True-bonded capacitive touch is the latest advancement in touch technology available for flat-panel displays, giving the most natural, responsive and accurate touch experience – just like your smartphone or tablet.
Until now, capacitive has been restricted to screens of 22-inch or smaller, so large-format interactive displays have had to rely on alternative technologies that haven’t quite matched up to the superior capabilities of a true-bonded touchscreen.
Finally, the tech has caught up – true-bonded capacitive large format displays are now a reality. The two manufacturers able to deliver this highly-advanced technology are Microsoft and Clevertouch.
This is especially welcome news for organisations that want a stylish walk-up-and-use touchscreen for collaboration in a corporate huddle space or meeting room, or require a responsive display for highly detailed plans, drawings or creative work.
How it works
All touch technologies use a form of disruption to create a change of state when touched. The controller recognises the touch, identifies its exact location and translates it into an instruction to the computer software.
In the past disruption has come in a number of forms:
- breaking the pathway of light waves injected into the glass or infra-red light waves beamed over the surface
- disruption by using a bare finger to create a change in the electrostatic field
- use of pressure to push together the layers of film and glass, coated with conductive and resistive layers separated by an air gap
- disruption of acoustic waves by breaking the invisible grid of ultrasonic waves to register the touch point
Capacitive touch, on the other hand, virtually eliminates the air-gap between the layers. This means the screen becomes exceptionally responsive to touch, matching what we’re accustomed to on our smartphones and tablets.
It also makes them the most difficult type of screens to manufacture – the minimised air gap means there’s no room for dust or condensation. Think about how tricky it is putting a protective cover over your smartphone – now imagine trying to do that on a screen 80” wide! Capacitive touch demands clean-room manufacturing and immense precision only available in a handful of factories.
Is it worth it?
In a word – Yes!
A true-bonded capacitive screen is the nirvana of touch technology, delivering an end-user experience unmatched by any other display:
• Highly responsive – < 15 milliseconds
• Highly accurate – just 1mm tolerance
• No time lag
• Low reflective quality
• Thinner and lighter
• No bezel
• Pressure sensitive
• High level of clarity
• Does not recognise the touch of non-capacitive objects e.g. cup, pen or notebook
