Database Users

Invisibleshield - Does it affect touchscreenability?

Hi,
I searched but did not get any useful results.
This is about the invisibleshield.
I would like to ask anyone using the invisibleshield, if their screen protector is
1. made of the same material as what is used for the rest of the full body shield,
and also, from my experience with the invisibleshield for iPod, I noticed that it was rather sticky or clingy meaning that it was more of a slightly rubbery than plasticy texture that is found on most common, generic screen protectors. My question is: Will this affect the touchscreenability of the Tilt, meaning that
2. am I able to move my stylus over the screen easily without it being all squeakily resistant to my stylus inputs
3. and if I am able to move my finger across the screen for TouchFlo
4. and finally if using the invisibleshield will somehow make the screen less sensitive as compared to as if I were to use the generic "plastic" screen protector.
Thanks in advance!

Is 'touchscreenability' a real word?

No, I made it up. It sounds nice though.

No, I made it up. It sounds nice though.
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There seems to be an abundance of creating new words on this site. lol.
I prefer the made up word 'touchscreeniness' though
Sorry for nitpicking
I don't have an answer for your query yet, I am yet to purchase the invisible shield. I will probably do so sometime next week.

1. Yes
2. Yes
3. Yes, but I personally doesn't like touching the screen with my fingers. It'll smudges
4. No

Yes, the screen does have some resistance to the stylus. I eventually got used to it because my Kaiser is slow and I need to scroll slowly anyway.
Overall a great product. I'm selling my Kaiser today on eBay (bought it for the video camera and i'm disappointed) and the screen + body is flawless.

Sorry to head about your Kaiser. I didn't think it would be so frustratingly slow.
Thanks for letting me know.

Geraldous said:
Sorry to head about your Kaiser. I didn't think it would be so frustratingly slow.
Thanks for letting me know.
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I just bought a ATT Tilt from eBay and I would need to purchase few accessories.
Can you provide your feedback once you installed the Invisibleshield on your Kaiser/TyTn II? thanks

The Invisibleshield works good after you get use to the feeling of the screen. I've used other shields on my Tilt and I think they are better compared to the Invisibleshield for navigating. I'm actually going to replace it later with one I had before. I do have the invisibleshield on other devices (camera, Dell PDA, old phone) and it works well. With the Tilt, I flash ROMs that are much quicker than the stock ROM and sometimes you have to apply more pressure with the stylus or finger to navigate.
What I would recommend is get the Invisibleshield, try it out and if it doesn't work they have a money back guarantee.

Yes, I found it to be unbearable on my 8GB Zune's screen, So when I got mine for my Tilt, I decided to only install the body protector and install a different screen protector, one made by Javo. The Javo screen protector is excellent, it comes with a cleaning microfiber cloth and a squeegee card, and it is really good. The invisibleshield, on the other hand, makes the screen all colored weird, and it looks like crap.

Thanks for the input. I'm actually fine with the body protector but may do what Crazysamz did, applying a different screen protector for the tilt.

I installed it on my Tilt four days ago. Here is what I think of it: its a piece of sh|t.
1. The screen was hard to see outdoors before, now it is impossible.
2. It feels like I have rubber on my screen.
3. Scrolling with the stylus gives the sensation that you might rip, tear, or stretch the shield due to its adherent grip.
4. I am using S2U2 and cannot get my finger to unlock the phone without a dedicated and concentrated effort. The stylus however, slides the bar with ease.
In my opinion, it is unusable and a horrible waste of money. I should have known this was crap when the instruction said to squeegee the frikin' thing on as if it was a vinyl overlay (which I think it might actually be)!
A good screen protector should be more rigid and solid (like the screen itself). Furthermore, it should have anti-glare coating and not this egg shell looking crap as the invisibleshield has.
The cheap shield I bought from the cart vendor at the mall for $5.00 was much better than this!

