[Q] touch sensitivity too sensitive? - AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshootin

Hi All,
I have recently bought S4 and I'm having a small issue with it.
first of all, I turned off the "More Sensitive" feature in the setting, and "vibration on touch" is on.
However, I occasionally feel that touch is pressed before my finger actually touches the screen (the phone vibrates and types before I touch the screen when my finger is about 2~3mm apart from the screen), and it seems it's not consistent about it (some times it touches with 2~3mm gap and sometimes it doesn't).
I have even tried with the "display touch" from the developer mode and verified that it indeed touches with 2~3 gap...
The problem is...the ATT guy looked at me as if I'm overly sensitive about this...(the typical look of 'man this is just a phone')
Is anyone having this issue?

whitewjh said:
Hi All,
I have recently bought S4 and I'm having a small issue with it.
first of all, I turned off the "More Sensitive" feature in the setting, and "vibration on touch" is on.
However, I occasionally feel that touch is pressed before my finger actually touches the screen (the phone vibrates and types before I touch the screen when my finger is about 2~3mm apart from the screen), and it seems it's not consistent about it (some times it touches with 2~3mm gap and sometimes it doesn't).
I have even tried with the "display touch" from the developer mode and verified that it indeed touches with 2~3 gap...
The problem is...the ATT guy looked at me as if I'm overly sensitive about this...(the typical look of 'man this is just a phone')
Is anyone having this issue?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have rarely noticed this myself, but usually only a 1mm-2mm gap for me, and maybe once every couple days. Really infrequent. On an older phone of mine, the cheaply-made car charger I was using caused my touchscreen to flip out and become super-sensitive. Might have been a static-to-ground issue or something weird.
Does it happen when you have it plugged in only, or does it happen while disconnected?
Also, speaking on static electricity, is it dry in your area? Do you have problems shocking things?
*shrug* only some suggestions. Could be a miscalibrated or otherwise defective touchscreen...

Mine also does this, whether plugged in or not it does it.
Nor do I have a problem with static in my house.
My best guess would be the air view sensor is falsly detecting the small distance away as an actual touch.
Sent from my Galaxy S4 using Tapatalk

Related

XDA Mini (Wizard Screen Issue)

My XDA Mini has a screen issue.
Only part for the screen (the middle) has stopped responding to the touch pad.
How do I fix this, has anyone else had it?
Cheers
Max
My Wizard (O2 XDA Mini S) has just developed this problem. The touch screen does not respond to touches around the middle of the screen. The outside edges of the screen work fine however.
I've had it for about 4 years now though, so I suppose its lasted well really. It's a G4 and I installed a WM6.1 ROM on it about 6 months ago (which is awesome btw, makes the phone sooo much better / faster!) but I don't think this is related to the problem.
Any known fix for this? I think it's a hardware issue since I also have the problem where upon opening/closing the keyboard, the screen goes white with multicoloured vertical lines and the phone emits a high pitched noise (have to put phone into standby then wake it up again to resolve). This, whilst annoying, I can live with, but not now the middle of the screen no longer responds to touches
I read somewhere its to do with the ribbon cable that connects the screen and main board, its gets trapped or worn over time as the keyboard is slid in and out. So I guess the touch problem is a more severe symptom of this? Can it be fixed?
Also a point of interest is that I keep the phone in the case a lot of the time. Could the magnets have possibly affected the screen? Anyone else with this problem keep the phone in its case a lot?
Thanks in advance,
Jamie

