At SID Display Week 2009, Zytronic will demonstrate the aesthetic and ergonomic advantages that its range of projected capacitive technology (PCT™) touch sensor products can support and unveil some new enhancements to its touch sensor portfolio.

A specially designed quad display unit showing solutions for touch-sensitive mirrors, bezel-free touchscreens bringing iPhone-style user interfaces to full-sized applications, touchscreens requiring extreme durability, and direct screen printing of features such as a border or logo, will feature on the stand (Number 519).

Visitors to the stand will be able to see, for the first time, Zytronic’s ZYBRID® touch sensor featuring a mirrored glass effect, which will unlock the potential for many new applications such as domestic appliances, hotel room fittings and devices with unusual or innovative user interfaces. The touchscreen will be shown as both active and inactive, highlighting the fact that power consumption may be reduced whilst maintaining anattractive appearance when the unit is switched off.

The quad display unit will also showcase Zytronic’s standard ZYPOS® touch sensor with a 17-inch touchscreen on display. ZYPOS provides designers with the ability to quickly and cost effectively utilise the benefits of projected capacitive touch sensing for applications such as medical, gaming, video jukeboxes and in-vehicle touch displays. ZYPOS is a stock item available off-the-shelf, and in a range of sizes from 7- to 20.1-inches. To demonstrate the versatility of PCT, Zytronic will have on display a 17-inch ZYBRID sensor mounted behind, and operating through, a 6mm sacrificial front glass panel. Fully customisable, ZYBRID is available in a variety of glass types and thicknesses up to 10mm. Its ability to operate through a protective covering medium makes it an ideal choice for applications characterised by high rates of attrition such as outdoor digital signage, ATMs, industrial controls and tabletop displays, where replacing a scratched or broken cover glass is preferable to replacing an expensive LCD.

Additional benefits and flexibility that PCT offers will be demonstrated with a 15.6-inch, bezel-free widescreen ZYBRID sensor, combined with ZYSWITCH® projected capacitive buttons. With Zytronic’s in-house glass machining and screen printing capability, ZYBRID offers product developers free reign to incorporate many exciting features such as touch sensors with coloured borders, logos, unique shapes and drilled holes. Combined with the bezel-free mounting, this enables designers to draw on the influence of the sleek user interfaces seen on consumer devices such as the iPhone and create highly innovative, pure glass fronted designs for various types of equipment including industrial and digital signage.

Zytronic will also unveil the first ZYPROFILM® flexible touch sensor, which has been designed for rearprojection systems in retail applications, to be combined with the company’s proprietary multi-channel offglass controller supporting touch film sizes up to 82-inches, and enabling full OS compatibility up to Windows Vista 64-bit. This will align ZYPROFILM with all other Zytronic PCT sensors, and will enable incorporation of future developments, such as “multitouch” and in-field firmware updates.

Finally, on-stand will be ZYSWITCH®, Zytronic’s robust, PCT-based alternative to soft membrane switches. Offering high reliability and durability, ZYSWITCH allows custom keypads to benefit from a zero wear-out mechanism and high resistance to any physical or chemical damage. ZYSWITCH keypads can also be customised to any shape or size required and are best suited to applications such as domestic appliances and door entry or alarm systems, where a rugged keypad or hard coded buttons are required.

About PCT

Unlike resistive, IR and surface-capacitive, Zytronic’s projected capacitive technology (PCT) sensor designs have no front-face-active components. A PCT sensor comprises an array of micro-fine conductive tracks, closely positioned to form an XY grid and used to generate a capacitive sensing field in front of the sensor. The sensing array is embedded within a tough laminated panel, and the outer layer may be ordinary glass orpolycarbonate. A specialist material such as anti-glare, anti-reflective or chemically strengthened glass may also be specified for equipment to be located in particular environments. Because the sensing array is embedded, it is also resistant to hazards such as scratching or chemical spills, and can be sealed to a high level such as IP67. Touch can be detected accurately through covering glass approaching 20mm thick, which greatly extends the reach of touchscreen interactivity in industrial and security applications.

PCT is drift-free and can also detect the touch of a gloved finger, which allows use with systems operating in industrial areas, medical and food preparation environments, or outdoor, all weather locations, such as forecourt payment systems.