Compared to touch screen phones from a few years ago, today’s touch screen phones boast sleek lines and beautiful designs. We not only owe gratitude to the hard work of phone designers, but also to a technology called TDDI. But what exactly is TDDI?

When it comes to TDDI, it can’t be explained in just a sentence or two. We must start by discussing its predecessors.First, touch screen phone displays can generally be divided into three layers: the glass cover, the touch layer, and the display layer. You can visualize it as a sandwich.

In the past, a common practice was to place the touch sensor as a separate layer between the glass cover and the display layer. This is what you may have heard of as SoL(Sensor-on-Lens) external embedded sensor/OGS(One Glass Solution) integrated solution technology: embedding the sensor within the glass cover; and GF (Glass-Film)/GFF (Glass-Film-Film) glass-film-film technology: placing the sensor in a dedicated sensor layer made of plastic material.

Whether it is SoL/OGS technology or GF/GFF technology, they all belong to a discrete design approach, emphasizing the fact that touch functionality exists independently by covering a separate layer on the display unit.

Although this technology enables touch functionality, the multi-layered structure still leads to disadvantages such as thicker panels and dimmer backlighting, as well as increased costs.

Fortunately, we have a group of engineers who dare to dream and are eager to explore, proposing solutions to directly integrate the touch sensor into one or more layers of the stacked structure display. In other words, we can place the touch sensor in the lower layer of that beautiful and delicious sandwich!

The technology that focuses the touch sensor on the basic unit of the display is called external embedded integration. This includes On-Cell external embedded integration technology, and SLOC (Single-Layer-On-Cell) single-layer multi-point external embedded technology. On-Cell technology embeds the sensor matrix above the color filter glass. Two layers of touch sensors can be placed on the color filter glass, but this requires bridging, which also increases costs. The SLOC technology uses a special sending and receiving grid pattern, so bridging is no longer needed. As a result, costs decrease, output increases, and appetite returns. [Throwing Flowers]

Another technology that concentrates the touch sensor within the basic unit is called internal embedded integration. Among them, Hybrid In-Cell design embeds the sending layer of the touch sensor within the TFT glass, while the receiving layer is externally embedded on the color filter glass. Full In-Cell design places both the sending and receiving touch sensor layers entirely within the basic unit of the display.

After discussing so much, are you internally screaming: Why? Why make it so complicated? Can’t it be simpler, with a more straightforward embedding method?

Yes, although touch and display were integrated through discrete panel layers and external embedded sensors, it has always been complex because touch and display were provided by different suppliers.

And here comes the key point! TDDI, a technology that integrates the touch controller and display driver, has finally emerged. Its creation overcomes the limitations associated with discrete panel layers and external display sensors, avoiding the situation where touch and display functions operate independently within discrete panels and external display sensors. For manufacturers, embedded TDDI technology simplifies design work, reduces assembly steps, accelerates production, and ensures better stock availability. For us, the consumers, embedded TDDI technology makes the panel and display edges thinner, the device lines smoother, and the design finally becomes more streamlined and beautiful!

At this point, please join S in saying a heartfelt thank you to embedded TDDI technology: Since you arrived, the world has become so beautiful!

[Hand Heart]