RDS Announces Low Cost Touch System for Custom LCDs

For customers looking to use a custom LCD panel in a new application then it is worth considering whether touch functionality would make the user experience more intuitive and pleasing, especially when it adds very little to the cost.

By using the existing X and Y planes needed for the LCD segments as the touch sensor, it is possible to create up to twenty individual switch areas. No extra touch panel or touch controller are required.

The projective capacitive touch will project through up to 3mm of polycarbonate, allowing the display to be sealed behind a protective window and still be backlit in the normal way.
The system is designed to provide a single touch function and the touch encoding is handled by a controller integrated into the LCD driver chip.

This new system configuration with fewer components, simpler procedures and greater economies makes the in-cell touch system ideal for a wide range of applications to include white goods, control boards, fitness machines, medical electronics, air conditioning control, cooker panel displays, heaters, microwave ovens, blood pressure monitor displays and automotive heating/air conditioning control panels.