jimlivingston said:
I installed it on my Tilt four days ago. Here is what I think of it: its a piece of sh|t.
1. The screen was hard to see outdoors before, now it is impossible.
2. It feels like I have rubber on my screen.
3. Scrolling with the stylus gives the sensation that you might rip, tear, or stretch the shield due to its adherent grip.
4. I am using S2U2 and cannot get my finger to unlock the phone without a dedicated and concentrated effort. The stylus however, slides the bar with ease.
In my opinion, it is unusable and a horrible waste of money. I should have known this was crap when the instruction said to squeegee the frikin' thing on as if it was a vinyl overlay (which I think it might actually be)!
A good screen protector should be more rigid and solid (like the screen itself). Furthermore, it should have anti-glare coating and not this egg shell looking crap as the invisibleshield has.
The cheap shield I bought from the cart vendor at the mall for $5.00 was much better than this!
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Thanks for the detailed review.
But instead of calling it a waste of money, do you think it would be better if you used the shield for the body of the device and another screen protector for the screen? or did you just get the screen protector for it?
I actually have it on my iPod and it does have a very uneven surface when viewing it from an angle, which is quite annoying because it doesn't look that nice.

I bought the screen protector only.

I have the InvisibleShield for my Hermes and my Blackjack (full body kit with the screen protector) and it works alright. It isn't great and it is a little "tacky" (meaning sticky). My biggest complaint is that if you just put your phone in your pocket it will eventually get dirt and pocket lint all round the edges of the protector film (which is a lot of edges if you have the full body kit).
I ended up pulling some of the kit off the Hermes because it looked terrible after a couple months. The big plus to the InvisibleShield is they tend to make a slick/slippery phone much less prone to dropping because they are so sticky.
Right now I'm absolutely in love with the Martin Field's protectors, they are much more rigid and smoother than the InvisibleShield. They work very good for the Tilt/Kaiser and are cut to fit perfect (great for TouchFLO). They are also removable and washable, and much much easier to install than the others I've tried. So far I've bought them for my Tilt, Archos 605, Sony UX, my 2nd Blackjack, HTC S620 and iPod Touch...
If you can't find the link for them let me know and I'll dig up the URL.

I have been a fan of invisibleshield when it came out for ipods. It is still keeping my ipod awesome, but the topic here is touch screen ability. I had it for my wizard. Your screen will be totally protected, but the movement isn't all that great. Feels very rubbery, but you can still click on the screen. I really suggest another protector, but only problem is, you won't get the full protection. but as long as you are careful, with another screen protector, the feel of the screen is worth it.

my only complaint is being too grippy. Like others reported, I have trouble sliding and touchflowing. Its tolerable for me though, not a dealbreaker.

The Invisibleshield is good but it depends on the application. For the Tilt I think it's not a good application (screen protector) as others have said it's not very responsive. However, I do have the invisible shield on other devices such as my digital camera LCD and it works great. They also have a good life time replacement policy.

I have been using the boxwave for my Blackberry and the Overlay plus for my other phones. I love them both and I think I am going to get the Overlay plus for Tilt and get the invisiblesheild body protection for it too.

I'm planning to get the full coverage and I was wondering how does it feel like on the back? Does it feel like you're holding a plastic bag or something? I like how smooth the back of the Kaiser battery door is.

HD2 works with normal thick gloves!

Before I got my HD2, all I read was that iphones dont work with gloves due to the capacitive screen, I thought bummer when it snows here the same will apply to the HD2.
Having just come from a snowball fight, and taken loads of pics in the process, I was surprised that I could whith my huge thick gloves.
My question is, is this the same for all capactive screens?

maybe this is the reason why the touch screen doesn't work proper in many cases - it's too sensible, there is a too big electric field, therefore when using the virtual keyboard it happens that an other letter is displayed on the screen than you've pressed.

Just a thought but...... won't the tip of woolly/cotton gloves scratch the screen?

Well, mine sure doesn't. And I wish it would! I go to work on my bike and this is the season where I have to wear thick gloves. I'm afflicted like many of us by the "music stops" bug and I have to stop, take off my gloves and starts the player again. It's a pain!

