The buttons on the Apple Cinema Display • Non-Gaming • Apple, Mac, and iPod • Eurogamer.net

Deleted user 16 June 2005 10:56:55

I've had a debate at work about this, and I can't for the life of me figure it out. How do the buttons on the side of the ACD know you're touching them? I have tried various methods of pressing the brightness controls - I've used:

my finger - works
fingernail - doesn't work
pen - doesn't work
cover the button with a 20p - works
pressing an apple on one - works

So can any engineering types shed some light on this for me? I really really want to know!

lost_soul 16 Jun 2005 10:59:36 9,372 posts
Seen 1 year ago
Registered 19 years ago

Sounds like the same tech used in touchpads on laptops. Don't know how it works though.

mentat 16 Jun 2005 11:07:02 5,613 posts
Seen 3 years ago
Registered 20 years ago

isn't it to do with the electrical resistance or something?

Deleted user 16 June 2005 11:07:53

After a bit of a mooch, a colleague found this, about capacitance. Sounds about right. How interesting!

deem 16 Jun 2005 11:09:05 31,667 posts
Seen 8 months ago
Registered 18 years ago

Post deleted

pauleyc 16 Jun 2005 11:09:34 4,548 posts
Seen 6 hours ago
Registered 20 years ago

edit: ehhh...too slow again...

Edited by pauleyc at 11:09:26 16-06-2005

Deleted user 16 June 2005 11:10:31

Post deleted

MrWorf 16 Jun 2005 11:14:11 64,193 posts
Seen 6 hours ago
Registered 20 years ago

How do rechargeable batteries regenerate an electrical charge?

Deleted user 16 June 2005 11:15:05

Razz wrote:
How do rechargeable batteries regenerate an electrical charge?

Oi! Wait your turn!

Zoltar 16 Jun 2005 11:17:06 628 posts
Registered 17 years ago

Its the same as the old Ipods innit? Not that I know how they work either...

unwashed 16 Jun 2005 11:26:02 1,857 posts
Seen 14 years ago
Registered 18 years ago

Razz wrote:
How do rechargeable batteries regenerate an electrical charge?

Normal batteries contain two chemicals that produce an electrical current when they interact, hence why they have a limited life. A rechargeable is one where the chemicals can be seperated easily (usually by applyingan electrical current usually) to recombine and produce more energy. That's what I was taught at school, oooh, fifteen years ago...

MrWorf 16 Jun 2005 11:35:32 64,193 posts
Seen 6 hours ago
Registered 20 years ago

Really!! That's cool.

Imagine if there was a way for these chemicals to set aside a bit of electricity to seperate themselves! Renewable energy baby!

Edited by Razz at 11:35:02 16-06-2005

Deleted user 16 June 2005 13:04:31

No, the fingers work, but the fingernails don't.

otto Moderator 28 May 2007 11:16:19 49,322 posts
Seen 4 days ago
Registered 20 years ago

Your fingers don't work? Christ, the buttons on mine work just by looking at them, they're ridiculously over-sensitive.