Touchscreen is one of the most common types of touch panels currently installed on devices for various applications. They are used on a variety of equipment, ranging from simple consumer smartphones to highly specialized devices in medicine, industry and scientific laboratories. What exactly touchscreens have gained such popularity, what is their peculiarity? Consider in our today's article.
The difference between a touchscreen and a display
So, what is the first element for? The touchscreen (from English touch - touch, screen - screen) works in conjunction with the display, being one of the components of the display module.
It is used as an alternative to classic input devices. The display itself (from the English display, which means "show") is intendedsolely for displaying information to the user. Thus, on a phone, the difference between a touchscreen and a display is obvious. While one is the control, the other is used solely to display information at a given time.
Touchscreen features
What is the difference between a touchscreen and a display? Usually, the first concept is understood to mean almost any touch display, which is controlled by touching fingers or specialized devices, such as a stylus, a special electronic pen, and others. This technology was first used in the 1970s and entered the market a decade later.
Some call a touchscreen only the touchpad itself, used to enter information with a finger or a stylus. But if you look deeper, then this component has its own name - "membrane", or "active panel". It is located directly between the display that displays the image, and the upper protective glass of the touchscreen, touching which controls the device. But not only this explains the difference between the touchscreen and the display.
Applications
Initially, touch panel displays were used exclusively to control specialized equipment. After they began to be installed on devices from the consumer sector. These are smartphones, tablets, laptops and other equipment. They used touchscreens as a replacement for traditional mechanical controls (such as keyboards, mice, or gamingcontrollers, etc.).
This has resulted in an out-of-the-box touch screen product to become a complete device that does not require additional peripherals for control and is immediately ready for use. As another plus, we can consider that if earlier various software required appropriate controls, now developers immediately display them on the screen, thereby simplifying user interaction with the software. And all these factors bring clarity to the question, what is the difference between the display and the touchscreen. Touch panels are also used to control modern ATMs, payment terminals and other similar devices.
Benefits of the touchscreen
Easy control of the device can be noted as obvious advantages of touch screens, since all user interaction with information is intuitive and takes place directly on the display. Combining input and output components allows you to reduce the size of the manufactured device, which in turn expands the scope of its application. Also, the absence of the need to connect external controls has a positive effect on the use of the device in various conditions. And, as mentioned above, the absence of restrictions in the form of mechanical keys allows you to increase the functionality of the device as much as the developer's imagination is enough.
Disadvantages of touchpads
It would be logical that touchscreens, like anytechnology has its drawbacks. These include absolute unrepairability in case of mechanical damage, as well as higher fragility. Increased power consumption is, of course, a rather controversial point, but it is also worth noting, since due to the appearance of an additional source of energy consumption, the autonomy of the device is reduced. Also, for high-speed typing, this type of control may not be suitable due to the lack of tactile response; it is impossible to type text with “blind typing” on a smooth screen due to the lack of key relief.
Expensive matrices created using LED or OLED technologies are used as a touchscreen display. Once upon a time, beam screens were also taken as their basis, but now it is already a rarity.
Regular displays
At its core, the difference between a display and a touchscreen is that the former lacks screen content controls. They are used solely for the purpose of displaying information that requires the connection of peripheral devices to interact.
To create them, all the same technologies are used: LED and OLED. There are also beam displays, but in our time they definitely have nothing to do with touchscreens.
What is the difference between a touchscreen and a display?
Their main difference is the presence in the first touch-sensitive elements that convert them into digital commands. With the help of these commands, the device with a touchscreen is controlled. The differences between these two concepts, as well as the elements of devices themselves,very significant. The touchscreen is designed for control, and the display is for displaying information. Perhaps this is the most important difference between a display and a touchscreen in a phone, tablet or laptop.
Touch panels rarely have ray tube screens in their design, while most older displays are based on this technology.
Conclusions
Both of these elements are widely used in modern devices. There are many specifications and characteristics for each of them, but this is a topic for a separate article. And now let's sum up what is common between the touchscreen and the display, what is the difference between them.
They are united by the fact that LED and OLED technologies are most often used to display information in both cases. CRT displays are possible on older devices, but this is more of an exception.
There are many more differences. For example, the display, unlike the touch screen, is not able to recognize touches and gestures to control applications, while the touch screen is designed for this. But to display information, it is possible to use ray tubes, which in our time is practically never found in conjunction with touch panels. And the display itself is a complete component of the device, while the touchscreen is used only in conjunction with the screen, being only a built-in control element.
