Transform retail operations with Zebra’s retail technology solutions, featuring hardware and software for improving inventory management and empowering teams.
Streamline operations with Zebra’s grocery technology solutions, featuring hardware and software for improving retail shelf management, ordering and replenishment.
Enhance e-commerce operations with Zebra’s real-time inventory and automated workflows. Ensure accurate fulfilment, efficient returns, and seamless service.
Zebra’s technology solutions for department stores and speciality stores, feature hardware and software for retail management and workforce management.
Zebra’s omnichannel fulfilment technology solutions, feature hardware and software for timely order processing across channels and unified customer experience.
Zebra’s retail inventory management solutions, feature hardware, software and supplies for optimising inventory management and demand forecasting.
Enhance transactions with Zebra’s POS technology solutions, featuring hardware, software and supplies for optimising the checkout experience.
Zebra’s customer experience technology solutions, feature hardware and software for delivering personalised retail experiences and self-service capabilities.
Safeguard profits with Zebra’s retail loss prevention technology solutions, featuring hardware and software for enhancing security and product movement visibility.
Zebra’s associate engagement technology solutions, feature hardware and software for shift scheduling, task management, and team communications.
Streamline operations with Zebra’s healthcare technology solutions, featuring hardware and software to improve staff collaboration and optimise workflows.
Zebra’s hospital technology solutions, feature hardware and software for automating health system processes, reducing errors, and ensuring compliance.
Zebra’s patient registration technology solutions, featuring hardware, software, wristbands, and supplies improve patient identification for safer registration.
Optimise critical assets with Zebra’s healthcare asset tracking technology solutions, featuring hardware and software for ensuring equipment readiness.
Improve decision-making with Zebra’s Health Information Technology solutions, featuring hardware and software for enabling secure communication and data access.
Reduce lab errors with Zebra’s sample identification technology solutions, featuring hardware, software, labels, and supplies for accurate sample and specimen labelling.
Improve pharmacy workflows with Zebra’s pharmacy automation technology solutions, featuring hardware, software, labels, and supplies to reduce medication errors.
Zebra’s point-of-care solutions, feature hardware, software, and supplies for mobile access to critical information, patient ID, specimen collection and labelling.
Enhance processes with Zebra’s manufacturing technology solutions, featuring hardware and software for automation, data analysis, and factory connectivity.
Streamline operations with Zebra’s automotive manufacturing technology solutions, featuring hardware and software for reducing downtime and improving processes.
Optimise processes, assembly and supply chain efficiency with Zebra’s electronics manufacturing technology solutions, featuring hardware and software.
Boost production with Zebra’s food and beverage manufacturing technology solutions, featuring hardware and software for compliance and quality monitoring.
Achieve excellence with proactive quality management. Use Zebra’s solutions for precise root cause analysis and quality assurance.
Achieve seamless production with Zebra’s manufacturing WIP solutions, featuring hardware and software for tracking products and spotting bottlenecks early.
Ensure efficiency with Zebra’s material handling technology solutions, featuring hardware and software for automating systems to prevent delays.
Optimise operations and gain inventory and shipment data with Zebra’s supply chain visibility technology solutions, featuring hardware and software.
Boost performance with smart digital solutions. Equip your team with Zebra’s AI-powered tools for real-time guidance and efficient workflows.
Drive efficiency with Zebra’s unified communications solutions, featuring hardware and software for connecting teams for seamless operations.
Achieve excellence with Zebra’s proactive quality management solutions, featuring hardware and software for supporting root cause analysis and assurance.
Gain transparency with Zebra’s manufacturing traceability solutions, featuring hardware and software for tracking products for compliance and quality control.
Prevent downtime with Zebra’s manufacturing asset tracking solutions, featuring hardware and software for efficiently locating equipment and materials.
Zebra’s transportation and logistics technology solutions feature hardware and software for enhancing route planning, visibility, and automating processes.
Protect products with Zebra’s cold chain logistics technology solutions, featuring hardware and software for accurate tracking, monitoring and data logging.
Enhance operations with Zebra’s post and courier technology solutions, featuring hardware and software for package tracking, proof of delivery, and more.
Zebra’s warehousing and distribution technology solutions, feature hardware and software for inventory tracking, order fulfillment, and warehouse automation.
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Improve efficiency with Zebra’s cross docking technology solutions, featuring hardware and software for real-time tracking and automating scanning and labelling.
