Do you know the difference between infrared touch ... - LinkedIn
Infrared touch and capacitive touch are two distinct touchscreen technologies with significant differences in their functioning and applications.
Firstly, infrared touch technology uses infrared beams to detect objects that are in contact or in close proximity to the screen and determine their location. In contrast, capacitive touch technology measures the changes in capacitance or electrical charge that occur when an object comes into contact with the screen.
Secondly, infrared touch technology is more commonly used in public spaces or industrial environments and can support multi-touch capabilities, making it suitable for large screens or displays. By contrast, capacitive touch technology is more commonly used in home or office environments and provides high-precision single or multi-touch capabilities.
Thirdly, capacitive touch technology is generally more sensitive and responsive to touch, allowing users to operate it easily with their fingers or a stylus pen. Infrared touch technology is relatively less sensitive, and its accuracy may be affected by the size, shape, and position of the object touching the screen.
In summary, while both technologies offer unique features and benefits, their applications, sensitivity, and precision differ significantly. Understanding these differences can help you choose the right touchscreen technology for your specific needs.
Capacitive is the leading type of touchscreen technology. Even if you’re unfamiliar with it, you’ve probably used — or still use — a capacitive touchscreen device. From smartphones and tablets to video game consoles and smart appliances, countless touchscreen devices are powered by capacitive technology.
But another a type of touchscreen technology that’s gaining momentum is infrared (IR). IR touchscreens aren’t as common as their capacitive counterparts, but they are still worth considering if you’re looking to buy one or more touchscreens. So, what’s the difference between capacitive and IR touchscreens?
Functionality
Capacitive and IR touchscreens function in completely different ways. With capacitive touchscreens, a uniform electrostatic charge is applied to the top layer. Because the human body is conducts electricity, touching the display will absorb some of this current, which the devices uses to detect touch commands.
In comparison, IR touchscreens don’t use an electrostatic charge to detect touch commands. Instead, they use a combination of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and sensors to detect touch commands. IR touchscreens are designed with LEDs that emit light to corresponding sensors across the surface of the display. If you touch the display, you’ll disrupt the LED light in that area, which the device uses to detect your touch command.
Support for Touch Commands
Another key difference between capacitive and IR touchscreens is that only the latter supports the use of both a bare finger and a gloved finger. You can’t perform touch commands on a capacitive device while wearing gloves. If you wear gloves, the electrostatic charge won’t be able to transfer from the device to your finger, so it won’t detect your touch command.
This isn’t a problem with IR touchscreens, however. Whether you use a bare finger, gloved finger or even a stylus, it will still detect your touch command. Touching the display with any object, or your finger, disrupts the device’s LED light, allowing it to pinpoint the location of your touch and register that location as a touch command.
Accuracy
Both capacitive and IR touchscreens are highly accurate, with the ability to detect the exact location of your touch command. Of those two technologies, however, capacitive is typically more accurate. Touching the display of a capacitive device will absorb electrostatic current from that specific area, allowing for a superior level of accuracy.
IR and capacitive are two completely different types of touchscreen technology. IR uses a grid-like array of LEDs and sensors to detect touch commands, whereas capacitive uses a uniform electrostatic current to detect touch commands.