As the Galaxy Tab Android Tablet makes its way around the trade shows, people trying it out have mentioned how responsive the touch display is. Samsung has announced who is responsible for the excellent touchscreen response. The sensor provider is Atmel Corporation of San Jose, CA, and their maXTouch technology.
maXTouch is no stranger to the world of Android. The chip and sensor assembly also handles touch response for the HTC Evo 4G and the HTC Incredible. Samsung didn’t unleash the chip on the Galaxy Tab first, the same technology is on its Galaxy S phone line. maXTouch’s multi-touch ability can handle 16 different simultaneous inputs, with a response time of 7 milliseconds. That response was two to three times faster than other touch response rates when those benchmarks came out.
The maXTouch “solution” is comprised of a 7 x 7 mm controller chip, an ITO (Indium Tin Oxide) sensor, and a flex cable. Atmel designed the system to ignore unintended touches and to have some gestures already programmed in for faster recognition. The mXT224 controller is named for the 224 nodes it can control. Position data is reported with 12 x 12 bit resolution, plus the size and angle of each touch. The data is reported at over 250 Hz and a signal to noise ratio of over 80.
Is the Galaxy Tab using the mXT224 controller or has Atmel come up with something new? Atmel’s site says the controller can support screens as large as 10.1 inches, but only supports one or two finger touch for the larger size. They claim the controller is ideal for mobile phone-sized touch displays. This controller is the only one on Atmel’s site offering unlimited touch. The other devices are single or two-touch solutions. So either they have a new controller that can handle multitouch on a tablet-sized screen, or they found a way to network several mXT224 controllers together to cover all that screen geography.
Atmel’s press release did not specify the specific controller used with the Galaxy S, just that the maXTouch solution was powering the Galaxy Tab’s touchscreen. But the presser did indicate the Galaxy Tab would have unlimited multitouch, just as the above mentioned smartphones do.
Here’s Atmel’s video introducing maXTouch for big screens.
Full press release follows:
Samsung Selects Atmel maXTouch Solution for GALAXY Tab Android Tablet
Atmel maXTouchâ„¢ Offers Unlimited Touch Functionality, Faster Response and More Precision for Samsung GALAXY Tab Users
SAN JOSE, Calif., Sept. 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Atmel® Corporation (Nasdaq: ATML), a leader in microcontroller and touch solutions, today announced that Samsung has selected Atmel maXTouchâ„¢ solution to power the recently-launchedGALAXY Tab, the first of Samsung’s new category of mobile tablet devices. Powered by version 2.2 of Google’s Android operating system, the Samsung GALAXY Tab features PC-like web-browsing, powerful multimedia features, mobile email, voice and video calling. This new tablet also has access to the vast array of applications available through Android Marketplace. The GALAXY Tab’s slim, lightweight profile packs a 1-GHz processor and a 7-inch capacitive touchscreen that is powered by Atmel maXTouch technology. The Samsung GALAXY Tab is being sold by mobile operator Vodafone Group PLC in many European markets and is expected to be offered by Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile and AT&T in the US over the next few months.
The Atmel maXTouch solution offers higher performance, better accuracy, faster response times and lower power than competing solutions to provide a better user experience. Its true unlimited touch functionality and faster performance enable advanced features including rejection of unintended touches, multi-touch stretch/pinch and rotate gestures, and handwriting recognition on larger form factor screens, ranging from mobile Internet devices (MIDs) to PC Netbooks and notebooks. The maXTouch solution is based on Atmel’s proprietary microcontroller technology, combined with software algorithms for a more robust touch solution.
“Atmel maXTouch solutions have proven to be the best architecture with the highest touch performance, fastest response time and are more precise than competing touch products,” said Mr. Dongsub Kim, Principal Engineer and Team Leader at HW Platform R&D Group of Samsung Electronics Mobile Device Division. “After selecting maXTouch solutions for our smaller screen devices, we knew it would be the right choice for Samsung GALAXY Tab. Atmel maXTouch will empower GALAXY Tab users with unlimited touch capabilities and longer battery life, for an overall better experience.”
“As the de facto standard in high-end smartphones, Atmel maXTouch solutions will now power the Samsung GALAXY Tab, which is the first of many tablets to use this solution,” said Jon Kiachian, Senior Director of Touch Marketing, Atmel Corporation. “The Samsung GALAXY Tab is a phenomenal tablet that brings a better touch experience to the user and we are proud to help Samsung get this to market quickly.”
Tweet This: Samsung has selected Atmel’s maXTouch chip to power the recently-launched GALAXY Tab: http://tinyurl.com/393vpl2.
About Atmel maXTouch Technologies
With true unlimited touch functionality and stylus support, the maXTouch technology will enable exciting new applications, such as tablets, netbooks and MIDs. The microcontroller technology, combined with proprietary algorithms, offers a better touch experience for users of tablet and other applications. The larger screen solution is an enhancement of existing maXTouch products that provide best-in-class configurability to exceed today’s user interface requirements for applications such as tablets. For more information, visit www.atmel.com/products/touchscreens. To see Atmel’s latest maXTouch videos, visit the Atmel YouTube Channel at www.atmel.com/youtube or follow Atmel on Twitter @atmelcorporatio.
About Atmel
Atmel Corporation (Nasdaq: ATML) is a worldwide leader in the design and manufacture of microcontrollers, capacitive touch solutions, advanced logic, mixed-signal, nonvolatile memory and radio frequency (RF) components. Leveraging one of the industry’s broadest intellectual property (IP) technology portfolios, Atmel is able to provide the electronics industry with complete system solutions focused on industrial, consumer, communications, computing and automotive markets.
©2010 Atmel Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Atmel®, Atmel logo and combinations thereof are registered trademarks, and maXTouchâ„¢ and others are trademarks of Atmel Corporation or its subsidiaries. Other terms and product names may be trademarks of others.
Press Contact: Agnes Toan, PR Manager Tel: (+1) 408-487-2963, Email: [email protected]