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2.      Capacitive Touchscreen Technology
The Capacitive Touchscreen Technology is the most popular and durable touchscreen technology used all over the world at most. It consists of a glass panel coated with a capacitive (conductive) material Indium Tin Oxide (ITO). The capacitive systems transmit almost 90% of light from the monitor. Some of the devices using capacitive touchscreen are Motorola Doom, Samsung Galaxy Tab, Samsung Galaxy SII, Apple’s iPad. There are various capacitive technologies available as explained below.

Surface-Capacitive screens, in this technique only one side of the insulator is coated with a conducting layer. While the monitor is operational, a uniform electrostatic field is formed over the conductive layer. Whenever, a human finger touches the screen, conduction of electric charges occurs over the uncoated layer which results in the formation of a dynamic capacitor. The computer or the controller then detects the position of touch by measuring the change in capacitance at the four corners of the screen.

Pros and Cons: The surface capacitive touchscreen is moderately durable and needs calibration during manufacture. Since a conductive material is required to operate this screen, passive stylus cannot be used for surface capacitive touchscreen.



In the Projected-Capacitive Touchscreen Technology, the conductive ITO layer is etched to form a grid of multiple horizontal and vertical electrodes. It involves sensing along both the X and Y axis using clearly etched ITO pattern.

The projective screen contains a sensor at every intersection of the row and column, thereby increasing the accuracy of the system. There are two types of projected capacitive touchscreen: Mutual Capacitance and Self Capacitance

3.      Surface Acoustic Wave Touchscreen technology
The Surface Acoustic Wave Touchscreen technology contains two transducers (transmitting and receiving) placed along the X-axis and Y-axis of the monitor’s glass plate along with some reflectors.
The waves propagate across the glass and are reflected back to the sensors.  When the screen is touched, the waves are absorbed and a touch is detected at that point. These reflectors reflect all electrical signals sent from one transducer to another. This technology provides excellent throughput and image clarity.
Pros and Cons: 100% clarity is obtained as no metallic layers are present on the screen, it can be operated using passive devices like stylus, glove or finger nail. Screen can get contaminated with much exposure to dirt, oil which may haunt its smooth functioning.

4.      Infrared Touchscreen Technology
In the Infrared Touchscreen Technology, an array of X- and Y- axes are fitted with pairs of IR led s and photo detectors. The photo detectors detect any change in the pattern of light emitted by the Led s whenever the user touches the monitor/screen.
                          The starred assets..!!
The potential novice touchscreen technology has many advantages over the conventional QWERTY keyboard and monitor. It is very flexible as opposed to its physical counterparts since the digital displays can be configured anytime at will of the user as per the functionalities. Touchscreen allows users to customize the interface for example alteration of language and size. By adjusting the size of the keyboard, user can utilize the spare area for display and other uses. With the decreasing size of computers and tablets these days, touchscreen is an added advantage. Multiple functions has to be performed on a small screen, touchscreen allows switching to a function at user’s will. For example, virtual keyboard which is an application of touchscreen is displayed on the screen only when the user allows it to be.

However, there is also the other side of the coin where there some functionality which cannot be performed using a regular touchscreen like cut-and-paste, right click menu options, drop-down menus. 


 The Plural Touch Technology..!!
The plural touch technology or the Multi touch is a variant of the touchscreen technology which can detect two or more touches over its display area at the same time. Some of the common functionalities that require multitouch interface are zooming in, zooming out, rotating objects, panning through a document, virtual keyboard, etc. Multi touch Applications  technology are found in smart phones like iPhone, Samsung Galaxy, Nokia N8, Nexus S, Microsoft Touchable, Apple’s iPad and many more.

Apple iPhone: ‘Multitouch’ now is a trademark by Apple who rightly proved it with a bang with the first most successful multitouch device ever; the iPhone. The first iPhone was unveiled on January 9, 2007. IPhone is no less than a revolution in the touchscreen industry with its maestro functionalities and applications. It uses Mutual Capacitance Technology as its touchscreen. The capacitive touchscreen can only be operated by bare finger or multiple fingers for multi touch.   



