Claimed noise immunity is far higher than competing controllers – 80dB against typically 50-55dB, company MD Chris Ard told Electronics Weekly.

And TouchNetix should know about about capacitive sensing, as the team has its roots in Quantum Research Group, which was bought by Atmel for its QTouch capacitive sensing intellectual property and expertise. As the Touch Technology Products Group at Atmel, what became the TouchNetix team, was responsible for the definition and delivery of the Atmel maXTouch touchscreen driver ICs.

Ard emphasises that sensitivity has not been gained by simply turning up drive power. “Some competitors drive at up to 40V to improve signal to noise ratio, which has the side-effects of enormous emissions and potential damage to touch screen conductors and the glue,” he said. “Our technology uses only 2.5Vp-p. Actually, it is +/- 1.25V, which is very important as there is no net voltage stress on the touch screen materials.”