In an event at its headquarters in Tokyo, Sharp has demonstrated a capacitive touch technology that is sensitive enough to register individual brush strokes.
Photo credit: IDG News ServiceA special brush, with capacitive fibres, was used by Sharp staff at the demonstration to ‘draw’ on a 70″ LCD display. They wrote a series of Chinese characters ‘with a finesse that resembled traditional brush-and-ink writing’, according to people who were present. On another screen, a smaller brush was used to add details to a ‘painting’ of a dragon.
According to Sharp, its new touch technology is more sensitive than those already available on the market, and works with larger displays. Noise is a problem, which lowers sensitivity; to work around this problem, Sharp used a parallel drive sensing method, which drives the processes of multiple touch sensors at the same time. Sharp achieved a signal-to-noise ratio about eight times higher than sequential drive controllers, it said.
Sharp also showed an updated form of its Free Form Display, with a touch sensor along the arched top edge. A cash-register screen with a transparent embedded NFC antenna was also shown, eliminating the need for a separate payment terminal.
The latter two displays are planned to enter mass production next year, but a final decision on the large touch units has not been taken yet.
Analyst Comment
Sharp has very good controller technology to complement its panels, as we heard at Embedded World recently. (BR)