It depends on the material of your gloves. As I mentioned in my tips thread, thin leather gloves DO work on capacitive screens such as HD2 and iPhone. However I also have another pair of leather gloves which have like a knitted wool lining which is quite thick (the lining not the leather) and was suprised to see them work too. I think it is probably because the wool lining holds the static from my finger that allows it to work. I think. I am not an expert in how capacitive screens work. I can happily type an sms without having to remove my gloves in this cold snowy weather.
Generally the thinner the glove material the better. Don't waste your money on these special capacitive finger tip gloves. There are far more better looking gloves out there. Just choose thin leather gloves to be certain they will work.

Should have mentioned that these arnt woolly but polyester with a thick inner lining,
Maybe its the reason for all those extra diagonal lines on the screen??

samsamuel said:
Just a thought but...... won't the tip of woolly/cotton gloves scratch the screen?
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really?? a knife, a scissor, keys wont scratch the screen but the wooly/cotton glove will????

conductive thread
today i received about a metre of conductive thread from ebay. (under 3 quid)
initial test show that this:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Making-A-Glove-Work-With-A-Touch-Screen/ is going to work really well.
my gloves are however massive so i'm going to get a higher quality, thinner pair and then with a few stitches i'll be nice and cosy.

Using display polisher for touch pro screen

Can i use scratch remover for plastic as Displex for polishing touch pro external screen?

I think the Displex site specifically says don't use their products for touchscreens.
I just checked on Google and some people have tried using it with good results (NO EXAMPLES FOR FUZE) on resistive touchscreens. Because it removes material it may change the touch properties at the spot being polished or may mess it up completely.

stim141 said:
I think the Displex site specifically says don't use their products for touchscreens.
I just checked on Google and some people have tried using it with good results (NO EXAMPLES FOR FUZE) on resistive touchscreens. Because it removes material it may change the touch properties at the spot being polished or may mess it up completely.
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thx but i think touch pro's screen is different than other touchscreens.
i think it is similar to htc touch and it has two separate screen parts (screen and touch panel).
i don't know... yet...
i've send email to displex manufacturer (now in Germany) and asked them about this, in detail .but only response i got is : "we do not have application for that". I don't know what they meant...

Display isn't different say between a FUZE/TouchPro Kaiser or TYTN. All resitive - pressure triggers event. Tilt2 still uses same technology. Capacitive is whats in the TOUCH HD2 or Apple Iphone. Uses a piece of glass to detect current not pressure which I think still has some coating on the glass.
The resistive uses pressure points in the digitizer. Displex or any polish removes a slight amount of material from the plastic so the resistive capabilities may be different in certain sections versus others. Calibration won't help because the thickness won't be uniform in theory.
If the screen is pretty bad you could try it although I've seen sites where someone has used it and messed up his touchscreen. There is also something called iDrops which polishes the Apple's screen/case. Someone on the Kaiser board attempted to use it and it worked without messing up the screen. I think Displex may just be too harsh.

Displex sucks...
stim141 said:
Display isn't different say between a FUZE/TouchPro Kaiser or TYTN. All resitive - pressure triggers event. Tilt2 still uses same technology. Capacitive is whats in the TOUCH HD2 or Apple Iphone. Uses a piece of glass to detect current not pressure which I think still has some coating on the glass.
The resistive uses pressure points in the digitizer. Displex or any polish removes a slight amount of material from the plastic so the resistive capabilities may be different in certain sections versus others. Calibration won't help because the thickness won't be uniform in theory.
If the screen is pretty bad you could try it although I've seen sites where someone has used it and messed up his touchscreen. There is also something called iDrops which polishes the Apple's screen/case. Someone on the Kaiser board attempted to use it and it worked without messing up the screen. I think Displex may just be too harsh.
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Displex does not work, It didnt damage my screen but it didnt remove the scratches either, didnt even change them i used a whole tube on my screen still all the scratches were there (I didnt scratch it I bought it used =D). Also tried it on my brothers Nokia which is not a touch screen he has loads of those really light scuff scratches and it still didnt work? So yeah its a wate of money.

displex is a piece of ****.
It does not make less visible scrathes even on CD roms, plastic glasses watches and any type of mobile phone's housing lens.
It works a bit only on plastic housing because it can losly remove polish and paint.
Do not use it on housing more and more so no losses of clour you live. But try it any type of plastic or plastic covered screens.
Do not try it on glass so do not try it on capacitive screen because dottes and scrathes become more visible (rainbow effect).

