ELK Corporation - Products - Resistive Touch Sensors

Resistive Touch Sensors

A Resistive Touch Panel consists of a sensor and a controller. The Resistive Touch sensor consists primarily of two transparent conductive layers separated by a narrow gap. Pressure on the outer layer of the sensor, from a finger or a stylus for example, causes the two layers to become electrically connected at that point. The Resistive Touch controller will recognise this connection as the actual touch location.

Resistive Touch technology is cost effective, and still widely used. However, Resistive Touch sensors are thicker than Capacitive Touch sensors, and they can be damaged by sharp objects, making them unsuitable for some applications.

ELK manufactures Resistive Touch sensors for a number of customers, although the key focus of the company is Capacitive Touch technology.

Recently, a number of "Multi-Touch" Resistive Touch technologies have begun to become available. As a leading player in the Touch Panel market, ELK is engaged with several of these companies, and stands ready to support our customers should they wish to adopt these technologies in the future.