What is a stylus and why is it used?

The article tells about what a stylus is, what it is needed for, what it is and is being used now.

The Digital Age

In our time it has long been difficult to surprise someone with digital technology, computers, tablets and other things. Such things develop very quickly, if compared with other industries. And every year, scientists and developers are finding new solutions and applications for such technologies. Now the simplest smartphone can successfully replace dozens of devices, and its possibilities are almost unlimited, especially when talking about phones with an open OS.

But even some 15 years ago even ordinary computers were far from at all, their performance left much to be desired, and about unlimited high-speed access to the network, many only dreamed of. It was then that the first smartphones and tablets with full-fledged operating systems began to appear, under which it was possible to create various applications. Their main feature was multitasking and touch screens. And for a long time for such displays needed stylus. So what is a stylus, what are they and are they used in our time? In this we will understand.

Definition

The stylus is a small plastic or iron rod with a special tip, silicone or capacitive. And you need a stylus for controlling touch screens. But can not they manage their fingers like everyone else is used to? Not always. Sometimes you can press your fingers with small icons and symbols is not as convenient as the stylus. In addition, the accuracy of its clicks is always much higher, like the speed of work. So now we know what a stylus is. Now they are not so common, but before you can often see the happy owners of newfangled smartphones with styluses. And by the way, often they were lost or broken, and then you had to use your fingers, matches or toothpicks.

Now, there are almost no devices that would be equipped with stylus, and it's not that the interface elements have become larger, or people are used to press the display with their fingers, but that touch screen technologies have changed. With what is a stylus, we have in general understood, now we will talk about new technologies of displays.

Resistive

The very first touch screens were based on the resistive principle of operation. To put it more simply, their work was based on a banal closure. Between the monitor and the flexible outer plastic panel, micro-insulators were applied, and at the moment of contact at a given point, a short circuit occurred, the signal was processed by a special device that, depending on the place of pressing, was converted to the coordinates of the display. It is for them and need a stylus for the screen, because it reacts to a hard click, and just a touch of a finger is not enough.

And yet you can use them without the stylus. When those are lost or broken, you can press the screen, for example, with a fingernail or other solid object. The pluses of such touch screens include faster typing and the fact that over time, when the outer plastic panel is covered with scratches, it can easily be replaced. Such monitors are often used in production and in those conditions where reliability is important, and the sensor can be activated by any object or just by a strong push, even when the fingers are smeared or gloved.

Capacitive

The second type of touch screens, which are ubiquitous now, are capacitive. They are arranged as follows: the display covers a thin current-carrying layer, and at the moment of touching the material, which also conducts a current, a resistance changes in the area of the display, which serves as a signal of pressing or other action. Simply put, such touch-sensitive displays respond to a simple finger touch, and it does not have to be strong. Also for them you can find a special touch stylus.

The advantages of such displays include convenience and reliability, since foreign objects that do not conduct current can not accidentally turn on the device or perform another operation. And to the minuses is that if the fingers in the glove are covered with liquid or dirt, the screen will not react.

But now more often you can find on sale a capacitive stylus, which can control a touch screen of similar technology. Basically, it is needed for artists who want to draw on tablets with capacitive displays.

Device

If we talk about how the styluses are arranged, then everything is simple. Those designed for resistive monitors are simply plastic or metal sticks with tips that do not scratch the top layer of the display.

The device of the capacitive stylus is also uncomplicated. Its tip is made of a material that conducts the current in the same way as a human finger, and changes the resistance in a given area of the monitor.

So we figured out what a stylus is and why it's needed.