what makes the ipod touchscreen different from other kinds ?

[rg3n]

i was playing around with my dad's PDA Palm device and noticed the touchscreen was a little different, like it responded to the tap of my finger nail while in the touch it doesnt. But i found my touch more responsive.

can any1 explain..... thnks

(is the touchscreen on the ipod touch a new generation of touchscreens?)

[daihard]

From what I understand, the iPod touch has a heat-sensitive screen. That is why it does not respond to regular styli or finger nails. Someone please correct me if I am wrong.

[pohatu771]

I was under the impression that a company was making a stylus for iPod touch.

It may have been for iPhone, though.

[Dumb Monkey]

Originally Posted by daihard

From what I understand, the iPod touch has a heat-sensitive screen. That is why it does not respond to regular styli or finger nails. Someone please correct me if I am wrong.

Correct. It's the same for Touch and iPhone. This also means it can operate under glass and the multitouch capability is different from most touch screens as well.

[kornchild2002]

I am not sure what technology Apple used in making the touchscreen. I do know that it is multi-touch though. This means that you can use more than one finger to do things. Most tasks require the use of just one finger but you can zoom in on a picture and website by pinching it or zoom out by un-pinching it. Most other touchscreens support only one input and it must come from a blunt object such as a stylus or finger tip. The iPod touch can use your actual finger (ie where your fingerprints are taken from) to conduct tasks. The iPod touch also has a glass covering over the LCD panel while other PDA touchscreens have some type of thin, flexible plastic cover. So not only does the iPod touch screen have better responsiveness, it is also better protected against scratches.

[BlackWolf]

Originally Posted by daihard

From what I understand, the iPod touch has a heat-sensitive screen. That is why it does not respond to regular styli or finger nails. Someone please correct me if I am wrong.

Originally Posted by Dumb Monkey

Correct. It's the same for Touch and iPhone. This also means it can operate under glass and the multitouch capability is different from most touch screens as well.

no, this is not correct actually.
if the ipod would use a heat-sensitive touchscreen it would not work the moment the air temperature would be the same as your bodys temperature.
the ipod touch actually has an electrical field below the screens glass. electrons "flow" in there and there are sensors on the screens edge which measure how much electrons actually arrive on each screen edge. if you tap the screen you distort the electrical field, which just means a different number of electrons than usual "arrive" at the sensors - a touch is noticed.
you can test it easily: try to tap the screen with anything that's made out of plastic - it will not work since plastic does not conduct electricity.
this is also the reason you can't use the iphone or ipod touch with a PDA pen btw, because their tops are usually made out of plastic.

PS: no guarantees all of this is right. I'm not very good in understand those physic-things, but basically this is how it works somehow.

and that's the main difference between a PDA touchscreen and a ipod/iphone touchscreen: it just uses a different technology. while a PDA reacts on pressure, the ipod/iphone uses the electical field thing.
I believe the reason for your fingernail not working is that a fingernail does not conduct electricity, but I'm not 100% sure on that.

FYI: the touchscreen technology the ipod uses is the most advanced and most expensive on the market right now.

edit: just found this on apples website. seems I was right (well, I know I was right since I tested it myself, but this is the proove )
http://images.apple.com/iphone/featu...ro20071019.png

[Allocentric]

The iPod touch and iPhone do not have a heat-sensitive screen, but rather it uses electrical capacitance. It's a bit long to explain out here but the folks at HowStuffWorks do a fine job explaining the Apple's use of multitouch compared to past systems used in PDAs:

http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/iphone.htm

For what's it worth, while most PDAs in a past 4-5 years have been using plastic screens, glass was used rather extensively before that. In fact, glass was often preferred by longtime users simply because it was less "squishy" when using the stylus. Plus, plastic can scratch up a bit easier, and thankfully Apple switched the iPhone to a glass display just prior to release.

Of course, those glasstop devices had the problem that they could shatter.

EDIT: BlackWolf was speedier than I in the reply. The HowStuffWorks article still might hold an interest for some, so I'll leave up the post.

