Touch Screen Overview
4 and 8 wire touch screens are typically produced with higher resistance transparent conductive film (ITO Indium Tin
Oxide) than 5 wire touch screens. Most often touch screen resistances falls within 100 – 400 Ohm per square.
Because 4 and 8 wire touch screens typically have a higher resistance than 5 wire sensors, you will find most battery
powered applications using this technology. You will also find that 4 and 8 wire touch screens are more linear than 5
wire. The advantage of a 5 wire touch screen is that they are typically more mechanically durable (top sheet does not
need to be linear) and are less affected by environmental variation. Five Wire touch screens come in a wide variety
of sheet resistance. In some cases, because of the 5 wire construction, the resistance may be lower than the 50 ohm
specification. While these touch screens require more power to drive them, this does not imply poor quality.
Once resistance drops below an optimum level so does the resolution. In contrast, as resistance increases,
depending upon the construction, contact resistance begins to negatively affect the touch screen’s performance. The
negative effect of a high or low resistance touch screen can be managed by properly implementing the correct circuit.
It should be understood that extremes in either direction will negatively influence the performance of any efficient
circuit design. In order to maximize efficiency and performance a higher resistance, linear, environmentally stable
touch screen is recommended.
Your product design requirements will help you identify the touch screen technology and construction that will best
suit your application. Please contact Microchip Technology Inc. for more unbiased touch screen material science
information and a list of recommended TSHARC controller designs to fit your application.
Software Device Drivers
Microchip Technology has device driver software available for all TSHARC touch screen controller chip and board
solutions. The software drivers may be downloaded at no additional charge at: www.microchip.com. Reported
Microchip resolution is dependent upon the hardware A-D converter specification. TSHARC device driver software is
designed to deliver true 10- or 12-bit hardware resolution respective to the touch screen controller hardware.
The TSHARC device driver software enables you to configure the touch screen operation to meet your needs. The
following is a list of features available with Microchip’s software:
1) Touch screen calibration
2) Touch screen linearization
3) Touch screen alignment
4) Multi-monitor calibration and configuration
5) Adjustable calibration inset
6) Edge acceleration
7) Touch modes
a. Normal mouse emulation
b. Touch Up mode
c. Touch Down mode
8) User adjustable Configurations
a. Microchip’s proprietary touch screen friendly timed right click event
b. Touch event area setting
c. Touch sound enable / disable
9) Other special features also included. Please see the complete driver manuals available at
the www.microchip.com web site for further details.
Note: TSHARC device drivers vary between operating systems and operating system varieties and versions.
Currently Microchip supports the following Windows? Operating systems: DOS, Win3.1x, 9x, ME, XP, XPe, 2k, CE,
CENet, Tablet. TSHARC driver for Linux, and MAC are also included with all TSHARC touch screen controller
products.
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