touch screen issues

Anyone else having their touch screen stop working property until they have to reboot? It's like it gets way off on where I'm actually clicking.
I have experienced that, but only after I had flashed the modaco rom. I basically returned to stock firmware this morning and am having to re-root my phone...
I have had a couple of occasions where it doesnt seem to respond correctly.
For me its like it looses the calibration, seemed to noticed it when the device is tilted horizontally.
reboot sorts it, only happened once or twice though.
If the phone is in your hand, make sure your other fingers aren't curling over the screen around the edges to much.
I noticed this happening, and backed my fingers off around the edge of the screen and it started working fine immediately.
I think the screen is just extra sensitive.
Curious if that helps.
-James
jmacdonald801 said:
If the phone is in your hand, make sure your other fingers aren't curling over the screen around the edges to much.
I noticed this happening, and backed my fingers off around the edge of the screen and it started working fine immediately.
I think the screen is just extra sensitive.
Curious if that helps.
-James
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I read somewhere (maybe on this forum even) that non-multi-touch systems have this problem. Have the same issue with my HTC Magic, but after a while you learn of a way to use the device single-handed while not touching the screen.
I dont know if this helps or not but I have no idea what you guys are talking about
JoshHart said:
I dont know if this helps or not but I have no idea what you guys are talking about
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The calibration problem (the screen registers a wrong spot than where you touched) comes up if you try to use a non-multi-touch phone single-handedly, so part of your palm (between the thumb and index fingers) touches the edge of the touch screen. Especially if you are trying to reach a top area of the screen while holding the phone with just that hand, likely some part of the palm touches the bottom of the screen.
If you want to try having the problem, you can touch the edge of the screen with a finger and try to click a link with another. It won't register the right spot.
Supposedly the problem should go away as soon as you lift that body part up from the screen.... so I don't know if this helps the OP or not.
same issue
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=615711
does not look like its happening all the time. Ran few tests and still can't duplicate the problem in order to find the cause. so far this happened about 3-4 times on my phone.
i hope this gets resolved soon and that its not the touchscreen issue.
jmacdonald801 said:
If the phone is in your hand, make sure your other fingers aren't curling over the screen around the edges to much.
I noticed this happening, and backed my fingers off around the edge of the screen and it started working fine immediately.
I think the screen is just extra sensitive.
Curious if that helps.
-James
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've had this exact thing happen to me a few times. I notice the tip of a finger on the edge of the screen, move it, then it works fine right after. Sometimes happens with the base of my thumb hitting the bottom left corner too.
Just make sure you're not accidentally touching any of the touch area and it'll work fine.
same here
i have just created new thread, this one wasnt here when i first looked http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=616418
mods, could you please link togther posiibly.
also there is google help forum where this issue was raised http://www.google.com/support/forum...ff&hl=en&fid=2a024bb25d4496ff00047cead2b2c2ad
would be nice if everyone experiencing this post it to google thread
HTC support #
866-449-8358 7 days a week 6am EST to 1am EST 7 days a week
Touch Screen Stops Working
jchap2k said:
Anyone else having their touch screen stop working property until they have to reboot? It's like it gets way off on where I'm actually clicking.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have had this same issue on my G1 as well a N1. This problem only happens from time to time, as happes with stock ROMs and custom ROMs.
For the N1, I was initial pulling the battery; however, I have found that if I hold the power button down (don't let go) and then touch the screen to unlock or power if off.
I have a friend with the Eris who was having the same problem; Verizon released a patch earlier in the week that seems to have solved the problem for him.
