Editing Touchscreen (section)

{{Short description|Input and output device}}

[[File:Hear Music touchscreen.jpg|thumb|A user operating a touchscreen]]
[[File:Ecobee4 on the wall from an angle showing home screen.jpg|thumb|[[Smart thermostat]] with touchscreen]]

A '''touchscreen''' (or '''touch screen''') is a type of [[electronic visual display|display]] that can detect touch input from a user. It consists of both an [[input device]] (a touch panel) and an [[output device]] (a visual display). The touch panel is typically layered on the top of the [[electronic visual display]] of a device. Touchscreens are commonly found in [[smartphones]], [[tablet computer|tablets]], [[laptop]]s, and other electronic devices. The display is often an [[Liquid-crystal display|LCD]], [[AMOLED]] or [[OLED]] display.

A user can give input or control the information processing system through simple or [[multi-touch]] gestures by touching the screen with a special [[Stylus (computing)|stylus]] or one or more fingers.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Walker |first1=Geoff |title=A review of technologies for sensing contact location on the surface of a display: Review of touch technologies |journal=Journal of the Society for Information Display |date=August 2012 |volume=20 |issue=8 |pages=413–440 |doi=10.1002/jsid.100 |s2cid=40545665 |s2cid-access=free |url=http://ww.walkermobile.com/A_Review_of_Technologies_for_Sensing_Contact_on_the_Surface_of_a_Display.pdf |via=Walker Mobile, LLC |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230528105912/http://ww.walkermobile.com/A_Review_of_Technologies_for_Sensing_Contact_on_the_Surface_of_a_Display.pdf |archive-date= 2023-05-28}}</ref> Some touchscreens use ordinary or specially coated gloves to work, while others may only work using a special stylus or pen. The user can use the touchscreen to react to what is displayed and, if the software allows, to control how it is displayed; for example, [[Zooming user interface|zooming]] to increase the text size.

A touchscreen enables the user to interact directly with what is displayed, instead of using a [[computer mouse|mouse]], [[touchpad]], or other such devices (other than a stylus, which is optional for most modern touchscreens).<ref>{{Cite web|title=What is a Touch Screen?|url=https://www.computerhope.com/jargon/t/toucscre.htm|access-date=2020-09-07|website=Computer Hope|language=en}}</ref>

Touchscreens are common in devices such as [[smartphone]]s, [[handheld game console]]s, and [[personal computer]]s. They are common in [[point of sale|point-of-sale]] (POS) systems, [[automated teller machine]]s (ATMs), [[electronic voting machine]]s, and automobile [[in-car entertainment|infotainment systems]] and controls. They can also be attached to computers or, as terminals, to networks. They play a prominent role in the design of digital appliances such as [[personal digital assistant]]s (PDAs) and some [[e-reader]]s. Touchscreens are important in educational settings such as classrooms or on college campuses.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Allvin|first=Rhian Evans|journal=YC Young Children|issn=1538-6619|date=2014-09-01|volume=69|issue=4|page=62|title=Technology in the Early Childhood Classroom}}</ref>

The popularity of smartphones, tablets, and many types of [[information appliance]]s has driven the demand and acceptance of common touchscreens for portable and functional electronics. Touchscreens are found in the medical field, [[heavy industry]], [[automated teller machine]]s (ATMs), and kiosks such as museum displays or [[room automation]], where [[computer keyboard|keyboard]] and [[mouse (computing)|mouse]] systems do not allow a suitably intuitive, rapid, or accurate interaction by the user with the display's content.

Historically, the touchscreen sensor and its accompanying controller-based [[firmware]] have been made available by a wide array of after-market [[system integrator]]s, and not by display, chip, or [[motherboard]] manufacturers. Display manufacturers and chip manufacturers have acknowledged the trend toward acceptance of touchscreens as a [[user interface]] component and have begun to integrate touchscreens into the fundamental design of their products.