A touch screen or multi touch screen monitor is an integrated combination of an output and input device. The touch screen panel is generally stacked above an ordinary computer display of an information handling system. The screen is most frequently an OLED or LCD screen while the system may be a tablet, laptop, or smartphone.

Most modern touch screen monitor uses a physical keyboard as well as a pointing device such as a mouse. The physical keyboard interacts with the display using the appropriate touch gestures. The computer then interprets these gestures and translates them into actual keyboard interactions. In other words, the computer is able to tell the user how to interact with the display.

Touch input has grown so popular that many computers now come standard with a mouse and a touch screen display built into the machine. Some notebooks come with a built-in keyboard while laptops may only include a touch pad. Pointing devices such as a mouse are also widely available for use with many recent touch screen displays. The advantage to using these pointing devices is that they allow you to interact with the computer without having to purchase extra accessories. You also have the freedom to point at graphical elements on the screen using a pointing device such as a mouse, which makes interactive tasks such as browsing web pages much easier to perform.

A typical touch screen monitor has two areas of contact: the touch-sensitive surface of your finger and the digital display. Your finger interacts with the display using the same types of patterns of touch that you would recognize from a keyboard. Your finger interacts with the computer using the same types of patterns of touch that you would recognize from a keyboard. Your finger can also stimulate your computer by making pressure sensitive motions with your finger.

Because you can only make continuous contact with your finger, it is possible to interact with your computer using more than one finger at a time. For example, if you want to browse the Internet with your hands, you can rest your fingers on either side of the mouse and move your fingers to click through the various sites. However, to interact with the computer you need to press the mouse buttons and then touch your screen to browse through the options. This is not possible when you attempt to browse with two or more fingers at the same time. As a result, you must learn to coordinate the use of your fingers with those of the pointing device that is provided with your touch screen monitor.

Touch screen monitors that use resistive or capacitive technology can be used in a variety of devices including cell phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), laptop computers, point of sale terminals and small hand held devices. Capacitive monitors provide you with more touch sensitive surfaces than resistive monitors. This makes them especially useful for high touch sensitive areas such as the keys on a computer keyboard or the track pads of cell phones. They are also generally smaller and less expensive than their resistive competitors.

If you are purchasing a touch screen monitor for a computer that has a keyboard, you will probably find that it comes with a mouse built into it. Since most people do not buy a computer without a mouse, these built in mice are very beneficial. There is usually an included USB mouse for connecting to your computer as well as a connector for the mouse that connects to a power supply unit.

One of the key benefits of using a touch screen monitor as compared to a traditional mouse is that you can do all kinds of activities that require smooth manipulation of your fingers. This includes gaming and web surfing. For these activities you will likely find that the lack of a mouse means that you have much more control over the actions of your fingers and the information that you see on your screen. Plus, because you are using your own fingers to manipulate the information on your screen, you can perform tasks that other people are unable to do. This can be extremely advantageous if you are spending any amount of time on a touch screen display device, whether it is for business or personal use.