Contrary to what you might think, touchscreen displays aren’t a new or even relatively recent invention; in fact, they’ve been around for many years, but have only lately been integrated into mainstream use and consciousness. Over the years, many different types of touchscreen displays and monitors have come into fruition, further advancing this already impressive technology and propelling it into the throes of popularity. Touchscreen monitors have varying configurations, each of which serve different purposes and are suited for specific circumstances.

5 Different Types of Touchscreen Displays

Here are five different types of touchscreen technology that are currently making huge waves in the tech industry:

Resistive Touchscreen

Resistive touchscreens are the most commonly used touchscreens for several reasons. They’re inexpensive to produce, they’re highly durable, and they harness a great deal of versatility. They can be used with virtually any instrument including your fingers, stylus pens, the edge of a credit card, etc. You can even use them with gloved fingers. Resistive touchscreens are comprised of a carefully crafted multi-layered infrastructure glass and a protective film screen with a metallic layer shielding both, as well as a tiny gap that facilitates precise point of contact recognition. When you touch the outer layer, the two layers meet at the exact point of contact.

Capacitive Touchscreen

Capacitive touchscreens aren’t as durable or versatile as resistive touchscreens as they can only be used by niche industries. They’re generally more likely to succumb to environmental damages and they can’t be used with different objects. Since they rely on conductivity produced by the human body, they can only respond to the touch of a bare finger. However, they’re ideal for indoor office or retail use. There are two types of capacitive touchscreens:
Surface capacitive touchscreens have an additional protective layer that’s scratch, drop, dirt, and liquid-resistant. These are ideal for the retail or restaurant industry because they have quick response and dragging capabilities.
Projected capacitive touchscreens are also ideal for indoor use because they’re equipped with an external layer of tempered glass, making them resistant to cracks, defacement, and rough usage.

Surface Acoustic Wave Touchscreen

Surface Acoustic Wave (SAW) touchscreens can be used with almost any instrument because they don’t rely on conductivity to function. This perimeter-based technology uses ultrasonic waves to recognize point of contact. Since there’s no filmy protective layer present, they also have spectacular visual capacities. Unfortunately, this makes SAW touchscreens more susceptible to external damages.

Infrared and Optical Touchscreens

Infrared and optical touchscreens are also perimeter-based. Infrared touchscreens use infrared light beams. One side of the screen has LED sensors and the other side has light sensors that interact with one another until they’re interrupted by a touch at a point of contact. Optical touchscreens are similar to infrared touchscreens in that they also use infrared lights, but their setup is slightly different. There are two cameras within the structure of the screen that detect touch and calculate the exact point of contact.

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