ELI5, what is the difference between “active” and “passive” touch screens, and how come all stylus aren’t universal across different devices?

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I’ve always wondered why I can’t use one pen for multiple devices/manufacturers/platforms, even when they’re all “active” touch screens. I know there is a push for Universal Stylus Initiative (USI), but most major tech companies outside of Google seem to have no interest in it.

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Anonymous 0 Comments

A passive touchscreen has all the smarts in the touchscreen and not the device touching it. It works with lots of conductors on the surface of the screen that isn’t touching each other. Something that can conduct electricity, such as your fingertip or a stylus of specific material, will connect these conductors. The bridging connection indicates a touch was made there.

An active touchscreen is using a device that has its own smarts. For example, the Apple Pencil has a lot of electronics inside of it to determine things like the amount of pressure being applied, as well as it figuring out its own position against the screen, including the angle it’s meeting the screen at.

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I’ve always wondered why I can’t use one pen for multiple devices/manufacturers/platforms, even when they’re all “active” touch screens. I know there is a push for Universal Stylus Initiative (USI), but most major tech companies outside of Google seem to have no interest in it.

In: 2

Anonymous 0 Comments

A passive touchscreen has all the smarts in the touchscreen and not the device touching it. It works with lots of conductors on the surface of the screen that isn’t touching each other. Something that can conduct electricity, such as your fingertip or a stylus of specific material, will connect these conductors. The bridging connection indicates a touch was made there.

An active touchscreen is using a device that has its own smarts. For example, the Apple Pencil has a lot of electronics inside of it to determine things like the amount of pressure being applied, as well as it figuring out its own position against the screen, including the angle it’s meeting the screen at.