Sent HD2 for screen repair, returned with non-glass screen.

My HD2 was developing an issue with it's screen, white patches were appearing. So I sent it off to O2 to be repaired, and while the problem has been fixed, it's been returned with a non-glass screen with no diamond shaped etching on it like I had on the original.
Anyone else had this?

what do you mean by diamond shaped etching? and is it still multitouch?

If you look closely on the HD2, the screen has fine diagonal lines etched on the glass which cross making what appears to be diamond shapes on the screen. The screen on mine isn't glass now, it's plastic and those fine lines aren't there. I was just wondering if anyone else had had a repair and had the same thing happen.
It is still mutlitouch. I'm just trying to decide if I should complain.

Pagnell said:
If you look closely on the HD2, the screen has fine diagonal lines etched on the glass which cross making what appears to be diamond shapes on the screen. The screen on mine isn't glass now, it's plastic and those fine lines aren't there. I was just wondering if anyone else had had a repair and had the same thing happen.
It is still mutlitouch. I'm just trying to decide if I should complain.
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Are there any other notable differences? Is it more easily scratched, less transparent, more reflective, etc.?
If so, then yes, you should definitely complain.

as plastic is alot more prone to scratches, i would complain...

Pagnell said:
If you look closely on the HD2, the screen has fine diagonal lines etched on the glass which cross making what appears to be diamond shapes on the screen. The screen on mine isn't glass now, it's plastic and those fine lines aren't there. I was just wondering if anyone else had had a repair and had the same thing happen.
It is still mutlitouch. I'm just trying to decide if I should complain.
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I understand this must be really annoying for you, but tbh I find it really interesting.
Is your new screen still capacitive? Does a normal stylus or other object still work on it? (ie. is it still resistive?)
I never realised you could get multitouch plastic screens....

i would definitely file a complain. you bought your hd2 with a glass screen and its weird that its plastic. yes there are diamond shaped etchings in the glass screen.
so all capacitive screens should be glass covered? hmm... interesting.

Pagnell said:
If you look closely on the HD2, the screen has fine diagonal lines etched on the glass which cross making what appears to be diamond shapes on the screen. The screen on mine isn't glass now, it's plastic and those fine lines aren't there. I was just wondering if anyone else had had a repair and had the same thing happen.
It is still mutlitouch. I'm just trying to decide if I should complain.
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I had mine repaired and yes, the lines seem to be gone. I think this has to do with the improved hardware and not because its plastic.

f*ck that. complain, you bought the hd2 and you want it back the same way you bought it.

WHOA!
This is either a HUGE insight to something about the amount of screen blotches being received.
or
You are dealing with a crappy fix.
I honestly have never heard of a PLASTIC CAPACITIVE LENS!?!?!
Will this be a common resolution to HD2 shatter/blotch?

there are capacative screens with plastic face...
the samsung f480 has one either

Hmmm
pkchips said:
I understand this must be really annoying for you, but tbh I find it really interesting.
Is your new screen still capacitive? Does a normal stylus or other object still work on it? (ie. is it still resistive?)
I never realised you could get multitouch plastic screens....
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Battle to the finish.

CyberSniper said:
I had mine repaired and yes, the lines seem to be gone. I think this has to do with the improved hardware and not because its plastic.
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That's good to know, maybe I'm wrong about it being plastic although it doesn't feel the same. Is your's definitely still glass?

Why not post some pics here ? Wanna see it. Best would be to do the pics in various angles to a light source to see what consistency it has ............

I noticed the diamond etchings on my HD2 straight out of the box brand new, still glass though.

may be we should look at tmob us screen and see it's type

Oberoth said:
there are capacative screens with plastic face...
the samsung f480 has one either
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All capacitivie screens are made of glass - or else the technology wouldn't work since its basically a grid with electric current covering the screen, and this grid you disturb with your fingers. Plastic is NOT leading electricity so it would not work. And btw, the Samsung F480 has a Resistive touchscreen.

