Tag: Touchscreen monitor

What Is a Touchscreen Digitizer and How Does It Work?

Posted on: April 4, 2022

waterproof touchscreen monitor

Touchscreen devices consist of numerous different components that must work cohesively together in order to make it functional. The touch sensor, controller, and the software all play important roles. But there’s one component that’s often overlooked in the equation and that’s the touchscreen digitizer. This is the component that allows users to directly interact with what’s on the screen and issue commands.

What Is a Touchscreen Digitizer?

As you know, touchscreen devices consist of multiple layers each of which serve a different purpose and carry out various functions. The purpose of the touchscreen digitizer glass layer is essentially to translate or convert physical touch commands into digital signals that the device can understand and then carry out.

What Is the Difference between Touchscreen Digitizers and LCD Displays?

Commercial and industrial displays such as capacitive and resistive screens all feature touchscreen digitizers that are placed on top of and connected to the LCD layer using a flex cable. While the LCD layer is responsible for displaying sharp and crystal-clear images on the screen, the LCD touchscreen digitizer reads, understands, and translates the commands given so that the device can perform the appropriate functions.

Are Touchscreen Digitizers Necessary for Every Device?

Touchscreen digitizers are fairly common components of modern LCD displays, but not all of them are equipped with one. The sole purpose of an LCD display touchscreen digitizer is to convert touch commands on the top layer into digital data that the device can understand and perform. Once the touch commands are converted into digital data, the device can then perform the required function and change the images displayed on the screen accordingly. 

Can the Device Still be Used if the Touchscreen Digitizer is Damaged?

Touchscreen digitizers are made of a single glass layer, which means they can be susceptible to damage if the device is dropped or comes into contact with a brute force. Although the device can still marginally function depending on the extent of the damage to the touchscreen digitizer glass, its functionality and ability to comprehend touch commands may be limited. If the glass is completely shattered, then the device won’t be able to interpret touch commands at all.

When Do You Need to Replace Your LCD Screen or Touchscreen Digitizer?

The LCD and touchscreen digitizer layers of a device display serve completely different functions, but they work in tandem to maximize user experience and device performance. Since both of these components are made of thin glass layers, they’re not impervious to damages such as cracks or scratches as a result of being dropped or coming into contact with external physical stressors.

Eventually, the time may come when you need to replace either the LCD or touchscreen digitizer glass layer of your smartphone or laptop.

Here are a few common types of damage that your screen could endure over time.

Shattered touchscreen digitizer

If it’s only the touchscreen digitizer that’s broken, you’ll still be able to make out what’s being displayed on the screen by the LCD component for the most part. The only difference is that parts of the screen or the entire screen might be unresponsive to your touch commands as a result of the damages. Moreover, blobs or splotchy images may appear in certain parts of the screen.

Non-responsive touchscreen digitizer

This indicates that there’s a disconnection between the touchscreen digitizer and the LCD display, which is preventing the device from performing the desired functions issued by touch commands.

Pixelated LCD screen

The LCD screen is responsible for the visual component of your device. Pixelation in the form of multicoloured splotches or dots throughout the screen indicates that the LCD component has sustained a certain level of damage. It can be caused by wear and tear over time or if your device sustains physical damage.

Damaged or black screen

A black screen indicates that the LCD layer of the device is damaged. The device itself will most likely still turn on and function like normal, but you won’t be able to see what it’s doing on the screen itself. Typically, this just means that the LCD layer needs to be repaired or replaced. Depending on the extent of the damage, it might be more practical and cost-effective to simply purchase a new device altogether unless you’re still within the warranty period.

Contact Nauticomp Inc. to Learn about Touchscreen LCD Displays and Monitors

Nauticomp Inc. is one of the leading digital device manufacturers and distributors in North America and the UK. We deliver high-quality state-of-the-art commercial and industrial displays that can be custom-tailored according to the specific needs of our customers. Contact us today to learn more about our products or to place an order.

What You Need To Know about Resistive and Capacitive Touchscreens

Posted on: May 5, 2017

These days, you’d be pretty hard-pressed to find a technological device that doesn’t feature at least some capacity of touchscreen capabilities. Despite the growing popularity of touchscreen devices and their continual integration into everyday use, most people still don’t realize that there are two different types of touchscreen formats—capacitive and resistive—and that they each have their own unique set of functions. Businesses that are looking to incorporate industrial touchscreen monitors into various aspects of their practices must understand the advantages and disadvantages of resistive vs. capacitive touchscreens and what each of them does.

