May 14 2010
Zytronic has gained another high level endorsement for its PCT-based touch sensors. By utilising these products, leading digital entertainment system manufacturer, NSM Music Ltd, has added large format, durable, projected capacitive touch screen functionality to its latest generation of online jukeboxes, icon™.
The icon range consists of the icon2, icon Apollo, and flagship product, icon Fusion, with 19-inch, 40-inch and 32-inch touchscreens respectively, and all feature a custom designed ZYBRID fully touch sensor. Via NSM’s rich user interface, customers can quickly and easily browse and select from more than 80,000 music/video tracks, as well as gaining access to You Tube™, and RSS feeds of sports results, news and weather reports, all at the touch of a finger.
ZYBRID is fully customisable and can meet the needs of any form/factor display requirements between 5 and 82-inches. The PCT sensor structure utilised by ZYBRID detects touch via tiny capacitance changes in a matrix of micro-fine capacitors, embedded within a laminated substrate. This substrate can be placed behind thick protective overlays and the technology can be fully sealed into a bezel, facilitating IP67 levels of protection from water ingress. As a result, the touch sensor is extremely well protected from scratches, dirt, liquid spills, harsh cleaning fluids, and other forms of impairment that often shorten the operational lifespan of resistive, optical and other front surface detection touchscreens, for example.
Furthermore, PCT sensors can be designed to eliminate the need for a frame and can also be screen printed, enabling sleek all-glass fronted display designs to be created, with the added benefit of a hygienic wipe clean surface free of a dirt trapping bezel.
The sensor matrix subdivides the screen into pixel-like cells. The size and resolution of the touch-sensitive area can be scaled up by adding extra capacitors, enabling a broad spectrum of possible screen formats. The diameter of the capacitors in the sensor matrix is just 10ìm, making them effectively invisible when the display is powered. Thus, in contrast to surface capacitive and resistive sensors - which require a continuous conductive coating over the entire screen front, light transmission is unimpaired. In the case of the icon unit, PCT has allowed the jukebox’s readability to be maximised, and not compromised by the lighting conditions of the venue in which it is located.
“We have been working with Zytronic for over 5 years now, and value its high levels of product support. Through this collaboration, we have developed industry-leading products that are highly durable, without any sacrifice being made in terms of their visual appeal,” Henry Paulinski, Marketing Manager at NSM Music Ltd, confirms. “NSM Music prides itself not just on the value-added features we offer such as YouTube, bingo and karaoke, but also the style and design aesthetics that its products deliver. Alternative touch sensing solutions considered for icon would have meant abandoning the original ultra-modern, eye-catching shape envisaged, and potentially left the units exposed to accidental or deliberate damage.”
“Public entertainment venues, such as bars, pubs and clubs can represent a demanding environment for a touch screen to operate within. Designers of media systems for these applications, such as video jukebox manufacturers need to offer their customers advanced, feature-rich facilities, with absolute consistency of performance,” states Ian Crosby, Zytronic’s sales and marketing director. “Thanks to ZYBRID-based touch control, NSM’s icon jukeboxes combine stylish looks, compelling graphical user interface design, new functionality and high reliability. This ensures the units have a longer lifetime, downtime stays low, customers stay happier and proprietors can maximize their revenues.”