and support emerging technologies such as OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diodes) and microLED.
The M1 controllers utilize Microchip's Smart Mutual touch acquisition technology along with advanced algorithms to increase the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) by up to 15 dB compared to previous generations. Smart Mutual technology is designed to provide reliable touch detection even in embedded touch sensors exposed to high capacitive loads and significant noise coupling on the display. This functionality is especially relevant for large, thin displays such as on-cell OLEDs, whose embedded touch electrodes are subject to higher capacitive loads and greater noise coupling, increasing the risk of false or missed detections characteristic of other capacitive solutions.
“The demand for in-car displays, driven by user expectations and the rise of software-defined vehicles, is rapidly changing, and manufacturers are introducing improvements in size, shape, and technology to deliver more immersive and intuitive user experiences,” said Giovanni Fontana, director of Microchip’s human-machine interface division. “This expansion of our maXTouch M1 family addresses the complexities of integrating touch sensing into these next-generation displays and offers robust and secure touch sensing across a variety of form factors.”.
The ATMXT3072M1-HC is intended for large, continuous touch sensor designs on the instrument panel and center display that cover the needs of left-hand and right-hand drive vehicles with a single hardware design.
This can eliminate the need for specialized designs by the manufacturer and simplify support for the global automotive market. The seamless design of the touch sensor maintains uniform optical properties regardless of the ambient lighting environment. The ATMXT3072M1-HC host-client solution consists of a single maXTouch device connected to the host microcontroller, simplifying the design by eliminating the need for an external microcontroller to combine touch coordinates; the maXTouch client interaction is managed by the host device.
For small displays, the ATMXT288M1 is designed to meet the growing demand for compact automotive display solutions, such as traditional analog clocks and AI driver assistance systems, where space is at a premium. A TFBGA60 (Thin Profile Fine-Pitch Ball Grid Array) package reduces the printed circuit board footprint by 20 percent compared to previous automotive-approved maXTouch products. Specifically, the ATMXT288M1 is the first in the M1 family to incorporate the TFBGA package, making it ideal for space-constrained applications using OLED/microLED technologies.
Development Tools: The ATMXT3072M1-HC and ATMXT288M1 touchscreen controllers are supported by Microchip's maXTouch ecosystem, consisting of the maXTouch Studio Integrated Development Environment (IDE) for development and the maXTouch Analyzer (MTA) for production line testing. The host software driver is compatible with various RTOS platforms, including Linux®, Android™, Windows®, AliOS, Automotive QNXT™, and Zephyr®.