Jeffro
jhales said:
For the N1, I was initial pulling the battery; however, I have found that if I hold the power button down (don't let go) and then touch the screen to unlock or power if off.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can perform a soft reset on the Nexus One by holding volume down, the trackball, and pressing the Power button on top. A half second later, your phone will reboot.
I am also having these touch screen problems, and I can confirm I am not touching any other part of the screen to have it interfere with the non-touch-screen interface. I been testing with what people has been saying on here with having any other part of the screen being pressed, so I have been testing it out and I can say its a different response then what I'm experiencing.
Here is what is going on with my nexus one:
1) it happens at random times (my device is on my table and I am pressing buttons with one finger)
2) it only affects the bottom-left portion of the screen when it happens, touching everywhere else is fine
3) it thinks I'm pressing an area around the soft keys, an example is if I press 'A' it thinks I press either the '?123' or the 'back' button, same if I press 'd' it thinks I'm pressing the 'menu' button.
I can conclude that since not all nexus one owners has this problem it is a device issue, which what is going on is probably the same as if someone was accidentally pressing a part of the screen, but it could be part of the device is assembled incorrect or deformed. The physical form of my phone is off on the right side, I can feel the gray plastic part next to the black border next to the right of the screen is a little more raised then the left side.
But there is my experience with whats going on to me and my two cents.
Ive had this a little bit on my device as well, but I think it's a software issue since it went away when I pressed the home button.
edit:
Also it has happened exclusively in Dolphin browser
here too
Sporadically, it happens with my N1 as well. When pointing at the middle of the screen (in a list for example), the input registers 2 cm below my fingertip. Rebooting fixes this temporarily but it is annoying.
A SW update could perhaps cure this behaviour?
rgds
Daniel
I just had this happen for the first time, all my presses were registering way below where i was touching, tilting into landscape in an app then back to portrait fixed it for me.
So now it happened to me too. I have the Nexus One for almost two weeks and I never had the unresponsive touchscreen. Of course I noticed that the center of the softbuttons is shifted upwards and that they don't register very well in the middle where they should and I had the problem before that the sms text input box didin't registered in the center so that the keyboard wasn't popping out but that is all only a problem of adjustment. Today in the morning after my phone was on standby over night I put in the charger to charge it and I got an email with pictures. I scrolled through the email and all of a sudden the screen became totally unresponsive. I tried to scroll and the screen registered at a complete different place. All of a sudden the email was gone because the phone registered the delete button even though I never pressed it. I could close the gmail program but I had a hard time to scroll between the home screens and the live wallpaper became unresponsive too. I decided to do a restart but I had a hard time to press the shutting down button because it was unresponsive too. This all happened not after heavily usage of the phone but after maybe 1 minute usage.
I am sure that I didn't touch another part of the screen when this occured because I realized before already that the screen becomes wacky if you touch it at two different places (lack of multitouch, so stupid to disable it). I hope that this is a software issue too. I can live at the moment with the 3G problem because it doesn't stop me from using the phone. The unresponsive touchscreen scares me more because because it becomes completely unusable.
i've noticed this with low battery. Twice its happened to me, the first time was when i first recieved the handset. and secondly was this morning when my phone was off with no battery again.
anybody want to leave their battery to empty out and try test if this is correct?
I've had this happen a few times in the ten days i've had the phone. I always make sure I'm not double dipping on the screen, and its easy to do since it will exhibit this behavior for a few minutes.
In my experience battery level has no effect on it.
A reboot always fixes the issue.
I figure it's software based.

