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Displays and Touch FAQs

An industrial display has to stay readable in sunlight, survive cleaning and keep working for years. These FAQs cover panel types, resolutions, brightness, contrast, bonding, anti-glare treatments and touch technologies, with the trade-offs that matter for monitors and panel PCs.

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DISPLAYS · RESOLUTION

What Is 4K Resolution?

4K resolution is a picture about 4,000 pixels wide. On monitors, TVs and cameras it almost always means 3840 × 2160 pixels at 16:9, also called 4K UHD or 2160p. That is about 8.3 million pixels, four times full HD (1080p). Cinema 4K is slightly wider, at 4096 × 2160.

7 MIN

DISPLAYS · RESOLUTION

What Is FHD?

FHD, or full HD, is a display resolution of 1920 × 1080 pixels in a 16:9 widescreen shape, just over two million pixels in all. It is the same resolution as 1080p. FHD has 2.25 times the pixels of 720p HD and a quarter of the pixels of 4K UHD.

6 MIN

DISPLAYS · RESOLUTION

What Is QHD?

QHD, or quad HD, is a display resolution of 2560 × 1440 pixels in a 16:9 shape, also called 1440p. It has four times the pixels of 720p HD and about 1.78 times the pixels of FHD (1080p), but under half the pixels of 4K UHD. It is often sold as 2K, although that is not a formal name.

6 MIN

DISPLAYS · RESOLUTION

What Is 8K Resolution?

8K resolution is 7680 × 4320 pixels at 16:9, also called 8K UHD or 4320p. That is about 33 million pixels: four times 4K and 16 times 1080p. Carrying 8K at 60 Hz needs HDMI 2.1 or DisplayPort with compression, or DisplayPort 2.1, plus graphics, storage and capture hardware rated for it.

7 MIN

DISPLAYS · PANEL INTERFACES

What Is LVDS?

LVDS (low-voltage differential signalling) is a way of sending high-speed digital data over pairs of wires using a small voltage difference of about 350 mV. It is defined in TIA/EIA-644. Its best-known use is the internal link between an embedded board and an LCD panel, although newer designs are moving to eDP.

6 MIN

STANDARDS · MEDICAL EMC

What Is IEC 60601-1-2?

IEC 60601-1-2 is the collateral standard to IEC 60601-1 that covers electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) for medical electrical equipment. It limits the interference a device may emit and sets the immunity levels it must withstand from static, radio fields and mains disturbances while keeping its basic safety and essential performance. The current version is the 4th edition with Amendment 1.

6 MIN

SOFTWARE · DEVICE LOCKDOWN

What Is Android Kiosk Mode?

Android kiosk mode locks an Android device to one app, or a small set of approved apps, so users cannot reach the home screen, settings or notifications. It is set up with screen pinning for simple cases, or with lock task mode through a device management app for dedicated devices such as self-service kiosks, HMIs and rugged tablets.

6 MIN

MATERIALS · HYGIENE

What Is an Antimicrobial Coating?

An antimicrobial coating is a surface treatment that stops bacteria, mould and some viruses from growing on a surface. It works by releasing agents such as silver ions or by killing microbes on contact. On medical computers it is usually built into the housing plastic or cover glass. It reduces contamination between cleans but does not replace disinfection.

6 MIN

DISPLAYS · PROJECTED CAPACITIVE

What Is a Capacitive Touch Screen?

A capacitive touch screen detects touch by sensing the small change in capacitance a finger causes in a grid of transparent electrodes behind the glass. Almost every capacitive screen made today is projected capacitive (PCAP), which tracks several touches at once through thick cover glass, giving multi-touch gestures, a clear image and a hard, easy-to-clean front.

6 MIN

DISPLAYS · MOUNTING

What Are VESA Mount Sizes?

VESA mount sizes are standard screw-hole patterns on the back of a monitor, TV or panel PC, given in millimetres between hole centres, horizontal first. The common sizes are 75 × 75 and 100 × 100 for small and mid-size screens, 200 × 200 for larger ones, and 400 × 400 and up for big displays.

6 MIN

DISPLAYS · TOUCH TECHNOLOGY

How Do Touch Screens Work?

A touch screen works by placing a sensor over the display that detects where a finger or stylus touches and sends those coordinates to the computer as pointer input. Resistive screens sense pressure, capacitive screens sense the electrical charge of a finger, and surface acoustic wave and infrared screens sense a break in sound waves or light beams.

