Hitachi during the recent Society for Information Display expo showed a new technology that could lead to less expensive but better quality touchscreens for smartphones. The design separates the touch input layer from its usual protection plate and instead attaches it directly to the LCD, leaving a safe space in between. As it prevents the touch layer from being damaged if the protection plate is scratched, factory defects and other flaws are much less expensive to replace, saving on the costs of wasted screens and lowering the prices of the screens themselves.