touchscreen unresponsive when phone is on flat surface

sometimes my phones touchscreen becomes unresponsive when its flat on its back on a table for example. I unlock the screen with the trackpad or power button so that the screen comes on. Then when i try to slide the lockscreen it doesnt do anything. When i begin sliding the bar from the total edge of the screen it sometimes works.
Usually i just have to pick up the phone to get the touchscreen working again. actually, when i even lift up the phone the slightest bit, it works again.
Weird right?
anyone else experiences this issue ?
I assumed it was designed to work like this. Makes me move my phone rather than just slide to snooze the alarm then go back to sleep.
Same here. I think it has to do with the capacative toucscreen.
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App
wileykat said:
I assumed it was designed to work like this. Makes me move my phone rather than just slide to snooze the alarm then go back to sleep.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you're saying you move your phone to snooze the alarm? didnt know it could do that, gonna try that out tomorrow morning
forgot to mention the issue is not ROM specific. I have witnessed it on virtuous, CM, MIUI, stock
Ive had this problem as well. Slightly annoying!
I don't think its a design issue..
you don't have to lift your phone to get the screen to respond.
notice that it is enough just to touch the body of the phone to make the screen responsive again..
for me its very annoying, especially not being able to snooze the alarm in the morning
Let me point out that this happens with my G1 also so its not just the G2.
Yeah, there are a few discussions about this on the forums already. It's most likely a capacitance issue. When your phone is just sitting on a table and you touch the display, you may not create enough capacitance with the touchscreen for it to register as a touch (as opposed to resistive touchscreens which needed only physical contact but were less accurate as a result). Touching the body of the phone basically creates a common ground or voltage reference point for the phone, allowing your finger to create the needed amount of capacitance (in technical terms, no longer a floating ground). Whenever I touch the screen while the phone is lying on a table, I just always make sure to rest either my thumb or ring finger on one of the edges.
A lot of factors will also come into play---whether or not your phone is in a case, type of material the phone is resting on, the level of humidity in the air, even potentially the type of shoes you are wearing. This is why sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.
ianmcquinn said:
(...) Touching the body of the phone basically creates a common ground or voltage reference point for the phone, allowing your finger to create the needed amount of capacitance (in technical terms, no longer a floating ground). (...)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes! I just figured this out myself. merely touching the body of the phone makes the screen respond to my fingers.
well in that case its not really a big problem. from now on i just touch teh body with my middle finger while sliding with my index finger =D
liory said:
notice that it is enough just to touch the body of the phone to make the screen responsive again..
for me its very annoying, especially not being able to snooze the alarm in the morning
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Will give this a go tomorrow, I hope it doesn't work!!!.... I'm gonna be forever snoozing with 2 fingers now!!!
This seems to be temperature related (and it doesn't happen on a mytouch 3g)
I live in Minnesota and I deliver pizza. When I would need to call a customer to get into an apartment building, I would set the phone on top of the pizza bag and dial with one hand.
When I first got my G2 (early november) I had no problems doing this, then one day it wouldn't respond at all to touch. I still had my old mytouch 3g with me because the old number wasn't ported yet, and I was able to use that to make the call. It wasn't until later that I realized that the problem was caused by the cold and that I needed to touch the metal part to make it work, so I thought that the touchscreen on my 2 week old G2 had just died.
At room temperature the touch screen always works (I can silence the alarm while it's sitting on the table), but temperatures below 50F cause problems
I started noticing this as well. Sometimes I'll hit the power button to turn my phone on from idle-state and then I'll drag the unlock button with to no avail! But then again, I do use my thumb to do it so maybe the capacitance by using the thumb isn't good enough to unlock it.
I use my phone at work a lot so in order to text while being discreet, I usually have the phone in my right hand and text / unlock the phone using my thumb. I doubt it is a defect but it had me worried too. Guess I'm not the only one experiencing this. (Although I must say, dragging my thumb to swype and using the side of my thumb probably is the reason why it sometimes doesn't work)
Back when I had my g1 it did the same thing and experience this on my g2....if its laying down its like it thinks its just on in your pocket so the touch seems limited
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App
Elegy said:
sometimes my phones touchscreen becomes unresponsive when its flat on its back on a table for example. I unlock the screen with the trackpad or power button so that the screen comes on. Then when i try to slide the lockscreen it doesnt do anything. When i begin sliding the bar from the total edge of the screen it sometimes works.
Usually i just have to pick up the phone to get the touchscreen working again. actually, when i even lift up the phone the slightest bit, it works again.
Weird right?
anyone else experiences this issue ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not weird. TOTALLY normal and expected.
It is because it has a CAPACITIVE TOUCHSCREEN.
This means that when you touch the screen, your finger is actually COMPLETING AN ELECTRIC CIRCUIT.
When the phone is lying on a table and you touch it, you are NOT completing the circuit since you are NOT touching the phone's body.
When the sensor is on, there is an electrical difference between the surface of the screen and the body of the phone. When you touch BOTH, you alter the electric field in that localized area of the screen. The sensor detects the change in voltage and determines the location of the contact.
dhkr123 said:
Not weird. TOTALLY normal and expected.
It is because it has a CAPACITIVE TOUCHSCREEN.