6 MIN

DISPLAYS · TOUCH

Resistive vs Capacitive Touch Screen: What Is the Difference?

A resistive touch screen registers a touch when pressure pushes two conductive layers together, so it works with any finger, glove or stylus. A capacitive touch screen, usually projected capacitive (PCAP), senses a finger’s electrical charge through glass, giving multi-touch, a clearer image and a harder surface that resists scratches.

6 MIN

DIGITAL SIGNAGE · DISPLAYS

What Screens Are Used for Digital Signage?

Most digital signage uses commercial LCD displays rated for long or 24/7 operation. Windows and outdoor sites use high-brightness or sunlight-readable LCDs, very large and outdoor formats often use direct-view LED, interactive signs use touchscreens, and special jobs use stretched, open frame or video wall panels. Consumer TVs work for light use but are not designed for it.

6 MIN

DIGITAL SIGNAGE · ADVERTISING

What Is Programmatic DOOH?

Programmatic DOOH (pDOOH) is the automated buying and selling of digital out-of-home advertising through software. An advertiser’s demand-side platform buys plays on public screens, a supply-side platform passes the deal to the media owner’s ad server, and the screen’s player shows the advert and reports that it played. Rules on time, place, weather or audience trigger each buy.

6 MIN

DIGITAL SIGNAGE · STANDARDS

What Is OPS (Open Pluggable Specification)?

The Open Pluggable Specification (OPS) is a standard for a slide-in computer module that plugs into a slot in the back of a commercial or interactive display. One 80-pin JAE connector carries power from the display and video, audio, USB and control signals back to it, so the screen gains a full PC with no separate box or cables.

6 MIN

DIGITAL SIGNAGE · AV CONNECTIVITY

What Is HDBaseT?

HDBaseT is a standard for sending uncompressed HDMI video and audio, plus Ethernet, USB, control signals and power, over one category cable up to 100 m. A transmitter at the source and a receiver at the display do the conversion, so a player or PC can sit in a secure cabinet far from the screen.

6 MIN

DIGITAL SIGNAGE · ADVERTISING

What Is DOOH?

DOOH, short for digital out-of-home, is advertising shown on digital screens in public places such as roadsides, stations, airports, shopping centres and shops. Unlike printed posters, the ads arrive over a network, so they can rotate, change by time of day and be bought by schedule or programmatically. The screens and players behind it are digital signage.

6 MIN

DIGITAL SIGNAGE · NAVIGATION

What Is Digital Wayfinding?

Digital wayfinding uses screens, touchscreen kiosks and phone links to help people find their way around a building or site. Interactive maps, directories and live updates replace or add to printed signs, so routes change as rooms, gates or platforms change. Hospitals, airports, stations, campuses, offices and shopping centres are the main users.

6 MIN

DIGITAL SIGNAGE · FUNDAMENTALS

What Is Digital Signage?

Digital signage is the use of networked electronic screens, such as LCD, LED or projection displays, to show content that is scheduled and updated remotely rather than printed. A typical system has three parts: the display, a media player that stores and plays the content, and content management software that decides what plays where and when.

6 MIN

SELF-SERVICE · KIOSKS

What Is an Interactive Kiosk?

An interactive kiosk is a self-service terminal that combines a touchscreen, a computer and peripherals such as a card reader, printer or scanner in a secure enclosure. It lets people order, pay, check in, buy tickets or find information without staff, and is found in shops, restaurants, hospitals, hotels, stations and airports.

6 MIN

DIGITAL SIGNAGE · DISPLAYS

What Is a Video Wall?

A video wall is a group of displays mounted edge to edge in a grid so they work as one large screen. It can stretch a single image across every panel or show several sources in separate zones. Video walls are built from narrow-bezel LCD panels, direct-view LED cabinets or, in older control rooms, rear-projection cubes.

6 MIN

DIGITAL SIGNAGE · VIDEO PROCESSING

What Is a Video Wall Controller?

A video wall controller, also called a video wall processor, is the hardware or software that takes video sources and splits, scales and places them across the displays of a video wall. It lets one image fill the whole wall or several sources share it in windows, and stores the layouts so operators can switch between them.

6 MIN

DIGITAL SIGNAGE · PLAYERS

What Is a Digital Signage Media Player?

