Capacitive touch screens and resistive touch screens are mainly different in touch sensitivity, precision, cost, multi-touch feasibility, damage resistance, cleaning, and visual effect under sunlight.
Touch sensitivity
1. Resistive touch screen: all layers of the screen are in contact with pressure. Fingers (even with gloves on), fingernails, and stylus can be used for the operation. Stylus support is important in The Asian market, where gesture and word recognition are valued.
2. Capacitive touch: The slightest touch from the surface of a charged finger activates the capacitive sensing system at the bottom of the screen. Inanimate objects, fingernails, and gloves are invalid. Handwriting recognition is more difficult.
precision
1. Resistive touch screen: the accuracy is at least as high as a single display pixel, which can be seen with a stylus.Easy handwriting recognition and easy to operate in an interface that USES small control elements.
2. Capacitive touch screen: the theoretical accuracy can reach several pixels, but it is actually limited by the contact area of fingers. It is difficult for users to accurately click on targets less than 1cm2.
The cost of Resistive touch screens & Capacitive touch screen
1. Resistive touch screens: They’re cheap.
2. Capacitive touch: Capacitor screens from different manufacturers are 10% to 50% more expensive than resistive screens. This extra cost is fine for flagship products, but maybe prohibitive for mid-priced phones.
The loss of resistance
1. Resistive touch screen: The fundamental characteristics of the resistive screen determine that the top is soft and can be pressed down. This makes the screen very easy to scratch. Resistance screens require protective film and relatively frequent calibration. On the plus side, resistive touchscreen devices that use plastic are generally less vulnerable to breakage.
2. Capacitive touch screen: glass can be used for the outer layer. While not indestructible and likely to break under severe impact, glass is better for everyday scratches and smudges.
clean
1. Resistive touch screen: It is less likely to leave fingerprints, oil stains, and bacteria on the screen because it can be operated with a stylus or fingernail.
2. Capacitive touch: Use your entire finger, but the glass is easier to clean.
Environmental adaptability
1. Resistance touch screen: the specific value is unknown. But there is evidence that the Nokia5800, which USES resistive screens, can operate normally at temperatures from -15°C to +45°C, with little requirement for humidity.
2. Capacitive touch screen: The typical operating temperature is between 0° and 35°, requiring at least 5% humidity (operating principle).
See in the sun
1. Resistive touch screens: Usually bad, with extra layers reflecting a lot of sunlight.
2. The capacitive touch screen utilizes the human body’s current induction to work. The capacitive touch screen is a four-layer composite glass screen. The inner surface and interlayer of the glass screen are each coated with a layer of ITO(coated conductive glass). The outermost layer is a thin layer of silica glass protective layer.
When the finger touches the metal layer, the electric field of the human body, the user, and the surface of the touch screen form a coupling capacitance. For high-frequency currents, the capacitance is a direct conductor, so the finger draws a small amount of current from the contact point. The current flows from the electrodes at the four corners of the touch screen, and the current flowing through the four electrodes is proportional to the distance between the fingers and the four corners. The controller calculates the exact proportion of these four currents to obtain the position information of the touchpoints.
For now, you can choose the right screen for your application scenario. Both resistive and capacitive screens are very delicate, so we need to take good care of them.
Beijing STONE Technology Co., Ltd. focuses on the industrial display screen, Industrial touch screen product development and manufacturing, products are widely used in medical equipment, industrial equipment, automation, civil equipment and smart home, and other application fields.