That's not strictly true. Neither glass nor plastic conduct electricity - but both act as a dielectric for electrostatic fields. A capacitive touch screen can theoretically work with either plastic or glass (or even air), because capacitive touch doesn't actually require that you touch the screen.

glass conduct electricity

Strictly speaking, hardly anything conducts no electricity, it's just a question of a material's resistance and therefore the amount.

Which screen do you prefer?

Everyone with a HD2 must have come from at least 1 resistive screen here, am I right? What do you prefer, resistive or capacitive? What are the benefits and faults of each? Which is more durable, and longer lasting?

Not necessarily longer lasting, but I would assume capacitive screens would be more resilient against day-to-day abuses.

I agree, more durability against scratches and such but what about breaking. Wouldn't a glass screen be easier to break than plastic?

Resistive screens:
+Precise
+Passive and stimulus-agnostic (stylus)
+Handwriting recognition
-Prone to scratching
-Plastic top layer distorts over time
-Difficult to implement effective multitouch
Capacitive screens:
+Responsive
+Easy to implement effective multitouch
+Can sit under glass; very durable and hardy, virtually scratchproof
-Active, requires bare or near-bare touch
-Prone to shattering
-Difficult to achieve precision (hitting those small x's)
After using the XPERIA X1, iPhone 3G and 3GS, Milestone, N97 and finally the HD2 it's capacitive for me all the way. I value a scratch-proof responsive screen much more than I do flexy, crappy (IMO) resistive screens.

Never had a resistive phone... 1st touch phone was the 1st gen iphone, and I could never deal with resistive after that... Kinda miss my g1 now that I think about it... But love my hD2

it would be nice if someone could invent a hybrid resistive/capacitive touch screen, have a thin plastic membrane over the glass for the resistive function
basically when the screen would sense pressure on the resistive touch screen it could check the capacitive sensor function of the screen to see if its a finger, if so shut off resistive and use the capacitive function to allow multi touch and better sensitivity for finger use.
However if the resistive layer of the screen senses pressure, but the capacitive layer picks up nothing, then it assumes a stylus is on the screen and just functions using the resistive layer
I dont see why this couldn't be done, the fact that we can put screen protectors on the screen shows that a plastic layer on the glass doesn't affect the capacitive function too badly, so you would basically have the capacitive sensors under the glass as is now, on top of the glass would be one layer of the resistive sandwich, and then put the plastic layer on top with the other layer of the resistive sandwich
My only gripe about the HD2 is not being able to use a stylus to take hand written notes in the office notes app like i used to be able to do on my old wizard. the huge screen would be perfect to be able to use as a notepad.
All the capacitive styli ive seen just look like blunt unsharpened pencils, they cant be terribly accurate for handwriting, though i have to admit i haven't tried one yet.

d0ug said:
it would be nice if someone could invent a hybrid resistive/capacitive touch screen, have a thin plastic membrane over the glass for the resistive function
basically when the screen would sense pressure on the resistive touch screen it could check the capacitive sensor function of the screen to see if its a finger, if so shut off resistive and use the capacitive function to allow multi touch and better sensitivity for finger use.
However if the resistive layer of the screen senses pressure, but the capacitive layer picks up nothing, then it assumes a stylus is on the screen and just functions using the resistive layer
I dont see why this couldn't be done, the fact that we can put screen protectors on the screen shows that a plastic layer on the glass doesn't affect the capacitive function too badly, so you would basically have the capacitive sensors under the glass as is now, on top of the glass would be one layer of the resistive sandwich, and then put the plastic layer on top with the other layer of the resistive sandwich
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Dude, that's an absolutely awesome idea...and I suspect that the reason we don't have that isn't because it's not possible yet, but rather because it's not profitable yet Once it becomes a technology that either enough people will pay a premium for it, or it can be implemented cheaply enough to avoid a significant cost increase in production, we'll have it....or something that achieves the same thing anyway.

I would LOVE a capacitive + Wacom screen. The HD2 screen is big enough to be like a tablet and it'd be great to use a stylus with it. The finger goodness of capacitive with the precision of wacom. I miss being able to jot down notes on my iPaq hx4700.