A digital signage media player is a small computer that stores signage content and plays it on one or more screens. It runs the player app for a content management system, downloads new content and schedules over the network, plays from local storage if the connection drops and reports back that the screen is working.

6 MIN

DIGITAL SIGNAGE · SOFTWARE

What Is a Digital Signage CMS?

A digital signage CMS (content management system) is the software used to upload, arrange, schedule and publish content to a network of screens. Operators build playlists and layouts in a web dashboard, choose which screens or groups show them and when, and the CMS sends the content to a player at each screen and reports back what played.

6 MIN

DIGITAL SIGNAGE · APPLICATIONS

What Industries Use Digital Signage?

Retail, restaurants and quick-service food, transport, healthcare, education, corporate offices, hotels and venues, banking and manufacturing all use digital signage. Retail and hospitality use it to sell, transport and healthcare to inform and direct people, and offices, schools and factories to share live information with staff, students and shift teams.

8 MIN

DIGITAL SIGNAGE · PLAYERS

Can You Use a Raspberry Pi for Digital Signage?

Yes. A Raspberry Pi 4 or 5 running Raspberry Pi OS and a signage player app, or a browser in kiosk mode, makes a capable low-power digital signage player that drives up to two 4K screens. It suits pilots, small networks and indoor screens. For large fleets, hot enclosures and unattended 24/7 sites, an industrial player is usually more reliable.

6 MIN

DIGITAL SIGNAGE · HOSPITALITY

How Do Digital Menu Boards Work?

A digital menu board is a screen showing a restaurant’s menu, driven by a small media player behind or beside it. Staff edit items and prices in content management software. The player downloads and caches the content and plays it on a schedule, so menus change by time of day and keep playing if the internet drops.

6 MIN

CONNECTORS · VIDEO

How Long Can an HDMI Cable Be?

The HDMI specification sets no maximum length. In practice a good passive cable carries 1080p reliably to around 10 to 15 m, 4K at 60 Hz to around 5 m and 48 Gb/s HDMI 2.1 signals to around 2 to 3 m. Active and optical cables, extenders and AV over IP reach from tens of metres to kilometres.

6 MIN

DISPLAYS · IMAGE QUALITY

What Is Monitor Ghosting?

Monitor ghosting is a faint trail that follows moving objects on an LCD screen. It happens when pixels change colour more slowly than the picture changes, so traces of earlier frames stay visible. Slow response time, the wrong overdrive setting and cold temperatures are the usual causes. It is not permanent and does not damage the screen.

6 MIN

DISPLAYS · ENCLOSURES

What Is a Screen Bezel?

A screen bezel is the frame around the visible area of a monitor, TV, laptop or phone. It holds the LCD panel and cover glass in place and hides the drive electronics and backlight edges. On industrial displays the bezel also carries the seal, so a front IP65 or IP66 bezel keeps water and dust out of a panel cut-out.

6 MIN

DISPLAYS · PANEL TYPES

IPS vs VA: What Is the Difference?

IPS and VA are both LCD panel types. IPS panels keep colour and contrast steady from wide angles, which suits touch screens and displays viewed by several people. VA panels block more backlight, so they typically reach around three times the contrast of IPS with deeper blacks, but they shift more off-axis and can smear on dark motion.

6 MIN

DISPLAYS · RESOLUTION

What Is WQHD?

WQHD, or wide quad HD, is a display resolution of 2560 × 1440 pixels in a 16:9 widescreen shape. On monitors it means the same as QHD and 1440p: the W only marks it as widescreen. Related names such as UWQHD (3440 × 1440) and WQXGA (2560 × 1600) are different resolutions.

6 MIN

DISPLAYS · RESOLUTION

What Is UHD?

UHD, or ultra high definition, is a display resolution of 3840 × 2160 pixels at 16:9, usually sold as 4K. It has four times the pixels of FHD (1080p). Cinema 4K is slightly wider at 4096 × 2160, and 8K UHD doubles UHD again to 7680 × 4320.

7 MIN

DISPLAYS · IMAGE QUALITY

What Is Monitor Contrast Ratio?

Monitor contrast ratio is the brightness of the whitest white divided by the brightness of the darkest black the screen can show, written as a ratio such as 1,000:1. Higher is better. IPS panels typically reach around 1,000:1 and VA panels 3,000:1 or more, but room light reflecting off the screen lowers the contrast you actually see.

