HMI touchscreen: choosing resistive or projected capacitive touch for operators
Operator touch display · resistive versus projected capacitive touch, gloves, water and cover glass thickness
An HMI touchscreen is the touch-sensitive display an operator uses to run a machine: an LCD module with a touch sensor in front of it, a touch controller and a cover or bezel. The choice that sets how it behaves on the shop floor is the touch technology. Decide whether operators press with a fingertip, a stylus or a glove, whether the screen will be wet, and how thick and tough the front glass must be.
Touch display units for industrial operator stations and the touch layer inside them: 5-wire resistive and projected capacitive (PCAP) sensors, their controllers, cover glass and the LCD behind. Complete HMI operator panels, with their sealing, power, EMC, protocols and screen design, are covered on the Human-machine interface (HMI) page; HMI software and PLCs are outside this page.
CNFX editorial research · Sources checked October 12, 2026 · 3 sources
A resistive touchscreen registers pressure. DMC's FST series 5-wire analog resistive touchscreen specifies an activation force of 0.05 N to 0.8 N, an operating life of 35,000,000 finger hits and 100,000 pen characters, light transmittance over 80%, surface hardness over 2H by JIS pencil hardness, and an operating temperature of −20 °C to 70 °C without condensation. [1]
DMC's finger life test presses a silicone rubber rod (hardness 60, tip R 4.0) with a 3 N load at 2 hits per second; the pen test uses a polyacetal tip of R 0.8 at 2.5 N. [1] Editorial calculation: 35,000,000 hits at 2 hits per second is 17,500,000 seconds, about 4,860 hours of continuous testing.
A projected capacitive panel instead senses a finger through the cover glass. Mitsubishi Electric describes PCAP as two perpendicular layers of conductive material forming a grid, where a finger or other conductive object distorts the electrostatic field, letting the system track touches at multiple points; its 19.0-inch module supports ten-point touch. [3]
Editorial note: resistive panels respond to any object that presses hard enough, while PCAP panels need a conductive touch or a controller tuned for gloves; test the screen with the gloves and tools your operators actually use.
Give the supplier the screen size and resolution, touch technology, glove type and thickness, whether the screen gets wet or is washed down, cover glass thickness and treatment, brightness for the lighting at the machine, operating and storage temperatures, interface to the controller, and mounting.
02
Plan for gloves, water and thick cover glass
Riverdi's comparison of its industrial PCAP touch controllers lists a maximum cover glass thickness of 10 mm for the ILI2511 and ILI2132A and 15 mm for the EXC80W32, and a maximum glove thickness of 2 mm for the ILI2511 and 5 mm for the other two, with palm rejection and water-proof operation listed for all three. [2]
Riverdi's standard industrial touch panels use 1.1 mm cover glass, and it stocks 4.3-inch and 7.0-inch PCAPs with cover glass of 1.0 mm (Gorilla Glass), 1.1, 1.8, 2.8, 4 and 6 mm. It states that its industrial controllers are kept in production for 10 to 15 years without change, against consumer controllers that follow mobile phone cycles of around 6 months, and lists ESD testing to IEC 61000-4-2 Level 4 (±15 kV air, ±8 kV contact). [2]
Mitsubishi Electric's AA190EB02-PCAP, a 19.0-inch SXGA TFT-LCD module launched in 2017, uses cover glass up to 5 mm thick and is described as operable when the screen is wet or the user wears gloves. Its specification lists 1280 × 1024 dots, 400 cd/m² luminance, 800:1 contrast, a USB controller interface, operating temperatures of −20 to +70 °C and storage of −30 to +80 °C. [3]
03
Glove and water testing separates one touch panel from another
Ask each supplier which touch technology and touch controller the unit uses, the cover glass thickness, and the glove types and water conditions it has been tested with.
04
Cover glass, sensor, controller and bonding in the touch stack
Part
Role
Fix in the order
Cover glass
Front surface; thickness options from 1.0 to 6 mm in one range. [2]
Thickness, strengthening, anti-glare.
Touch sensor
Resistive layers or a PCAP conductive grid. [1][3]
Offers split between bare touch panels, such as a 10.1-inch waterproof capacitive panel, and complete touch panel PCs, including the TPC410 in 7-, 10.1- and 15.6-inch sizes, IP67 capacitive units and explosion-proof models.
Wuxi Mochuan Drives Technology Co.,Ltd
Manufacturing site to be confirmed for the order
Lists HMI touch screen panels together with PLC controllers.
Explore company information and manufacturing capabilities, then discuss the scope of your project with a relevant supplier.
Share this page
Compiled and source-reviewed by the CNFX editorial team.
Each manufacturer above links to the page on that company's own website where the product is listed, with the date we checked it. How we source and review
· Page last updated 13 October 2026
Buyer questions
Does a resistive touchscreen work with gloves?
A resistive panel senses pressure rather than a conductive touch; DMC's 5-wire panel activates at 0.05 to 0.8 N. Test it with the gloves your operators wear. [1]
How thick can the cover glass be on a capacitive HMI touchscreen?
It depends on the controller; Riverdi lists maximums of 10 mm and 15 mm for the industrial controllers it compares, and Mitsubishi Electric offers up to 5 mm on a 19-inch module. [2][3]
How long does a resistive touchscreen last?
DMC rates its FST series for 35,000,000 finger hits, tested at 3 N and 2 hits per second. [1]
Sources and what still needs a direct check
Sources checked 2026-10-12. DMC publishes the specification of its own resistive touchscreen series; Riverdi and Mitsubishi Electric describe their own projected capacitive touch products. Figures are for the products named and the test conditions the makers state.
