a touch screen application makes it easier for cashiers to learn and increases the overall productivity of both inexperienced and experienced cashiers.

Significantly reduces new employee training time and efficiency

Disadvantages:

There are a few disadvantages for using touch screen monitors-

—It can caused you to feel a little electric shocks if you touch the screen with your wet fingers.

—The screen can easily be damaged if it strikes against a sharp and hard object.

APPLICATIONS…

Public Information Displays:

Tourism displays, Trade show display

Customer Self-Services:

Stores, Restaurants, ATMs, Airline ticket terminals and Transportation hubs.

CLOSING THOUGHTS

Though the touch screen technology contains some limitations it’s very user friendly, fast, accurate, easy for the novices & fun to operate. It has been widely accepted. And now by just modifying a little it can replace the mouse and key board completely in near future.