How do Touch Screen devices work?

Question

Its been the latest craze with the iphone and ipod touch. How does this touch screen work?

Answer 1

the iPhone and the iPod touch share a special kind of multi-touch screen. This screen is unique because devices like the Nintendo DS screen use pressure points in order to locate the stylus.

The iPhone/iPod touch screen is covered in an scratch-resistant glass that is thin enough to let your body's electricity to pinpoint where the most electricity transfers from your finger to the sensor in the screen. Because it doesn't rely on pressure points, this allows to have the user use multiple fingers to touch the screen to that allows an easier navigation on a small screen.

Answer 2

A basic touchscreen has three main components: a touch sensor, a controller, and a software driver. The touchscreen is an input device, so it needs to be combined with a display and a PC or other device to make a complete touch input system.

A touch screen sensor is a clear glass panel with a touch responsive surface. The touch sensor/panel is placed over a display screen so that the responsive area of the panel covers the viewable area of the video screen. The sensor generally has an electrical current or signal going through it and touching the screen causes a voltage or signal change. This voltage change is used to determine the location of the touch to the screen.

All of the touchscreens basically work like a mouse. Once the software driver for the touchscreen is installed, the touchscreen emulates mouse functions. Touching the screen is basically the same as clicking your mouse at the same point at the screen