Touchscreen technology has revolutionized the way in which we control computers, mobile devices and other electronics. No longer are we forced to use traditional peripherals, such as a keyboard and mouse. We can now control electronics by touching the interface. While you’re probably familiar with the general concept of touchscreens, there are probably some things you don’t know about the technology.
Only 1% to 3% of Users Perform Two-Thumb Tapping
It’s estimated that only 1% to 3% of users perform two-thumb tapping when using a touchscreen device. Two-thumb tapping, of course, lives up to its namesake by involving the use of both thumbs. With two-thumb tapping, you hold the touchscreen device in both hands while using your right and left thumbs to perform touch commands.
Touchscreen Technology Improves Input Accuracy By 20%
Touchscreen devices are often preferred over traditional devices because of their increased input accuracy. According to a study conducted by researchers at the University of Glasgow, touchscreen technology improves input accuracy by 20%. What does this mean exactly? It means that the average touchscreen user makes 20% fewer mistakes than users of traditional devices.
Touchscreen Technology Improves Input Speed By 20%
Not only does it improve input accuracy; touchscreen technology also improves input speed. In the same study previously cited, researchers at the University of Glasgow found that touchscreen technology improves input speed by 20%. In other words, you can perform touch commands more quickly using a touchscreen device than a traditional, non-touchscreen device.
Some Touchscreens Only Work With a Bare Finger
You might be surprised to learn that some touchscreen devices only work with a bare finger. Capacitive touchscreens, for example, require a conductive object to register touch commands. The human body is an excellent conductor of electricity, so you can control a capacitive touchscreen device with your bare finger. You cannot, however, control a capacitive touchscreen device with a stylus.
Touchscreens Feature a LCD
Nearly all touchscreen devices feature an liquid-crystal display (LCD). The LCD is the display that’s responsible for producing images. All LCDs work in conjunction with backlighting, the most common of which is light-emitting diode (LED).
Over 90% of All Touchscreens Are Capacitive
Although there are several types of touchscreen devices, none are more popular than capacitive. Statistics show over 90% of all touchscreen devices are capacitive. As previously mentioned, capacitive touchscreens only work with a bare finger — you can’t control them with a stylus. Nonetheless, they’ve become a popular alternative to resistive touchscreen devices because of their fast response times and support for high resolutions.
