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Versions that are more sophisticated can be found in Photo Centers that allow consumers to print their own pictures or create Christmas cards from disks or memory cards found in your local Longs or Target stores. However, the LCD touch screen is beginning to make inroads into other areas, as well.

One of the first companies consumers think of when the "touch screen" is mentioned is Apple. Their familiar items such as the apple ipod touch and the apple iphone use a touch screen to allow the user to navigate without the need for buttons or trackballs. This is not the limit of their uses, though. The home computer market is now seeing a number of computers available with LCD touch screen functionality.

How does an LCD touch screen work? In essence, it is no different than using a mouse or the touch pad on your laptop, though touching your monitor screen may seem counterintuitive to many consumers (after all, don't we go to great lengths to keep our fingerprints off them?). Touch screen monitors essentially look like regular lcd monitors but are equipped with additional features. Basically, a touch screen is actually just another piece of hardware. A thin film of touch sensitive lamination (clear) is placed over the computer monitor; this is then wired into the computer. The pressure from your finger is transformed into an electric signal, which is then sent to the CPU.

There are two main types of touch screen monitors on the market today: add on systems and built in systems. Built in systems come ready to use in the box, just plug them in and go; though you will most likely need to install the software drivers first, if your system was not designed to use a touch screen. Add on systems are installed by the consumer over their existing computer monitor and then plugged into an accessory outlet on the computer. Once again, device drivers are required to tell the computer how to recognize the signals.

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