Touch Screen Display Key Terms

Get in touch with display technology by learning touch screen display key terms

Touch screen displays are the cornerstones of productivity in many different industries. Computer animators, restaurateurs and graphic designers all use them to create projects and to manage their day-to-day operations. Although they are easy to use, touch screen displays are not always easy to understand, especially for workers outside of the computer industry. By learning a handful of key terms, you can understand the basics of how these screens work and prepare yourself to buy the best product for your business.

 

Accuracy

The accuracy of a touch screen display is the term that refers to how finely it registers the position of the user's fingers. Displays with high accuracy are easier to use under fast-paced conditions, and they are better for extremely detailed work-such as drawing or painting-in a digital environment.
Try: 3M makes a variety of high-accuracy screens. For example, its MicroTouch ClearTek II Touch System can pinpoint a finger within one-percent of its actual position.

Non-volatile memory

Volatile memory loses its information when you turn off the system's power, but non-volatile memory does not. Common types of non-volatile memory are flash drives and computer hard disks.
Try: Read a good technical introduction to non-volatile memory at A.P. Lawrence.

Hardness

Some manufacturers rate the hardness of their touch screens using the Mohs mineral hardness scale. The scale rates a material's scratch resistance on a scale from 1-10, with a diamond rating a 10.
Try: Densitron Technologies makes touch screen displays with hardness up to seven Mohs. Its website also has a nice explanation of the Mohs scale and its applications to computer technologies.

Resolution

A touch screen's resolution measures how many pixels it can display at any given time. Screens with high resolutions generally have better image quality than those with low resolutions. They also tend to be physically bigger.
Try: For a quick, detailed review of the most common display resolutions, check out the guide from EAC Systems.

Analog resistive touch screen

Built from two sheets of resistive material separated by a thin layer of dots or air, analog resistive touch screens are typically very accurate and have high resolutions. When you press the two sheets together, voltage transmits between them and registers the finger's position.
Try: View an example at Monitouch HMI, which makes a 15-inch XGA screen with analog resistive touch.

Nanotouch technology

A touch screen display can be only so small before the user's fingers block the screen and make it extremely difficult, or impossible, to use. Nanotouch technology is an up-and-coming solution to this problem that allows users to make inputs using the backside of the screen, instead of the front, so they never block the view.
Try: PC World has an article on Nanotouch technology that outlines its basic design and potential applications.

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