LG's touchscreen tech to make laptops thinner and lighter

Touchscreen laptops with Full-HD displays are about to get thinner and lighter thanks to a new type of display tech from LG.

Instead of adding an extra touch panel on top of the LCD to provide touch functionality, LG's Advanced In-Cell Touch (AIT) panels embed a touch sensor within the LCD panel itself.

This shaves 1mm (or 25%) off the panel's thickness and reduces its weight by 200 grams (around 35%) compared to a conventional 15.5-inch touch-embedded full-HD panel.

LG reckons that it also makes for a brighter and clearer picture due to the removal of the glass panel, while making touch super-responsive - even when wet.

AIT-based panels have been used on smartphones such as the LG G4, but it's the first time the tech has made its way to larger devices such as laptops.

In talks

In a statement, LG said that it has agreed to supply 14- and 15.6-inch AIT panels to several PC makers and is in talks to supply other panel sizes. It revealed no plans to manufacture them for devices with higher-resolution displays than 1080p.

However, the company is looking to make AIT-based panels for 2-in-1 hybrids and touchscreen laptops that have pen functionality - such as the Surface Pro 3 and Asus T300 Chi.

LG is readying its new panels for the second half of the year, which is set to usher in a new generation of touch-optimized laptops running Windows 10.

• Check out our Windows 10 review