Style -- 6 days ago
Tech – touchscreens: it’s all about the silver screen
Touchscreens are undeniably the way the world is moving. Everywhere we go, we see children trying to swipe their fingers across pictures, as though they are playing on a iPad. Adults press furiously at words they don’t understand in their paperbacks, expecting the handy dictionary definition which is found on a Kindle to pop up. Not being able to zoom in on something with a reverse-pinch of the fingers feels positively odd.
But what is holding us back? Why isn’t everything touchscreen these days, given how user-friendly it is and how used to it we have all become? The answer is simple: cost.
This is because touchscreens are made up of several layers of material. The uppermost one is made of glass with anti-scratch coating. Then there’s a layer of clear adhesive and then three layers of indium tin oxide (ITO). This comes either side of yet more layers of glass comprising the touch sensor, then another clear adhesive layer to hold the touch sensor down onto the LCD underneath. Phew.
It’s the ITO that’s the expensive bit – plus, it’s notoriously bad for the environment. But there is an alternative: silver. New technology has been developed that uses silver strands on plastic. Even though silver costs the same as ITO, it’s much more conductive – meaning you get a slimmer screen and increased battery life (three cheers for that).
This has already been used in LG and Intel products, but is set to hit the mainstream. And it could be used for a whole host of new technologies. Silver is bendy, for one thing, meaning that the world of the roll-up tablet device could be closer than we think.
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