6 MIN

DISPLAYS · PANEL TECHNOLOGY

What Is an LCD Display?

An LCD display is a flat screen that uses liquid crystals to control light from a backlight. A grid of thin-film transistors switches each pixel, colour filters split it into red, green and blue, and polarisers turn the crystal twist into light and dark. LCD stands for liquid crystal display.

6 MIN

DISPLAYS · IMAGE QUALITY

What Is HDR on a Monitor?

HDR on a monitor means high dynamic range: the screen can show brighter highlights, deeper shadows and a wider range of colour than standard dynamic range (SDR). It needs HDR content in a format such as HDR10, a panel bright enough to show the highlights, and local dimming or OLED for real contrast.

7 MIN

DISPLAYS · PANEL TECHNOLOGY

What Is an IPS Monitor?

An IPS monitor uses an in-plane switching LCD panel, where the liquid crystals rotate parallel to the glass instead of tilting towards the viewer. That keeps colour and contrast stable from wide angles, typically up to 178°, which is why IPS suits control panels, shared screens and colour work.

6 MIN

DISPLAYS · RESOLUTION

What Are Common Monitor Resolutions?

Monitor resolutions give the number of pixels across and down a screen, such as 1920 × 1080. Common names include SVGA (800 × 600), XGA (1024 × 768), SXGA (1280 × 1024), FHD (1920 × 1080), WUXGA (1920 × 1200) and 4K UHD (3840 × 2160). Each panel has one native resolution, where the image is sharpest.

7 MIN

DISPLAYS · PANEL TECHNOLOGY

LCD vs LED: What Is the Difference?

An LED monitor is an LCD. The LCD panel makes the image and LEDs light it from behind. The difference in LCD vs LED is the backlight: older LCDs used fluorescent CCFL tubes, while LED-backlit LCDs are thinner, brighter, more efficient and dim further. True self-lit LED displays, such as OLED and LED walls, are a separate technology.

6 MIN

DISPLAYS · BRIGHTNESS

What Are Nits? Display Brightness Explained

A nit is the standard measure of display brightness: one nit equals one candela per square metre (cd/m²). The higher the figure, the brighter the screen. A typical office monitor gives 250 to 350 nits, while a display meant for direct sunlight usually needs 1,000 nits or more, combined with low reflection.

6 MIN

DISPLAYS · VISIBILITY

What Makes a Display Sunlight Readable?

A sunlight readable display stays clear in bright light because it combines high brightness, typically 1,000 nits or more for direct sun, with low reflection. Optical bonding removes the air gap behind the cover glass, and anti-reflective or anti-glare treatment cuts surface glare, so contrast holds up outdoors and in bright vehicle cabs.

6 MIN

DISPLAYS · DURABILITY

What Makes a Touch Screen Vandal-Proof?

A vandal-proof touch screen combines strengthened cover glass, a touch technology that senses through that glass, and a sealed, rigid housing with hidden fixings. Its impact resistance is graded with an IK rating under IEC 62262: IK07 withstands a 2 joule impact and IK10 a 20 joule impact.

6 MIN

DISPLAYS · OPTICAL BONDING

What Is the Difference Between Anti-Glare and Anti-Reflective?

Anti-glare (AG) is a textured, matte surface that scatters reflections so they no longer form a sharp mirror image. Anti-reflective (AR) is a thin-film coating that cancels reflected light, cutting it to a fraction of plain glass while keeping the image sharp. AG suits bright indoor lighting; AR suits direct sunlight.

7 MIN

DISPLAYS · OPTICAL BONDING

What Is Optically Clear Adhesive (OCA)?

Optically clear adhesive (OCA) is a transparent, double-sided adhesive film used to bond a cover glass or touch panel to a display with no air gap. It is laminated with pressure, often in a vacuum, in a process called dry optical bonding. Its liquid counterpart, LOCA, is dispensed as a liquid and cured with UV light or heat.

6 MIN

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CategoryIndustrial MonitorsPanel-mount, open-frame and rack monitors built for long hours on site.View products

CategoryPanel PCsTouch panel PCs that put the display and computer behind one sealed front.View products

CategorySunlight Readable MonitorsHigh-brightness monitors that stay readable outdoors and in direct sun.View products

CategoryTouchscreen MonitorsPCAP and resistive touch monitors for HMIs, kiosks and control rooms.View products