This means that when you touch the screen, your finger is actually COMPLETING AN ELECTRIC CIRCUIT.
When the phone is lying on a table and you touch it, you are NOT completing the circuit since you are NOT touching the phone's body.
When the sensor is on, there is an electrical difference between the surface of the screen and the body of the phone. When you touch BOTH, you alter the electric field in that localized area of the screen. The sensor detects the change in voltage and determines the location of the contact.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So how do I adjust the sensitivity? As I understand it I could increase the voltage to the screen making it easier to complete the circuit...such as through thin gloves.....
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App
dhkr123 said:
Not weird. TOTALLY normal and expected.
It is because it has a CAPACITIVE TOUCHSCREEN.
This means that when you touch the screen, your finger is actually COMPLETING AN ELECTRIC CIRCUIT.
When the phone is lying on a table and you touch it, you are NOT completing the circuit since you are NOT touching the phone's body.
When the sensor is on, there is an electrical difference between the surface of the screen and the body of the phone. When you touch BOTH, you alter the electric field in that localized area of the screen. The sensor detects the change in voltage and determines the location of the contact.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is mostly true.
Put the phone on the table and dont touch it and try to swipe to unlock.
No touch a finger on the phone body and do it again, itll work.
Doesn't seem to always fit that behavior, but more often than not.
TheNewGuy said:
So how do I adjust the sensitivity? As I understand it I could increase the voltage to the screen making it easier to complete the circuit...such as through thin gloves.....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You don't. You should NOT even if you could. It would not work as you expect since it is NOT a matter of sensitivity, but of CONDUCTIVITY.
klmsu19 said:
This is mostly true.
Put the phone on the table and dont touch it and try to swipe to unlock.
No touch a finger on the phone body and do it again, itll work.
Doesn't seem to always fit that behavior, but more often than not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is not "mostly" true, it is PRECISELY true.
dhkr123 said:
It is not "mostly" true, it is PRECISELY true.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No reason for the condescending tone in every post (or if it's not your intention to be condescending, you may want to restrain your constant use of caps). You had stated:
dhkr123 said:
This means that when you touch the screen, your finger is actually COMPLETING AN ELECTRIC CIRCUIT.
When the phone is lying on a table and you touch it, you are NOT completing the circuit since you are NOT touching the phone's body.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Someone was just pointing out that if this was "precisely" true as you put it, then the screen should never be responsive if you aren't touching the phone's body (since the circuit is, based on your reasoning, still broken). This isn't the case though since it does work sometimes. How could your statement be precisely true if it's known to be false sometimes (hence the "mostly true" comment)?
And it's actually not true. You are not completing an electric circuit. No current flows from your finger into the screen and no components within the phone are electrically coupled because of your touch. As you stated, you are altering the electric field when you touch the screen. This results in a change in capacitance in that area. Note, this change occurs even when you are not touching the phone's body, just to a different degree. Touching the phone will typically increase the amount of capacitance as opposed to when you are not though (since you are basically "grounding" yourself to the phone). The more capacitance there is, the easier it is to measure. If there is too little capacitance, the touchscreen's microcontroller will not register the change at all. Even if it does register the change, there will be additional filtering that occurs to that raw data either in the microcontroller itself or in software (or both).
This is why the screen works sometimes when you touch it without touching the rest of the phone. You are still causing a change in capacitance. The amount of change depends on numerous factors (this is what I stated in an earlier post). These factors effect how grounded both you and the phone are relative to earth ground (in the electrical sense, not geographical). Typically speaking though, if you are relatively close to earth ground, then you will be able to use the screen without touching the body of the phone. For example, someone stated earlier that the screen doesn't work when it's cold. Cold weather results in lower humidity/drier air and you being less grounded (basically why people see an increase in static electricity as well). Chances are that the touchscreen would work again without the touching the phone's body if you had physically been touching a large piece of metal with your other hand (to help ground you).
So in response to the other question posed, yes, technically by raising the voltage level to the touchscreen, it may result in a more sensitive screen since there will be a larger increase in capacitance when you touch it. It may also reduce the life of the touchscreen though, if not damage it completely, so not a good idea. It would be better to figure out the filtering mechanism if possible and adjust that in software. Not sure if any devs have looked into it (though my guess is that if it was simple, it would have been done already).
I am so happy I found this thread..
Lately I thought my touchscreen was broken because I was unable to snooze my alarm in the morning (just as some of you seem to have been trying to do).
I think it's temperature related as suggested by the person who mentioned pizza delivery.. and I think this because it only happens on mornings where I've left the bedroom window open and it's very cool. My phone is often on a cold wooden surface. however even picking up the phone doesn't seem to help (I'll have to pay more attention next time) but after a few moments of struggling it eventually works (probably warms up in my hand and gets a better circuit).
I can also vouch that the screen works great with just a single finger on a flat surface, provided it's room temperature. I don't need to touch the body at all, and I do this a lot without issues (aside from cold mornings waking up to my alarm).