Microsoft Surface: is a multi touch product from Microsoft that allows multiple users to manipulate digital content through surface computing. The main feature of this product is its Surface’s interface: Direct interaction, multi-touch contact, object recognition and multi-user experience. It is not based on and limited by the conventional touch technology. The surface utilizes Frustrated Total Internal Reflection and underneath projectors for its display operation. It is indeed a milestone in the multi-touch scenario.

                    Benefits of Touch Screen Technology



When deciding on new interface technology, whether it is for professional or personal use, the touch screen component has become a popular option to consider. With a hard durable surface, with a thin plastic screen shield, touch-screen devices are less prone to screen damage than devices with keypads. Moreover, the resilient and easy-to-use nature of touch-screen devices make them suitable for users of all ages and skill levels.

Replacing the Mouse and keyboard
The process of using a touch screen monitor allows for the absence of the traditional computer mouse and keyboard. Without them, the touch screen functions and programs are directly accessible by touching areas of the screen. The absence of a mouse and keyboard also allows for easier transport and relocation of the device.
 Reality Based Interaction
Having a more direct and natural interaction with electronic devices is an appeal of this technology. Lacking the multiple devices needed to communicate with traditional computers, touch screen technology creates a simpler and more intuitive interaction.

Space and Mobility
Standard computer systems that require a mouse and keyboard for operation take up more space than touch screen devices. Touch screen devices thus can be used with greater ease in areas where a user does not have a lot of room to place a computer system.

Durability
The devices with keypads are susceptible to damage. For instance, a keyboard or a keypad has separate keys and related circuits, any of which can break or become inoperable due to dirt, crumbs, water damage, etc. In contrast, touch screens can be protected more easily because they do not have as many parts. This means that touch screens have the potential to have a longer product life than standard monitors and computer systems.

Speed
The fact that icons can be used with touch screens greatly increases the speed at which the user can manipulate the system applications. It takes far less time for the brain to process an image than it does to read an entire sentence of text, so users can go through the application processes in a matter of seconds and be on their way faster. Speed also is increased because users don’t have to type out a response.

Improves Accessibility
Touch screens have the potential to be more comfortable for the user. Impaired individuals can use touch-screen technology, especially those who find using a mouse or keyboard difficult. For example, touch screens often organize information in a clear and simplified way, so visually-impaired individuals can operate them. Similarly, disabled patrons who have difficulty speaking or standing in long lines can take advantage of touch-screen technology to access information easily and at their own pace. In addition, touch-screen interfaces are often so easy to use that even people with little or no experience using computers can operate one with minimal or no supervision. They also can be more accessible for those with poor eyesight because icons sometimes can be easier to distinguish than text.

Easy User Interface
One of the major benefits of touch screens is the overall ease of use. Since the act of touching is instinctive, touch-screen devices are relatively simple to operate. A clearly defined set of menus is easy to navigate through when all the user has to do is touch the desired option. The user-friendly nature of the touch screen also helps save time.

Easy to Clean and Maintain
Touch screen devices have smooth, flat screens, which makes cleaning a much easier task. Devices which do not require a keyboard tend to collect less dust. The function of the computer mouse is eliminated as well–a device with many crevices that are hard to clean. The wireless nature of the touch screen also eliminates the mess of tangled power cords behind the desk.



Saves Time
Several businesses use touch-screen technology to accelerate their speed of service, allowing customers to serve themselves at touch-screen kiosks. Customers use these self-serve kiosks for simple services, such as purchasing movie tickets, paying bills or accessing account information quickly. As a result, businesses can offer shorter lines and reduced wait times for other customers, while reducing the need to hire, train and pay employees.

Thus we can conclude that Touch screen devices are user friendly and have many advantages that will be beneficial for the Touch Screen users.

Disadvantages
• Although user friendly, touch screen can not be used to enter large amount of data


• This technology has not found in real world applications because system designers have not carefully considered how the system will function.
• Another failure of the industry has been not getting fast enough processing behind the buttons
• A touch screen system will cost about two or three times of the amount of an existing keyboard display.
Touch screen and monitors together are expensive ranging from two and half times the price of a standard computer.





Article By Sreekar Chintalapati




Sreekar Chinatalapati is currently pursuing his B.tech in VIT University, a known one for his style of speaking,writing and an upcoming writer.







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