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A trackpad is an input pointing device that has a specialized flat surface capable of detecting finger contact. The surface is capable of translating the position and motion of the user’s finger to a relative position on the screen of the device. Featured in laptops, portable media players and other personal digital assistants, the trackpad is an excellent alternative to other pointing devices, such as the mouse, when desk space is limited.
A trackpad is also known as a touch pad or glide pad.
A trackpad functions in different ways and makes use of conductive sensing and capacitive sensing. Advanced features like scrolling a page are possible by configuring the settings for the trackpad. The use of two fingers triggers scrolling of a page in most trackpads. Although the trackpad is capable of sensing the absolute position, the resolution is limited by the size of the trackpad.
The advantages of a trackpad include:
The disadvantages of a trackpad include:
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