Pros and Cons of Surface Capacitive Touchscreens

Surface capacitive is one of the world’s leading touchscreen technologies. Not to be confused with projected capacitive, it uses an electrostatic field to detect touch commands. With a surface capacitive touchscreen, a voltage is applied to the corners of the display interface to create a uniform electrostatic field. Any touch command performed with a conductive object will result in a change of capacitance in the area of the touch event. If you’re thinking about choosing a capacitive touchscreen, though, you should familiarize yourself with the pros and cons of this otherwise common touchscreen technology.

Pros of Surface Capacitive Touchscreens

Surface capacitive touchscreens are very durable. They don’t have any moving parts. Rather, surface capacitive touchscreens use a non-mechanical method of operation, resulting in a higher level of durability than that of other touchscreen technologies. You can use a surface capacitive touchscreen for many years without fear of it failing prematurely.

In addition to being durable, surface capacitive touchscreens are highly sensitive to touch commands. They can identify touch commands performed with minimal pressure or, in some cases, no pressure at all. As long as your finger is close enough to the display interface, the capacitive touchscreen will register your touch command.

Because they use a more basic technology than projected capacitive touchscreens, surface capacitive touchscreens usually cost less than their counterparts. You can expect to pay less for a surface capacitive touchscreen than other types of touchscreens that use a different touch-sensing technology.

Cons of Surface Capacitive Touchscreens

What are the cons of surface capacitive touchscreens exactly? For starters, they are sensitive to temperature fluctuations. If you intend to use it in a hot or cold environment, you may want to choose a different touchscreen technology. Surface capacitive touchscreens may fail to identify touch commands when exposed to extreme temperatures.

Another potential disadvantage of surface capacitive touchscreens is that they only work with a conductive object. You can’t control them using a non-conductive object. Rather, you’ll have to use a conductive object to perform touch commands, such as a bare finger or a capacitive stylus.

Of course, this isn’t limited strictly to surface capacitive touchscreens. All capacitive touchscreens, including projected capacitive, require the use of a conductive object. They are known as “capacitive” touchscreens because they measure capacitance to detect touch commands. Capacitive is electricity. To change the capacitance of a touchscreen, you must touch it with a conductive object.