The touch screen portion of the front glass of an iPod or iPhone is commonly called the digitizer in technical terms. The digitizer is a clear piece that is the size of the iPod LCD screen and spans the full length and width of the clear portion of the front glass. As you press on the front glass the digitizer converts analog signals generated by your fingertip into digital signals this is what produces the touch capability. The digitizer is typically fused to the front glass of such models as the iPod Touch and iPhone. Digitizers have revolutionized how people use electronics. Without them, we wouldn’t be able to scroll through documents with our fingers, use our fingers to zoom in on pictures, or tap the front of our screen and get a reaction.
Digitizers have made life easier for the great majority of people who use them in their electronics. For example, scrolling through documents used to require that you use a scroll wheel or click mouse in order to do it quickly. Nowadays people accomplish the same functionality with a flick of their fingers on the screen of the digitizer. Because a digitizer lies on top of the LCD screen, it is usually the first item to get damaged. If you bash the iPod, iTouch or whatever piece of electronics is using the digitizer too hard, you will also damage the LCD screen below it.
Digitizers can be replaced in Apple products such as the iPhone and iPod Touch (iTouch). The latest generation iPhone 2G, 3G, and 3Gs along with the iPod Touch 1st, 2nd, and 3rd generation models have digitizer enabled touch features. The digitizer has also been introduced into many of the latest Smartphone’s and touch screen electronics on the market place. Touch operated devices use a digitizer to allow for touch functionality.
The Digitizers for iPhone and iPod Touch devices are very delicate. When you purchase a replacement Digitizer the front glass or outer glass will be attached. You will need to use caution when trying to replace any front glass on an iPod or iPhone. There are many repair centers available that can offer service on your front glass or digitizer for an affordable price. Repair Sharks offers full front glass repair service for iPod Touch and iPhone. If you decide to try to replace it yourself it is recommended to practice extreme care if you attempt to repair one of your iPod or iPhone units. Causing damage to the digitizer or digitizer cable on an iPhone or iPod Touch will cause your unit to stop functioning properly and you will need to replace the digitizer.
Digitizers can vary in price for the individual part. If you send it into a repair shop, the price will be slightly higher although being that you may damage other parts in the process the small repair fee might save you a great deal of anguish. If you decide to perform a digitizer replacement yourself then it is advised to speak to a professional to order the correct parts for your model as each model has different hardware.
iPod Touch Front Glass and Digitizer Back Side
Very well explained here. Can we also call the touch portion of other phones like HTC, nokia, and other touch ones as digitizer?
My lower part of the screen is not working. The screen glass and LCD work perfectly, I was wondering if anyone knew If the digitizer can be purchased with out the LCD replacement?
@alicia: yes Ive seen it online without LCD replacement on some websites.
one website was repairsuniverse.com
Now I learned something new about ipod. I never know that it has a part called digitizer. My new ipod needs a digitizer. I am going to buy it.
ok, so my itouch 1g has stopped working. When I touch the screen, it wont respawn to my command, but if I touch the home button the screen lights up (When it’s charged) if I hold the top button, it asks me to slide to power off or cancel, but I cant do that Because My screen doesn’t respawn.
My question is that is this the work of a broken digitizer or is it something else?
Can I use an ipod 1st gen digitizer to replace iphone 3 broken glass?
No, the glass on most models is different. They will not work unfortunately. We have the correct parts in stock if you need. Give us a call at 516-499-6892 m-f 10am-7 or sat 11am-3pm. Thanks, Repair Sharks
My son dropped his Iphone 3gs and the front glass shattered. The phone still works perfectly it’s just that the glass is broken and pieces are starting to fall out. Do we need the glass including the digitizer, even though the phone still works? or just replace the glass portion?
Thanks so much
Yes you need the digitizer. If you have questions please feel free to contact us through our main website. http://www.repairsharks.com. We would be more than happy to help you or even do the repair for you. Thanks, Dan
My Ipod shows A completely white blank screen and does not respond to touch but when I recharged it after leaving to run down the Battery it started working again except the colour on the screen was different so does that mean the digitizer is faulty
Could be a faulty LCD screen. We can diagnose the issue for you if you want and repair whatever is causing your problem. Feel free to visit our website at http://www.repairsharks.com