The function of a touchscreen is to act as a visual user interface between human beings and systems through the media of the information presented on an underlying display. To perform this task, a touchscreen must fulfill a number of basic requirements while surmounting accompanying physical and electronic obstacles.

The three characteristic a touchscreen must possess are: 1) Electrical Reliability: All internal electrical functions should be sufficiently reliable in detecting touch input signals correctly while avoiding short and broken conductive surface and trace circuits. This applies not only to the touch panel itself, but also controller hardware integrated or designed into the system. 2) Transparency: A touchscreen has to be sufficiently clear to allow most of the light emanating from the underlying display to pass to operators’ eyes. If used outdoors, a touchscreen should eliminate light reflection in order to ensure that the user is able to clearly see items displayed on the LCD without interference from the environment. 3) Durability: The touchscreen should withstand long-term use, surviving impacts and various methods of daily operation. It should also be resistant to different application environments including both physical (corrosion, concussion) and intangible (interference, noise) phenomena. Finally, the touchscreen should operate normally with disparate touch media (gloves, stylus).

Thus, in an ideal world, a touchscreen would be infinitely strong and infinitely thin, built with layers of film (or glass) and conductive material that are 100% clear. The conductive material would also be supremely flexible, perfectly controlled within a specified resistance range, and applied with perfect uniformity. Obviously, this type of product does not and cannot exist. In reality, a touchscreen is a complicated piece of engineering born of compromises between clarity, electronics, and physics.

For example, in term of the conductive material Indium-Tin-Oxide (ITO), increasing the thickness of ITO will decrease the resistance of the ITO pattern. However, the drawback is decreased optical clarity. Adding a thin glass layer to the top of a touchscreen will increase surface hardness. Yet, the relative inflexibility of this glass panel, no matter how thin, increases activation force for resistive screens.

Given this reality, how is a “perfect product” made? AMT’s product line is optimized to the requirements and usage environment presented to us by our customers through touch panel and controller design and testing. When we look at a piece of German engineered machinery, we know that it guarantees a certain level of quality and its reliability and features will far outstrip the same machine produced in an emerging nation. This is obviously a result of superior design and testing with materials playing a secondary role. This is also the paradigm employed at AMT. With over 16 years of experience constructing the most durable and reliable touchscreens for the exacting industrial and medical fields, AMT has become an expert in finding the most advantageous balance between all factors involved in creating a reliable touchscreen. However, this process starts with you, the customer. If you have an item in mind, our professional sales staff and dedicated FAE team will help you make it a reality.

If you wish to receive AMT News Express continuously, please click the icon for subscription »
Advance to the future with AMT’s touch solutions.