Zebra’s order processing technology solutions, feature hardware and software for shipping optimisation, order tracking, data analysis and better inventory control.
Zebra’s warehouse inventory management solutions, feature hardware and software for inventory tracking, space utilisation, and data-driven insights.
Zebra’s inbound logistics technology solutions, feature hardware and software for inventory management, order fulfilment, and better visibility of shipments.
Zebra’s reverse logistics technology solutions, featuring hardware and software for better visibility and streamlining receiving, sorting, and managing returns.
Enhance deliveries with Zebra’s outbound logistics technology solutions, featuring hardware and software for ensuring timely, precise shipments.
Zebra’s warehouse asset management technology solutions, featuring hardware and software for improved visibility and control of asset movements.
Technology is a key enabler in helping the Public Sector provide their frontline and back office workers automate business process and assets with a digital voice.
Zebra Technology have a range of Solutions to transform and support digitally enabled Policing and prepare forces for the challenges ahead.
Zebra Technology have a range of Solutions to transform and support digitally enabled Military Services in preparation for the challenges ahead.
Zebra Technology have a range of Solutions to transform and support digitally enabled Ambulance Services in preparation for the challenges ahead.
Zebra Technology have a range of Solutions to transform and support digitally enabled Fire & Rescue Services in preparation for the challenges ahead.
Zebra's hospitality technology solutions equip your hotel and restaurant staff to deliver superior customer and guest service through inventory tracking and more.
With Zebra's Hospitality Communication Solutions, you can enable real-time communications for your hospitality staff with mobile computers and smartphone devices.
Zebra's card printing solutions allows for fast, on-demand printing of room access keys, VIP badges, loyalty, membership and gift cards
Keep track and stay prepared by monitoring and tracking inventory and asset locations with Zebra's restaurant and hotel inventory management solutions.
Zebra provides food label solutions for restaurants, hotels and more. Our labels meet local regulations for direct and indirect food contact.
Zebra's restaurant mobile POS and ordering devices can increase your restaurant sales, enhance server productivity, and increase guest satisfaction.
Zebra's food safety hardware and software keep your guests safe and enable you to automate food safety procedures, reducing the odds of spreading food-borne illness.
Zebra's QSR software can enable you to increase inventory counts, scan guest loyalty apps, decrease wait times and increase customer satisfaction.
Zebra's market-leading solutions and products improve customer satisfaction with a lower cost per interaction by keeping service representatives connected with colleagues, customers, management and the tools they use to satisfy customers across the supply chain.
Enable field workers to perform pre-sales, sales, route accounting activities and more effectively interact with customers.
Instant access to technical specs and inventory helps improve customer satisfaction.
Mobile computers and printers ensure accurate chain of custody handoff during pick-up and delivery.
Empower your field workers with purpose-driven mobile technology solutions to help them capture and share critical data in any environment.
Zebra's mobile computing portfolio is designed to help utility companies improvement the management and lifecycle of their assets.
Zebra's mobile devices enable your entire staff, from call centre representatives to field technicians, to deliver enhanced customer service through the use of mobile technology.
Zebra's rugged mobile technology solutions provide the field dispatch and routing tools needed to accelerate in-field operations. Learn More.
From first call through incident investigation, Zebra ruggedised mobile solutions enable emergency response personnel to serve public safety and utilities industries more effectively with industry-leading mobility strategies.
Zebra's rugged mobile devices provide your field teams and contractors with complete situational awareness to meet customer service needs.
Zebra's mobile computing solutions provide utilities companies with the tools needed for advanced GIS asset mapping of in-field infrastructure.
Zebra's mobile computing portfolio features tools to help you upgrade processes such as digitising record inspections to speed up efficiencies. Learn More.
Zebra's mobile computing solutions specialise in the real-time, data-powered mobile workflows to help utility companies with inventory management. Learn more.
Zebra's rugged HazLoc mobile devices help optimise your critical operations with safety as a top priority. Learn More.
Zebras field-certified rugged mobile devices connect oil and petrol field workers to real-time critical data. Learn More.
Zebra's mobile technology solutions enable your operators to get real-time remote asset monitoring across your operations. Learn More.
Zebra's rugged mobile computing solutions enable your staff to plan, schedule and complete maintenance and repairs in any environment. Learn More.
Drive successful telecom management with mobile devices designed to meet the demands of public safety and customer service.