[DerekVOF]

From iPod Observer - http://www.ipodobserver.com/story/31942

The iPhone uses the more advanced projected capacitive technology, and those don't need actual contact. Capacitive sensors behind the glass sense when the electrical field is disturbed. They can detect the finger from as far as 2 mm away. This allows for a more intuitive feel as the finger can glide across the surface. Since there's no resistive film, this kind of display can also be brighter.

[daihard]

Ah, thanks for the correct information. It's great to be able to learn something new.

So I guess that the styli that do work with iPod touch have the tops that conduct electricity?

[Stay Alive 305]

The iPod Touch screen along with all the iPod Scroll Wheels are heat-sensitive. They do not respond to a stylus or your fingernails.

[kornchild2002]

Originally Posted by Stay Alive 305

The iPod Touch screen along with all the iPod Scroll Wheels are heat-sensitive. They do not respond to a stylus or your fingernails.

I guess we didn't read the technical documents and posts from above? The iPod touch is not heat sensitive, it uses small electrical pulses to determine if it is being touched or not. Heat has nothing to do with it. Don't believe me/us? Try sticking your finger under your shirt and then controlling the iPod. Let that area of your shirt warm up first. You won't be able to control your iPod touch at all. This is because your shirt (which is more than likely made of cotton) can't conduct electricity. If it was heat controlled then the screen would be constantly confused if you took it outdoors and let the sunlight come in direct contact with the screen. The body has a temperature of around 98 degrees F. That means that the iPod touch could not be used outdoors where I live as the ambient air can easily get up to 112 degrees F during the summer. The iPod touch would think it is being touched all the times.

As for electricity conducting styli, I have no idea. I don't imagine there are any as this type of touchscreen is still pretty new. Tablet PC's used to have electrical conducting pens that controlled them, you use to have to put two AAA batteries in the pen in order for it to work. Now they use some type of technology developed by Wacom that doesn't require any electricity to come from the pen. I don't know what technology that is but it is different from the traditional stylus, the iPod touch, and the traditional touchscreen which responded to pressure. Heat touchscreens would never, ever work unless they were used to make heat imprints of someones hand. They would have to be used indoors with an ambient air temperature of less than 90 degrees as the human body can get down to around 96 degrees when someone is sick or 99 degrees when someone has a fever.

[Stay Alive 305]

Originally Posted by kornchild2002

I guess we didn't read the technical documents and posts from above? The iPod touch is not heat sensitive, it uses small electrical pulses to determine if it is being touched or not. Heat has nothing to do with it. Don't believe me/us? Try sticking your finger under your shirt and then controlling the iPod. Let that area of your shirt warm up first. You won't be able to control your iPod touch at all. This is because your shirt (which is more than likely made of cotton) can't conduct electricity. If it was heat controlled then the screen would be constantly confused if you took it outdoors and let the sunlight come in direct contact with the screen. The body has a temperature of around 98 degrees F. That means that the iPod touch could not be used outdoors where I live as the ambient air can easily get up to 112 degrees F during the summer. The iPod touch would think it is being touched all the times.

As for electricity conducting styli, I have no idea. I don't imagine there are any as this type of touchscreen is still pretty new. Tablet PC's used to have electrical conducting pens that controlled them, you use to have to put two AAA batteries in the pen in order for it to work. Now they use some type of technology developed by Wacom that doesn't require any electricity to come from the pen. I don't know what technology that is but it is different from the traditional stylus, the iPod touch, and the traditional touchscreen which responded to pressure. Heat touchscreens would never, ever work unless they were used to make heat imprints of someones hand. They would have to be used indoors with an ambient air temperature of less than 90 degrees as the human body can get down to around 96 degrees when someone is sick or 99 degrees when someone has a fever.

LOL I just got owned. =]

Thanks for that info! I didn't know that.

[rg3n]

haha really interesting stuff, thanks guys for clearing things up for me

[kornchild2002]

Originally Posted by Stay Alive 305

LOL I just got owned. =]

Thanks for that info! I didn't know that.

Don't worry, we all make mistakes. I wasn't trying to single you out or anything. I just didn't want people to read your post and get confused. That is all

[paranoidxe]

Interesting because when I'm out in the cold I find the screen to be quite less responsive when my hands are cold.