Wacom announced a major innovation in capacitive touchscreen technology, called
Reversing Ramped Field Capacitive (RRFC?) touch, that will be publicly
unveiled at the International Society for Information Display
Exhibition, booth #1129, May 20 to 22, 2008 in Los Angeles, California.
Wacom’s patent-pending technology employs newly designed low-power
circuitry and r reversing ramped electro-static fields to
deliver pinpoint precision and drift-free performance to touchscreen
users. The technology can be integrated into platforms that require only a finger
touch interface.
“Wacom’s latest capacitive touch innovation is truly another technology
breakthrough for Wacom,” said Masahiko Yamada, President and CEO of
Wacom Company Ltd. “It demonstrates our calling and commitment to
bringing human interface products to market that make computing more
natural, easy and fun.”
Intuitive Integration
Wacom’s RRFC touch technology
overcomes many limitations that are inherent in surface capacitive
touchscreens available today. For starters, Wacom employs new static
field engineering for increased stability and drift-free performance.
With advanced ASIC design and high resolution signal processing, RRFC
touch is effectively immune to noise. It is also the only surface
capacitive touch technology that can demonstrate excellent accuracy,
stability and sensitivity even when working on battery power. As an
additional benefit, both Wacom’s RRFC touch and EMR pen input
technologies can work together off of a single ASIC and MCU pair,
significantly reducing overall bill of materials and manufacturing
costs.
Furthermore, Wacom incorporates highly durable and transparent
glass sensors with multiple coating and bonding options as well as
intuitive driver software, creating a compelling portfolio of human
interface solutions for OEM partners seeking cost-effective,
state-of-the-art technology for system integration.
“Our new proprietary RRFC touch technology is exciting on a couple of
fronts,” said Shawn Gray, Wacom’s Director of Touchscreen Operations.
“New controller processing methods and system design provide extremely
accurate pointing at much lower power consumption levels and without
increased cost. These factors and others, such as ease of integration
and stability, position Wacom RRFC touch as a natural alternative to
resistive, surface acoustic wave and infrared touch technologies. Any
OEM should seriously look at Wacom’s solution when deciding to move
beyond resistive touch solutions on portable devices or when seeking to
find new and exciting capacitive touch performance in AC-powered
applications.”
Benefit of Wacom?s RRFC Dual Touchscreens
Compared to
touchscreens with resistive capacitive, an older touchscreen
technology, Wacom’s RRFC touch offers superior optical performance,
while having increased sensitivity and durability. Wacom touchscreens
have greater transmissivity of up to 95 percent, compared to
transmissivity of only 80 to 85 percent in resistive capacitive touch
screens. Wacom RRFC touch technology requires less pressure, that is,
only a very light stroke to activate a signal, compared to the force
required in a resistive touch screen. The hard surface in Wacom’s RRFC
touchscreen is also tougher than glass, which helps eliminate wear and
scratching.
History of Innovation in Human Interface Technology
For the
last 25 years Wacom has brought people and technology closer together
through its natural and highly intuitive line of pen tablets and
interactive pen displays. The company’s electro-magnetic resonance
(EMR®) technology, bolstered by its patented battery-free and cordless
digital pen, dubbed Penabled®, has played a significant role in the
development and success of the mobile computing industry, culminating
with the introduction of the first Tablet PC in 2001. As OEM and
consumer demand for new and more natural input options increased, Wacom
took the lead by offering electronic solutions for its pen together
with 3rd party resistive touch input to manufacturers of Tablet PCs. To
date, Wacom’s pen and resistive touch systems can be found on some of
the world?s leading convertible notebook computers including, Lenovo,
HP, Toshiba and Gateway. Wacom’s introduction of its own RRFC touch
technology continues the strong tradition of developing human interface
solutions solely aimed at creating and delivering affordable,
ergonomically sound, efficient and enjoyable computing experiences to
both consumer and professional users.