Atmel tech enables ‘in-cell’ touch for custom LCD designs

The London-based andersDX has introduced In-Cell Touch technology custom liquid crystal display (LCD) installations targeted at low- to high-volume consumer manufacturing.

Embedded into a segment display, the technology differentiates a product user interface (UI), all while adding technical and commercial benefits.

Meaning, instead of a touch sensor bonded onto the LCD display, each In-Cell touch key is embedded directly into the LCD cell. The LCD ITO pattern is then designed to match individual touch key symbols.

An Atmel Q Touch sensor IC integrated into the display electronics controls up to four touch keys per application. As such, key detection is extremely accurate – an accuracy which is maintained through self-calibration and auto drift compensation. Indeed, the simple self-capacitance sensor design is capable of sensing through glass up to 10 mm thick, or plastic of up to 5 mm. It operates from 1.8 to 5.5VDC.

With no external touch sensor, full optical transmissivity is preserved, while the display module is thinner, lighter and easier to integrate. Hardened glass renders the display as a fully robust and reliable product, whilst the touch buttons or keys activate with no pressure, giving users a desirable, PCAP type touch experience.

“[The] application example featured [above depicts] a heating controller with Temperature Up and Temperature Down arrows, achieved without external buttons or a full bonded sensor,” an andersDX rep explained. “Other applications include consumer, instrumentation and control panels.”