Moire pattern on screen

Whoops! Anyone else experiencing this?
It's worst in person, but I think the video kinda shows how it creates a moire pattern with just light tap on the glass. I noticed it when I tried to clean/wipe the screen and seen the pattern on the right side. It only happens on the right side though.
I'm a bit dissappointed as this is my second one, and the first one don't have this even if I put pressure on the glass. I know this one happens, but only with lots of pressure on the screen, but definitely not with just a slight tap.
I'm using my wacom stylus on this one, but it's the same effect with just my fingers, just to be clear.
Yes I noticed this on my XOOM as well, when I was installing my first screen protector. It's only visible when the unit is turned off, and only on certain parts of the screen. I had long since forgotten about it, as it doesn't affect my device at all when its turned on.
Edit: Just looked at your video - looks like you are having a problem while the unit is turned on - I don't see that much distortion with casual pressure while the unit is turned on with my XOOM.
Digital Man said:
Yes I noticed this on my XOOM as well, when I was installing my first screen protector. It's only visible when the unit is turned off, and only on certain parts of the screen. I had long since forgotten about it, as it doesn't affect my device at all when its turned on.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wouldn't have mind if it's only visible when it's off, but this one is visible even when it's on (as shown on the video).
What you have is a little odd. Doesn't look right. I had a laptop that exhibited a similar pattern after it took a hit to the screen. If I would flex the screen or wipe it I would see a pattern like that. Never got any worse, but never got any better either.
Its probably a small capacitor behind the screen, if you apply too much pressure you can probably break the LCD in that spot, probably a design flaw from the screen manufacturer. You can try and return it but probably the next one will be the same.
Also Moire effect is a whole different than what you have on the video.
This is moire effect.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Max5-hXkhwU
i had this, I returned my rooted xoom for one that didn't do that.
Yeah, if possible return it. Something is putting pressure on the screen right there and it could lead to it breaking at that spot in a situation that would not break a normal xoom. It's a manufacturing defect. The worst part is that nothing will likely be done about it and someone else will get the same unit with the defect still in it as a refurb since it's not a flaming obvious defect that keeps you from using the device.
I've had 3 different Xooms, and they all exhibited this effect to one degree or another. They were a 3G/4G unit I returned to get a wifi-only unit, and one I returned due to this problem. The one I have now also has it.
I first noticed it on the second wifi-only when I was cleaning the screen with the unit turned off, and then noticed it when I turned the unit on and pressed a little harder than usual. I checked the 3G unit, and it was the same. Others mentioned theirs having the issue on the Motorola forums, so it seems pretty consistent.
It seems to me that this is a design issue around screen support on the right side. It appears that there's a portion of the screen where the LCD can be bent that's different from the rest of the screen.

When car mounted, top portion of the screen becomes less responsive to touch

Trying to lower the top bar is practically impossible... Anyone else has this problem? Could this be a problem caused by the screen protector?
Noam23 said:
Trying to lower the top bar is practically impossible... Anyone else has this problem? Could this be a problem caused by the screen protector?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the same problem but my problem is not limited to just the top part. i am having trouble with taps and swipes across the whole screen
Me too, I noticed my knock on wasn't working at all, but knock off worked fine...Then I noticed that if I drag the notification bar down really slowly about half inch down it just snaps up as if I lifted my finger, almost like its not detecting touch anymore when it reaches that section. My phone has worked great for 3 weeks, what could be causing this all of a sudden?
Is there a charger in the dock?
Lots of devices get touch screen issues when charging. (I have to double tap everything on my Tablet when it's charging). Some have bigger issues than others. Depends on how good the battery is shielded.
I almost never notice it on my G2 though. Only a tad. Depends on how stable the currency is in my house (The problem is almost non existent at my home. At my mom it's just like my tablet. Have to double tap everything)
Could also be because of a magnet or something in the car dock.

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