Touchscreen for Outdoor Environments

LCD screen is the de facto display solution for HMI. As display technology advances, LCD display with touchscreen is now everywhere. Almost all personal electronics with display features touchscreen. Watch a young child use a display and they will always try to use touch to interact with it.

As end-users are getting very comfortable with touchscreen, new product with display is expected to incorporate touchscreen technology. Leaving touch out of your LCD display, you miss out a key interaction point. Unlike portable consumer electronics, a lot of industry applications are used outdoor, facing more demanding environments. Not all touchscreens are created equally. And Topway has gained lots of experience on integrating touchscreen to TFT LCD display, in the past 25+ years.

Heat & Sunlight

Heat is a make-or-break factor in outdoor applications. In tropical areas, heat from the Sun and environment can greatly impact TFT LCD performance. An infra-red film, UV coating can help touchscreen cope with heat better. Incorporating wide temperature materials and  energy efficient components also make touchscreen 

Sunlight can cause reflections creating poor readability. And we have years experience on creating sunlight readable LCD screen. For outdoor use, the touch screen sensor needs exceptional clarity and transmissivity. 

Cold

In cold outdoor environment, touchscreen's materials need to be carefully selected, making sure they can survive low temperature. At the same time, the screen should be built to work with user wearing gloves. That in turn requires we fine tuning capacitive touch program. 

Water

We all know water and electronics don't play well together. Traditional touch sensors are affected by electrical currents and can therefore be disrupted by water on the screen. Which can confuse the sensors and cause them to register false touches. Years experience enable us to make touchscreen impervious to water, yet provide optimal performance. If water is a big concern for user's application, resistive touch screen with harden surface can be used. 

Impact and Vandalism

Touchscreen is a main external facing part of product. It is frequently subject to vandalism and damage, especially when using outdoor. Therefore touchscreen displays must be able to withstand impact, scuffs and scrapes that may occur. A protective layer, tempered cover glass should be used to mitigate vandalism. 

For the past 20s years, Topway Display has created touchscreens for different outdoor applications, such as EV charging pile, environment monitor instrument, etc. Bring us your outdoor project idea, we will create you a suitable touchscreen solution.