Driven by the development of technology, there are many options for touch screen at present. So, when choosing one, the decision is entirely based on the ease of use it can add to the device.
However, many industries prefer resistive touch monitor applications. It offers several advantages, cost-effectiveness and multi-touch operation capability (gloves, bare fingers and stylus), some of them. The two most common types of resistive touchscreens we have are 4-wire resistive touchscreens and 5-wire resistive touch monitors.
4-Wire resistive touch monitors
In a 4-wire resistive touch monitor, each of the two layers has conductive busbars printed along two opposite edges. One layer will have bus bars on the top and bottom, while the other layer will have bus bars on the left and right edges. The controller will apply a DC voltage to one of the layers, with the positive going to one strip and the negative going to the other. This will create a voltage flow in the conductive coating of the layer, the voltage level of which will vary depending on its read distance from the positive or negative busbars. When a touch event occurs, the opposite layer is in contact with the voltage layer, and the controller uses the opposite layer as a voltage probe to read the voltage at the touch point. The controller can then determine the location (X or Y) of the touch point in that plane. To get another plane, the controller flips the function of the layer so that the same happens in X instead of Y and vice versa. This flipping of the layer function typically occurs more than 100 times per second, so there is no lag in the X and Y coordinate readings in the report.
The benefit of using a 4-wire resistive touchscreen display is the cost-effective solution it provides. It’s always the cheapest touch panel for low-end applications.
5-Wire resistive touch monitors
The 5-wire touch screen monitor only measures the voltage from the lower layer. Unlike 4-wire resistive touchscreens, which use two layers to measure voltage, in 5-wire touchscreens, the upper layer is just a voltage probe that is only used to measure the voltage on the bottom layer. Like 4-wire, 5-wire measures the voltage in one plane and then applies the voltage to the other, but this is done only on the bottom layer, which has a special conductor pattern around the perimeter that allows this function to be performed on one layer. This means that minor damage to the upper no-load voltage detection layer will not affect the performance or accuracy of the touchscreen.
The reason 5-wire touch monitors are more suitable for commercial applications than 4-wire resistive touch monitors is that 5-wire models are more durable, accurate, and long-lasting. Although slightly more expensive, a 5-wire resistive touch display is an investment that pays off in the long run.
With Axnew you get a durable and cost-effective resistive touch monitor with different enhancements to meet the more demanding requirements of multiple applications.