Projected capacitive has become one of the world’s leading touchscreen technologies. It’s a variant of capacitive touchscreen technology. Projective capacitive touchscreens generate a uniform electrostatic charge during use. They apply this electrostatic charge to the display interface while simultaneously measuring it.
If the electrostatic charge drops, the projected capacitive touchscreen will register it as a touch event. Projected capacitive touchscreens, however, typically feature cross-over points. They still generate a uniform electrostatic charge, but projected capacitive touchscreens rely on cross-over points for multi-touch functionality.
Cross-Over Points Explained
Cross-over points are areas in which the electrodes intersect. Projected capacitive touchscreens use electrodes to measure changes in capacitance. Electrodes are conductive points through which the electrostatic charge flows. When you turn on a projected capacitive touchscreen, electricity will flow through the electrodes. The projected capacitive touchscreen will then measure this electrostatic field to determine when and where touches occur.
Some projected capacitive touchscreens feature a single layer with columns and rows of electrodes. Others feature two layers: one layer with rows of electrodes and another layer with columns of electrodes. Regardless, all projected capacitive touchscreens leverage a grid of electrodes. A cross-over point is an area in which an electrode row and column intersect.
The Impact of Cross-Over Points
The number of cross-over points on a projected capacitive touchscreen will affect its multi-touch functionality. The more cross-over points a projected touchscreen has, the more simultaneous points of contact it can detect.
Multi-touch functionality, of course, is a feature that involves a touchscreen detecting multiple points of simultaneous points of contact. Pinching the display interface with two fingers is an example of multi-touch functionality. You can typically zoom in and out of a projected capacitive touchscreen by pinching the display interface.
Some projected capacitive touchscreens are able to detect more simultaneous points of contact than others. Rather than only supporting two points of simultaneous contact, they may support dozens of points of simultaneous contact. Cross-over points affect this feature. As the number of cross-over points increases, projected capacitive touchscreens are able to support more points of simultaneous contact.
If you regularly perform multi-touch commands, you may want to choose a projected capacitive touchscreen with a lot of cross-over points. All projected capacitive touchscreens support multiple points of simultaneous contact — a feature known as multi touch — but some of them are able to support more points of contact at the same time than others.
In Conclusion
Cross-over points are areas in which a touchscreen’s electrodes intersect. The number of cross-over points on a projected capacitive touchscreen will affect its multi-touch functionality.
Recent Comments