While the resistive touchscreens are most prevalent, the optical alignment hassles for mating with a transflective panel appear to limit the modularity of the solution. This bothers me. In previous LCD/Display posts, Turbocad6 and others have stated that capacitive touch screens are free of this burden. It appears that this is also true of SAW. I am also concerned about glare and reflections. My understanding is that capacitive touchscreen surfaces have to be very smooth and uniform. Apparently, there are AR coatings available for the glass-based touchscreens.
I am kitting my own display and I want a capacitive or SAW touchscreen for an 8.4” display. See the LCD/Display forum for discussion on possible NEC 8.4” transflective candidate panel. Based on my limited research, SAW looks most attractive, although it may have a reduced temperature range. MicroTouch and Elo TouchSystems appear to offer non-resistive solutions in 6.5” and 8.4” sizes, based upon documentation.
I want to run a Linux OS so the driver may become an issue. Worst case I can use MS Windows. I also prefer a 50C-60C operation for immediate summertime operation while the A/C cools the interior. I ran some deep Google searches and found the following information:
8.4” SAW Touchscreen Options
http://www.winmate.com.tw/Lcd/Intell...uchscreens.htm
http://media.elotouch.com/pdfs/datas...litouch_ds.pdf (datasheet for above link)
http://media.elotouch.com/pdfs/manuals/intelli.pdf (detailed install manual)
http://www.amsimpex.com/products/SAW...screen%20.html (in India)
http://www.made-in-china.com/showroo...ch-Screen.html (GoldApple Mfr, in China)
8.4” Capacitive Touchscreens
http://www.ezscreen.com/capacitive_touch_screens.html (also 6.5”)
http://www.digikey.com/scripts/dksea...name=3M5520-ND (8.75”)
http://dkc3.digikey.com/PDF/T073/P2273.pdf(touchscreen and controller for 8.75” and 6.71”)
http://www.amsimpex.com/products/cap...uchscreen.html (in India)
My brief research leads me to pick IntelliTouch for SAW and MicroTouch ClearTekII for capacitive. Pricing is unknown for the SAW option, but looks like Winmate distributes it? The other SAW links appear to be international, which could raise the lead time and shipping price. Based on the Digikey pricing, which is generally higher than average, the 8.4” capacitive solution with controller can be done for under $200. Perhaps Ezscreen is cheaper for capacitive?
Who is using SAW? Who is using Capacitive? Which would you recommend based on your experience? I will try to get pricing information for both solutions from the links above.