Zebra's data-powered mobile technology solutions help you to generate efficiencies across your field service operation in the water industry. Learn More.
Zebra's mobile work order management technology allows you to leverage your existing systems to your operations perform at their very best. Learn More.
Zebra's range of mobile computers equip your workforce with the devices they need from handhelds and tablets to wearables and vehicle-mounted computers.
Zebra's desktop, mobile, industrial, and portable printers for barcode labels, receipts, RFID tags and cards give you smarter ways to track and manage assets.
Zebra's 1D and 2D corded and cordless barcode scanners anticipate any scanning challenge in a variety of environments, whether retail, healthcare, T&L or manufacturing.
Zebra's extensive range of RAIN RFID readers, antennas, and printers give you consistent and accurate tracking.
Choose Zebra's reliable barcode, RFID and card supplies carefully selected to ensure high performance, print quality, durability and readability.
Zebra's location technologies provide real-time tracking for your organisation to better manage and optimise your critical assets and create more efficient workflows.
Zebra's rugged tablets and 2-in-1 laptops are thin and lightweight, yet rugged to work wherever you do on familiar and easy-to-use Windows or Android OS.
With Zebra's family of fixed industrial scanners and machine vision technologies, you can tailor your solutions to your environment and applications.
Zebra’s line of kiosks can meet any self-service or digital signage need, from checking prices and stock on an in-aisle store kiosk to fully-featured kiosks that can be deployed on the wall, counter, desktop or floor in a retail store, hotel, airport check-in gate, physician’s office, local government office and more.
Discover Zebra’s range of accessories from chargers, communication cables to cases to help you customise your mobile device for optimal efficiency.
Zebra's environmental sensors monitor temperature-sensitive products, offering data insights on environmental conditions across industry applications.
Keep labour costs low, your talent happy and your organisation compliant. Create an agile operation that can navigate unexpected schedule changes and customer demand to drive sales, satisfy customers and improve your bottom line.
Empower the front line with prioritised task notification and enhanced communication capabilities for easier collaboration and more efficient task execution.
Get full visibility of your inventory and automatically pinpoint leaks across all channels.
Reduce uncertainty when you anticipate market volatility. Predict, plan and stay agile to align inventory with shifting demand.
Drive down costs while driving up employee, security, and network performance with software designed to enhance Zebra's wireless infrastructure and mobile solutions.
Explore Zebra’s printer software to integrate, manage and monitor printers easily, maximising IT resources and minimising down time.
Make the most of every stage of your scanning journey from deployment to optimisation. Zebra's barcode scanner software lets you keep devices current and adapt them to your business needs for a stronger ROI across the full lifecycle.
RFID development, demonstration and production software and utilities help you build and manage your RFID deployments more efficiently.
RFID development, demonstration and production software and utilities help you build and manage your RFID deployments more efficiently.
Zebra DNA is the industry’s broadest suite of enterprise software that delivers an ideal experience for all during the entire lifetime of every Zebra device.
Advance your digital transformation and execute your strategic plans with the help of the right location and tracking technology.
The Zebra Aurora suite of machine vision software enables users to solve their track-and-trace, vision inspection and industrial automation needs.
Zebra Aurora Focus brings a new level of simplicity to controlling enterprise-wide manufacturing and logistics automation solutions. With this powerful interface, it’s easy to set up, deploy and run Zebra’s Fixed Industrial Scanners and Machine Vision Smart Cameras, eliminating the need for different tools and reducing training and deployment time.
Aurora Imaging Library™, formerly Matrox Imaging Library, machine-vision software development kit (SDK) has a deep collection of tools for image capture, processing, analysis, annotation, display, and archiving. Code-level customisation starts here.
Aurora Design Assistant™, formerly Matrox Design Assistant, integrated development environment (IDE) is a flowchart-based platform for building machine vision applications, with templates to speed up development and bring solutions online quicker.
Designed for experienced programmers proficient in vision applications, Aurora Vision Library provides the same sophisticated functionality as our Aurora Vision Studio software but presented in programming language.
Aurora Vision Studio, an image processing software for machine & computer vision engineers, allows quick creation, integration & monitoring of powerful OEM vision applications.
Adding innovative tech is critical to your success, but it can be complex and disruptive. Professional Services help you accelerate adoption, and maximise productivity without affecting your workflows, business processes and finances.