Differences between Capacitive and Resistive Touchscreen Monitors

There’s a major difference between capacitive and resistive touchscreen monitors and this knowledge is paramount to deciding which type of touchscreen computer monitor would be most beneficial to your business. Before making any final decisions or purchases, you need to take the nature of your business into account first. Consider who will be using the devices you purchase the most. Is your business primarily customer-based or employee-based? In other words, are you purchasing these devices mostly for employee use to input data or are you purchasing them as a point-of-sale device for customers? This distinction is most important because it’ll ultimately help you determine which device is best suited for the type of business you’re running.

What Is a Capacitive Touchscreen?

Capacitive touchscreen monitors are rugged and highly responsive to even the slightest touch of your finger due to their conductive capabilities. Of course, most devices come with the option of changing the sensitivity levels to suit your preferences. They’re double-layered, and the inner layer is comprised of a heavy-duty insulation while the top layer is made with a durable glass for protection and a strong point of contact. Capacitive monitors only respond to human contact because the human body has conductive properties. As soon as the device detects heat, it automatically registers the exact point of contact and each command with great accuracy.

What Is a Resistive Touchscreen?

As the name suggests, resistive touchscreen monitors are slightly more resistive than their capacitive counterparts in the sense that they don’t respond as quickly to every minute touch. This type of touchscreen monitor is more suited for industrial settings because they respond more readily to pressure from various objects including fingers and stylus pens. You have to apply light pressure for the device to register your desired command. The fact that they’re less sensitive to touch means they’re less likely to inaccurately register and store information due to an accidental graze of your hand or other objects on the screen. This makes resistive touchscreens ideal for fast-paced and high-impact environments.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Capacitive Touchscreens

Capacitive touchscreens are highly responsive, which also means they’re very sensitive to even the slightest touch. This can be a blessing and a curse as it means that every touch could inadvertently activate the screen and register as a command by the device’s processor depending on where the screen was touched. In some cases, this could lead to some inaccurately recorded data. That’s why capacitive devices generally aren’t recommended for industrial use or customer relations and point of sale environments.

They are, however perfectly suitable for mobile devices, tablets, and touchscreen computers and laptops for this reason. Just think of all the times you’ve been sitting in a crowded public place and someone accidentally grazed or pushed against your device. If every time this happened your device treated it as a purposeful command, the rate of inaccuracy would be through the roof. For work, study, and personal purposes, it’s far more sensible to use a device with capacitive capabilities.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Resistive Touchscreens

Resistive touchscreen are the polar opposite in the sense that their resistive nature makes them the ideal choice for any work environment. This includes industrial settings such as warehouses and retail environments, in which customers are constantly fumbling with point-of-sale systems. In these types of settings, the last thing you want is to constantly have to make corrections because the device you’re using is too sensitive to touch.

Customers will especially get frustrated through no fault of your own if they have to keep entering and re-entering their payment information and PINs into the system because it keeps misreading their physical commands. Not only that, resistive touchscreens also prevent employees from making numerous mistakes when doing inventory or conducting other types of data entry tasks on a touchscreen device. This allows for greater accuracy and conciseness in their work.

Another benefit of resistive touchscreens is that they don’t require direct skin contact to perform tasks and commands. Customers and employees can use these devices with stylus pens and even while wearing gloves. Also, they’re not as sensitive to liquids, which means they can still be used thoroughly even when wet, which is bound to be an issue in restaurants, casinos, and even retail stores.

Deciding Which Device Is Best for Your Business

The type of touchscreen monitor you need is highly subjective to the requirements of your business. It also depends on how much money you’re willing and able to spend on these devices.

Capacitive touchscreens tend to be a little more expensive because they’re a newer technological development, but they’re a worthy investment for businesses that are office-based. In these circumstances, you need a device that’s more receptive to touch yet still durable enough to withstand even moderately rough treatment. Keep in mind that some employees might be more heavy-handed than others.

Resistive touchscreens, on the other hand, are more appropriate for businesses that involve a great deal of outdoor work or work that’s centered on customers, including children. Once you meticulously observe and understand the nature of your business and reconcile all budgetary restraints, choosing a touchscreen monitor will be much easier.

At Nauticomp Inc., we specialize in designing and manufacturing high-quality capacitive and resistive industrial touchscreen monitors that are built to withstand the toughest working conditions and temperatures. For more information on our products, please contact us at 1-705-328-2992 for Canadian service and at 1-800-267-9491 for U.S. service.