Touchscreen is one of the most common types of touch panels currently installed on devices of various applications. They are used on many varieties of equipment, ranging from simple custom smartphones to highly specialized devices in medicine, industry and research laboratories. Why exactly touchscreens have gained such popularity, what is their feature? Consider in our article today.
The difference between the touchscreen and the display
So what is the first element for? The touchscreen (from the English. Touch - touch, screen - screen) works in conjunction with the display, being one of the components of the display module.
It is used as an alternative to classic input devices. The display itself (from the English display, which means "show") is intended solely for displaying information to the user. Thus, on the phone, the difference between the touchscreen and the display is obvious. While one is a governing body, the second is used exclusively to display information at a given time.
Touchscreen Features
What is the difference between touchscreen and display? Usually, the first concept is usually understood as almost any touch display, which is controlled by touching the fingers or specialized devices, such as a stylus, a special electronic pen and others. This technology was first used in the 70s of the last century, and it entered the market a decade later.
Some people call the touchscreen only the touch panel itself, which is used to enter information using your finger or stylus. But if you look deeper, then this component has its own name - “membrane”, or “active panel”. It is located directly between the display, displaying the image, and the upper protective glass of the touchscreen, touch which controls the device. But not only this explains the difference between the touchscreen and the display.
Areas of use
Initially, displays with touch panels were used solely to control specialized equipment. After they began to install on devices from the consumer sector. These are smartphones, tablets, laptops and other equipment. In them, touchscreens were used as a replacement for traditional mechanical controls (such as keyboards, mice or game controllers, etc.).
This led to the fact that the product equipped with a touch screen “out of the box” became a complete device that does not require additional peripherals for control and is immediately ready for use. As another plus, we can consider the fact that if earlier appropriate controls were required for different software, now developers immediately display them on the screen, thereby simplifying user interaction with the software. And all these factors clarify the question of what is the difference between a display and a touchscreen. Touch panels are also used to control modern ATMs, payment terminals and other similar devices.
Touchscreen Benefits
The obvious advantages of touch screens include the simplicity of controlling the device, since all user interaction with information is intuitive and takes place directly on the display. The combination of input and output components allows to reduce the dimensions of the manufactured device, which in turn expands the scope of its application. Also, the absence of the need to connect external controls positively affects the use of the device in various conditions. And, as mentioned above, the lack of restrictions in the form of mechanical keys allows you to increase the functionality of the device as much as the imagination of the developer.
Touch Panel Disadvantages
It will be logical that touchscreens, like any technology, have their drawbacks. These include absolute non-repairability in case of mechanical damage, as well as higher fragility. Increased energy consumption is, of course, a rather controversial point, but it is worth noting it, since due to the appearance of an additional source of energy consumption, the autonomy of the device decreases. Also, for speedy typing, this type of control may not be suitable due to the lack of a tactile response; on a smooth screen, it is impossible to type text using blind typing due to the lack of topography of the keys.
As a display for the touchscreen, expensive matrices created using LED or OLED technologies are used. Once, ray screens were also taken as their basis, but now it is already a rarity.
Conventional Displays
At its core, the difference between a display and a touchscreen is that the former lacks controls for the contents of the screen. They are used solely for the purpose of outputting information, for the interaction with which peripheral devices must be connected.
To create them, all the same technologies are used: LED and OLED. There are also ray displays, but nowadays they are definitely not related to touchscreens.
What is the difference between a touchscreen and a display?
Their main difference is the presence in the first of touch-sensitive elements that convert them into digital commands. Using these commands, a device with a touchscreen is controlled. The differences between these two concepts, as well as the elements of the devices themselves, are very significant. The touchscreen is designed for control, and the display is for displaying information. Perhaps this is the most important thing, how does the display differ from the touchscreen in a phone, tablet or laptop.
Touch panels in their design extremely rarely have screens on radiation tubes, while most of the old displays are created using this technology.
conclusions
Both of these elements are widely used in modern devices. There are many specifications and characteristics for each of them, but this is the topic of a separate article. Now let's summarize what is common between the touchscreen and the display, what is the difference between them.
What unites them is that for outputting information in both cases, LED and OLED technologies are most often used. On older devices, cathode ray tube displays are possible, but this is rather the exception.
The differences are much greater. For example, a display, unlike a touch screen, is not able to recognize touches and gestures for managing applications, while a touchscreen is created just for that. But to display information, it is possible to use radiation tubes, which in our time is practically not found together with touch panels. And the display itself is a complete component of the device, while the touchscreen is used only in conjunction with the screen, being only a built-in control element in it.