Zebra's Managed Service delivers worry-free device management to ensure ultimate uptime for your Zebra Mobile Computers and Printers via dedicated experts.
Find ways you can contact Zebra Technologies’ Support, including Email and Chat, ask a technical question or initiate a Repair Request.
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What Is a Touch Panel?
Touch panels greatly contribute to the perception of quality and overall usability of a mobile device. Touch panels are the primary means by which users interact with their mobile devices, controlling everything from navigation to input. Therefore, the responsiveness, sensitivity and interface design of these touch panels can greatly impact a user's experience with the device, affecting how they perceive its quality and usability. Through persistent innovation, these components have grown in capability and complexity.
Many touch panel manufacturers continue to seek out new technologies and improve existing ones in an ongoing commitment to meet the growing needs of customers in new and innovative applications and environments.
We outline the role touch panels play in today’s enterprise mobile computers and introduce the different types of touch panels, how they are designed, and how they function.
We also discuss the benefits and limitations of each type of touch panel, in terms of providing users with intuitive user interfaces and environmental flexibility.
Types of Touch Panels
Long before the mass deployment of consumer smart phones, the use of touch panels became popular to control enterprise digital assistants (EDAs).
Referred to as “touch panels”, “touch screens”, or “digitizers”, these components are all part of the group of sensors that translate the position of an input in a physical reference space to an input in a digital space.
These sensors are often transparent and integrated with a LCD display to create the touch user interface (touch UI) now present everywhere from automobiles to home thermostats. The types of touch panels present on today’s products can be separated into two groups: resistive and capacitive.
Resistive Touch Panels
Resistive touch sensing technology has been established for a relatively long time. This type of touch panel is commonly used for its simplicity of construction, durability, and environmental flexibility.
As the name would suggest, a resistive touch panel senses position by converting physical compression of the touch panel to changes in resistivity.
Design and Functionality
A resistive touch panel is constructed from two films, which are separated by an air gap. Both films have electrically conductive surfaces that face each other.
Each of the conductive surfaces detects position in one orientation; for example, the top film may detect vertical position and the bottom film may detect horizontal position. When an input force is applied to the touch panel, the top film collapses inward beyond the air gap to make a physical contact with the bottom conductive surface.
The resulting electrical connection changes the resistance value across both the upper and lower conductive surfaces. A microcontroller within the device measures this new resistance value as a change in voltage, which corresponds to a new vertical and horizontal position. The measurement of the upper and lower conductive surfaces occurs many times a second to track input, such as a stylus, as it is moved across the touch panel.
Resistive Touch Panel Limitations
Micro-Cracking and Mechanical Wear
Since a resistive touch panel relies on physical movement of the top film to create an electrical connection, this type of touch panel is susceptible to mechanical wear. This mechanical wear occurs because every physical movement of the top film causes small micro-cracks in the conductive surface.
Once these micro-cracks grow large enough to disrupt the electrical connection between top and bottom films, the touch panel may develop inoperable regions, or appear to respond in a location that is different than what was activated. Resistive touch panels exhibiting these symptoms have physically worn out.
Micro-Cracking Dependencies
The causes and timeframe of the formation of these cracks depend on many factors, including:
- The force used to compress the films (sometimes called activation force)
- The temperature conditions during compression
The geometry of the object used to compress the films (stylus, finger, or other object), as described below:
A common root cause of accelerated micro-cracking, is the use of a ball point pen to activate a resistive touch panel.
The tip of a common ball point pen consists of a steel ball with an approximate diameter of 0.5 mm. This steel ball is both harder and smaller than the tip of a mobile computer stylus, which is made of plastic and has a diameter around 1.6mm.
When a small diameter instrument, such as a ball point pen, is used, even typical activation forces (250-450 grams) can result in large stresses in the conductive layer. This high stress leads to the accelerated formation of micro-cracks.
Additional damage is done as the hard steel ball also leaves scratches in the comparatively softer top film of the touch panel.
Resistive Touch Panel Benefits
The benefits that contribute to the continued relevance of resistive touch panels include the following:
Their ability to sense user input despite changing environmental conditions. The reliance on physical contact with, and subsequent compression of, the top film creates a sensor which is difficult to inadvertently activate. Rain drops, snow, or other precipitation do not produce enough force to compress the top film of the touch panel; therefore, these environmental conditions do not affect operation.
The dependence on physical contact allows the touch panel to be activated by users wearing any type of gloves that allow for adequate force to be applied to compress the top film.
