Signature Capturing Technology

Pioneering Electro Magnetic Resonance: Wacom

SOFTPRO hardware partner Wacom provides Electro-Magnetic Resonance Technology (EMR) technology under the label "Penabled". Their technology is integrated into devices with and without LCD screens. Wacom is the global market leader in pen tablets with 85% market share and experience in pen technology since 1983 – the same year when SOFTPRO was founded.

Hundreds of Thousands Wacom Signature Tablets have been installed already worldwide in various industries like banking, retail, government, telecommunication, postal services, service industry,… Wacom: Explanation of EMR

A digitizer overlain on the LCD screen creates an electromagnetic field. When the pen comes in contact with the screen's electromagnetic field, its motion is reflected on the screen as a series of data points. As the pen continues to move across the screen, the digitizer collects information from the pen movement in a process called "sampling."

The digitizer samples "pen events" - units of motion that correspond to data points - per second. These electromagnetic pen events are then represented visually on the screen as pen strokes. The sample rate of events per second of devices with Wacom Penabled Technoloy inside is
200 on Olivetti Olipad Graphos
133 on Windows Tablet PCs "Penabled",  DESKO Tablet Kiosk, Smartphones: Samsung Galaxy Note, Samsung Galaxy Note II and Android Tablet Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1

Resistive Touch

Alternative methods to electromagnetic resonance are based on touch response. Different terms are used for this technology. For example "touch-sensitive resistance" or "force sensing resistors". The abbreviation "touch pad” is very common.  

With this technology, the sensor consists of a sandwich of two conductive coated plastic film. This sandwich is as a top layer on the signature pad. The action of pressure changes the electrical resistance of the sandwich. The detection of the location and intensity of pressure is thus on changes in distance between the two plastic sheets by the pin.  

The technology is less reliable which shows in demanding environments where high volumes of signatures need to be captured like at the point of sale. As a consequence some manufacturers either exclude touch sensors from completly their warranty in total or exclude in an unprecise matter the "normal war and tear". Signature pads and tablets based on this technology tend to degradate faster. Little wonder why usually their warranty is limited to two years, while SignPads come with a three years guarantee.

Comparison Electro Magnetic Resonance & Resistive Touch

• Durability It is not possible to equip the surface of the pad with a fully durable and scratch-resistant glass surface. Some pads only have a simple plastic foil covering the surface, When signing, this plastic foil bends which can be seen when looking onto the tablet form a shallow angle. The plastic foil can easily be scratched or damaged and signatures do not look natural and like given on paper.
• Accuracy: Drawing straight lines may not automatically result in straight lines captured as data. The precision of locating the pen is not high enough and results into data being capture inexact. In extremis the signatures captured on these devices are so different from the signatures of persons given on paper that they should not be accepted as legally binding signatures of a person at all.
• Pressure Levels: Very reliable capturing, calibrated and evenly spread without interpolation. The quality of captured signature data is easily recognized when signatures run through an automatic verification process for example using SOFTPRO SDK SignWare.
• Color Transmission: A display with of a pad with a EMR sensor below looks brighter and crisper for a longer time.

Dual Input Mode Devices: Active Pen and Touch

Some Tablets use a combination of active digitizer and touch technology. HP and Lenovo offer the option to order Tablet PCs that leverage Wacom's Reversing Ramped Field Capacitive (RRFC™) touch technology too. They have two sensors: one for pen with electro-magnetic resonance another for inger touch. When using such a device make sure the pen sensor is activated (similar to devices where you can choose between track ball and touchpad as substitue for a mouse).

Dual Input (Pen & Touch) of N-trig

N-trig's DuoSense^® solution is a dual-mode interface, powered by a single device, utilizing both pen and projected capacitive multi-touch functionality. This solution utilizes N-trig’s Digital Pencil^TM, which enables direct on-screen digital input. The solution was introduced to the Tablet PC market in late 2007. The DuoSense uses a single digitizer rather than having a panel with two layers.

SOFTPRO E-Signing solutions also run machines with built in N-trig DuoSense technology such as
devices running on Windows OS Slates – e.g. Fujitsu Stylistic Q 552, Motion Computing CL 910 Convertibles – e.g. Dell Latitude XT3, Fujitsu Lifebook T 580
Test SignDoc with one of the devices mentioned above for free now Download SignDoc Desktop Setup

SignPads capture data using Electro Magnetic Resonance (EMR). This technology is also build in an increasing number of tablets running on Android or Windows-Betriebssystem.

The benefits of EMR compared to alternative technologies as implemented in SignPads and other tablets are outlined in a whitepaper available to SOFTPRO customers, partners and prospects. Inquire for access to this whitepaper via your contact displayed in the right column of this page.

While every care has been taken in the compilation of the information listed above, SOFTPRO gives no guarantee as to its currency, accuracy or completeness.