Designers have sought to optimise the ease of use of touch screen displays and haptic technology to enhance the user experience, but the global Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the ease of spread of bacterial infections from hand contact. As a result, systems integrators, not just in medical and healthcare environments, have focused efforts on protecting users of information kiosks in retail, transport and other municipal areas.
The anti-microbial coating market was estimated to be worth around $7.1billion in 2019 (Grand View Research) and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 12.8% from 2020 to 2027. Surface modifications and coatings account for more than half of this market.
Relec’s partners at Rocktouch have developed an anti-bacterial touchscreen treatment which meets the requirements of JIS Z 2801 for testing the ability of plastics, metals, ceramics and other antimicrobial surfaces to inhibit the growth of microorganisms – or to kill them.
The Rocktouch anti-bacterial (AB) treatment is a nano-silver technology, combined with a SiO2 layer which breaks down the bacterial cell wall and reduces bacteria reproduction by 99.999%. The coating can be applied to any top glass cover lens (standard or custom) over Relec’s entire PCAP and TFT portfolio and does not affect the display’s sensitivity when used with a touch panel.
For example, the FLC-104GML2000SA2#00 10.4” IPS TFT display has a 4:3 aspect ratio with an XGA 1024×768 resolution. It offers brightness levels of up to 500 cd/m2, and excellent contrast ratios. It features an 8-bit LVDS interface and wide operating temperature range from -30°C to +70°C.
Key characteristics are 16.7M colours, a high contrast ratio and a free viewing direction for all-round viewing angles.
In addition to offering standard displays, Relec can also customise the display with PCAP touchscreens together with optical bonding, surface treatments and/or custom cover lenses.
Other surface treatments available from Relec include Anti-fingerprint and Anti-glare coatings.