Aaron Widmar
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How Does My Car’s Touch Screen Work?

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The science behind the touch-activated screen on your vehicle’s dashboard

car touch screen infotainment digital controls
Photo: The News Wheel

Your car is filled with cutting-edge electronic devices that make it more like a computer than a machine. For instance, every new vehicle has an in-dashboard touch screen to control the air conditioning, radio, navigation, external camera, and other applications. How does this digital, touch-based technology work?


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Two common types of touchscreens

Contrary to what you may assume, there isn’t one lone type of input-controlled touch screen technology that’s used in every single vehicle. Over the years, engineers have invented multiple operational designs to register touch inputs on a variety of devices.

Depending on which type of touch screen your car has, you may have noticed simply by pressing your finger that it’s different from the surface of your smartphone. Some touch screens are soft and shift when you press them, while others are rigid like a smartphone’s screen. These all register touches in different ways.

Fundamentally, every touch screen uses sensors and underlying circuits to register changes as inputs, whether those are changes in pressure, light, temperature, or electrical stimulus.


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Over the years, many in-car touch screens have been resistive. This type consists of two thin layers with a gap in between. When the outer, malleable panel is pressed, the point of contact yields and comes in contact with the inner panel below. That connection forms a completed circuit and registers as an input. So if your car’s touch screen moves as if you’re pressing a gel packet, it’s resistive.

More and more new cars are receiving capacitive touch screens. This type uses a single, thick layer of glass to register where your finger comes in contact with the surface based on the tiny electrical charge running through your finger. This style is better for swiping, multi-point contact, pinching, etc. because it can follow the movement of your finger. But, wearing a glove hinders the screen from registering your finger’s electrical connection.

While the debate is still raging whether having touch-based controls in a car are safer than physical buttons/dials or are more dangerous, it’s still fascinating to learn how this technology operates. Five Star Car Stereo has an excellent video on YouTube explaining the differences between these two forms of touch screens. Check it out below.