Do you regularly wear gloves? Maybe you wear them to protect your hands from contaminants in the workplace, or perhaps you wear them to keep your hands warm. Regardless, you might be wondering whether you wear gloves while using a surface acoustic wave (SAW) touchscreen.
Touchscreens often require direct contact with a conductive object to trigger a touch command. Capacitive touchscreens, for instance, live up to their namesake by measuring capacitance. They project a uniform electrostatic field across the display interface. Assuming you touch the display interface with a conductive object, such as a bare finger, it will register a touch command. So, can you wear gloves while using a SAW touchscreen?
The Basics of SAW Touchscreens and How They Work
SAW touchscreens are defined by their use of sound waves. When turned on, they’ll project sound waves across the surface of the display interface. You won’t be able to hear these sound waves. Nonetheless, all SAW touchscreens project sound waves, which is how they identify touch commands.
Performing a touch command on a SAW touchscreen will disrupt some of its sound waves. SAW touchscreens have sound wave emitters as well as receivers. Upon performing a touch command, your finger will block the sound waves in the respective area of your command. The sensors will recognize this disruption, thereby allowing the SAW touchscreen to identify your touch command.
Yes, SAW Touchscreens Work With Gloves
Because they use sound waves to identify touch commands, SAW touchscreens work with gloves. You can still control them using a bare finger. However, you’ll also have the option of controlling SAW touchscreens with a gloved finger. Regardless of whether you’re wearing gloves, placing a finger on the display interface will disrupt the sound waves.
You can even control SAW touchscreens with a stylus. Styluses aren’t conductive. As a result, they have a similar effect as a bare finger. While capacitive touchscreen typically won’t register touch commands performed with a stylus, this isn’t a concern for SAW touchscreens. SAW touchscreens will register all types of touch commands, including those performed with a stylus.
SAW touchscreens aren’t as common as capacitive touchscreens. Capacitive touchscreens continue to rank as the most popular choice. Nonetheless, SAW touchscreen are gaining momentum for both consumer and commercial touchscreen applications. You can control them while wearing gloves, and due to their non-mechanical method of operation, SAW touchscreens last a long time.