Capacitive Touch Panels
The force-based activation scheme used by resistive touch panels is robust and allows for environmental flexibility, but does not allow for multiple touch inputs. The (projective) capacitive touch panel was developed to enable multi-touch inputs and as a result creates a more intuitive user interface.
Gesture-based inputs, such as pinch-to-zoom, reduce the number of steps needed to perform device interactions and simplify the user interface. This simplification for the end user comes at the cost of increased complexity, both at the touch panel hardware and control software levels.
Design and Functionality
A capacitive touch panel is a non-contact sensor that uses changes in capacitance to measure input position. The touch panel consists of two main subcomponents: the sensor and the cover glass.
Structurally, the sensor may be constructed on glass or flexible polymer films; for illustrative purposes this document only describes touch panels that use film sensors.
Like a resistive touch sensor, the capacitive sensor consists of two films. Each film senses input in a single orientation; either along the horizontal or vertical axis. For a single orientation, the conductive surface of the film is etched to create a grid pattern of conductive cells. Each cell projects an electrostatic field above the surface of the sensor.
As a conductive object, such as a human finger, is brought into the projected electrostatic field, some charge is capacitively coupled to the object. A microcontroller then measures the new capacitance as a change in voltage, which is then converted to a position on the touch panel, and ultimately the display.
Microcontroller Integrated Circuit and Firmware
Since this technique measures each conductive cell independently, many times a second, all capacitive touch panels require a specialized microcontroller IC. The firmware run by this IC can control many details of the touch panel function. This includes the distance away from the sensor that a conductive object will be registered as a touch (sensitivity), the size of the object that will register as a touch (resolution), and the frequency that the position will be updated. Uniquely tuned firmware and ICs interact with the mobile device OS in different ways; therefore, changes to these items commonly necessitate OS driver updates.
Capacitive Touch Panel Limitations
The most difficult failure mode to prevent on capacitive touch panels is damage due to point impacts. Point impacts occur in a variety of ways, but most often when a device is dropped to an uneven surface, such as gravel or asphalt.
When a device is dropped face down, small protrusions on the landing surface contact the touch panel. Since such protrusions have a very small contact area, the local stress on the touch panel can reach levels high enough to crack even chemically strengthened glass. These types of failures can be mitigated through device design, but remain a primary contributor to overall capacitive touch panel damage.
Capacitive Touch Panel Benefits
Performance Optimization
The sensor pattern design, controller IC, and controller firmware all contribute to the overall performance characteristics of touch panels. These factors can be tuned to allow the touch panel to perform in various environments, such as in rain or when the input object is not conductive (a gloved hand).
Tuning presents a complex optimization problem whereby performance can be improved, but not always made flawless. Touch panels can be specifically optimized for known customer environments to maximize flexibility.
Within this area of ongoing innovation by touch panel suppliers, new products will leverage the best possible solutions to accommodate their customers.
Mechanical Strength and Resilience
While the sensor itself provides the functional aspect of a capacitive touch panel, the cover glass offers structure and mechanical resilience. The cover glass is often twice as thick as the sensor, although in some industrial applications, it is even greater.
The sensor and cover glass are typically laminated together using optically clear adhesive (OCA), which gives the sensor uniform mechanical strength. The strength of cover glass has improved in the last decade with the introduction of “chemically strengthened” glass. This type of glass increases the touch panel’s ability to bend without breaking and also resists scratching. Bending strength is an important property when developing a product, which needs to survive drops from various heights.
During drops, the structure of a product deforms, causing the touch panel to bend; touch panels constructed from chemically strengthened glass can withstand larger amounts of bending without developing cracks in the cover glass. Additionally, chemical strengthened glass possesses a greater surface hardness compared to non-strengthened glass; this results in a comparatively higher degree of scratch resistance.
Many manufacturers of chemically strengthened glass exist, but Corning Gorilla Glass is currently considered the most resilient.
Manufacturers continue to select the type of touch panel used on new products based on the voice of their customers. The current trends point toward a customer need for intuitive user interfaces and environmental flexibility. These needs have driven the capacitive touch panel (which allows water rejection and gloved operation) to dominate the current product roadmap. Consequently, integration of resistive touch panels has declined, although they continue to serve a niche role for devices that utilize low complexity user interfaces.
We have created a more detailed guide on touch panel types and technology.
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