The Size of the Touch Panel is Critical

In the touch panel market, the price does not always increase in proportion to the size, but depends on the technical basis of its implementation and the cost of related components. However, size is still an important criterion to discuss this technology. In particular, different application environments and practical products have different panel requirements, and the precision requirements for their touch technology will also vary.

① Small size touch panel (under 4 inches)

Small size, generally refers to products below 4 inches, which are most commonly used in consumer electronic products such as digital cameras, mobile phones, personal digital assistants, PNDs, etc. The application products in this market are very wide, and the products and components have high technical maturity, so the relative performance of the gross profit of the products is the lowest.

② Medium and small size touch panel (5-9 inches)

Most of medium and small size touch panels are 5-9 inches in size. At present, they are most widely used in advanced products, such as advanced PND digital photo frame ATM, or outdoor KIOSK, etc. Capacitive panels are mostly used for outdoor KIOSK equipment with high durability requirements, while consumer PND and digital photo frames are still mainly used for low-cost resistive touch panel applications.

③ Medium and large size touch panel (10～21 inches)

It generally refers to the panel of 10-21 inches in size. These are mostly used in industrial computers and commercial touch screens. The main technology is capacitive touch, although there is acoustic induction, resistance and other different design products of touch panels. Capacitive touch technology, with application advantages of scratch resistant, durable and stain resistant, is the reason why capacitive touch control is still the main technology used in medium and large sizes.

④ Large size touch panel (over 22 inches)

For touch products over 22 inches, the introduction of large-size screen touch panel technology is more diverse, because the performance of resistive and capacitive types on large-size screens has physical limitations. Although at present, large-scale technology has been implemented one after another, the technology used in this market is relatively diverse. The most common technology used in foreign countries is for self-service system, such as Lottery, Bingo ordering Machine, or Gaming Machine and other applications.

As the size of the touch panel increases, the system had to be integrated with components built into the machine. If the inherent limitations of touch technology, such as larger size and heavier weight, affect the integrated product, it is not a happy outcome for the system industry. Therefore, acoustic and infrared touch technologies, which may increase the volume of products, have limited application in the market. Instead, resistive and capacitive touch technologies are more likely to be favored by relevant manufacturers.