ITO (Indium Tin Oxide) Touchpad
That trusty touchscreen… ever wondered how it all works? How does a touch on glass generate a command on the device in question? In the majority of cases, a touchscreen will utilise ITO for exactly that.
What is an ITO (Indium Tin Oxide) Touchpad?
ITO is a clear substance that also has excellent conductive properties. Essentially when a layer of ITO is applied to glass, it remains transparent but also becomes electrically conductive.
ITO glass is used in many applications across a multitude of industries, but one of the most common uses today is in the touchscreen – for both smartphones and tablets and more customer facing environments such as touch enabled ticket machines and ATMs.
In fact the above examples are a good place to start to explain the two different types of touchscreens that employ ITO technology. These different screens are known as either capacitive or resistive, the differences between the two is below.
A resistive touchscreen would be more suitable for the customer facing environments as they are more capable of dealing with the rigours that they may be subject to.
When the screen is touched in a particular position with downward pressure, it deforms slightly and touches a conductive ITO layer underneath, allowing a current to flow. The device registers the location of where the current is generated and can respond accordingly.
A capacitive screen works completely differently and allows for more complicated commands such as swipes and pinches. A thin layer of ITO is applied to the screen which provides a current. When your finger touches the screen, the current changes and the device can respond to that.
Because the capacitive screen allows for multiple touches at the same time, the more complicated gestures can be registered, and the device can respond accordingly.
ITO (Indium Tin Oxide) Touchpad Supplier
We can produce capacitive or resistive touch screens in any desired size (up to a maximum of 100 cm by 100 cm) on either glass, rigid or flexible plastic.
Do you have any questions? Contact us, a member of our technical team will respond as soon as is possible. Get in touch with us today.