Omdia view
Summary
The touch technology landscape of the interactive flat panel (IFP) market has been rapidly reshaped in recent years. In the mass-volume, cost-sensitive segment, infrared (IR) technology has improved significantly in performance and continues to hold its place in the market. In the premium tier, projected capacitive (PCap) touch technology has solidified its position as the industry standard. In between, frustrated total internal reflection (FTIR), once seen as the answer for the “middle ground,” has quickly lost share and visibility. The trend clearly points toward decline, but it is still too early to conclude whether FTIR will disappear completely; its role in specific markets and strategies deserves continued observation.
The peak of FTIR – 2021 and its key vendors
FTIR’s true peak came in 2021, when Promethean, Samsung, and Smart Technologies together accounted for more than 80% of the global FTIR market outside of China, effectively dominating this space. A decisive factor behind this rise was the InGlass technology developed by Sweden’s FlatFrog. InGlass enabled precise detection of changes in light reflection when interrupted by touch, allowing multiple users to write or gesture simultaneously with high accuracy. The natural pen-on-glass writing fidelity became a clear differentiator compared to IR, while the cost structure was more favorable than PCap.
Promethean leveraged these advantages in the education sector, deploying FTIR-based boards on a large scale. Teachers and students were able to write on the board at the same time, and its ability to remain stable even under ambient-light interference proved to be a major advantage in classroom environments. Samsung and Smart also incorporated FTIR as a core technology in their corporate and education product lines, driving rapid market expansion. At that time, FTIR was no longer seen as a niche option but rather as a candidate for a new industry standard in the IFP market.
Yet this peak proved short-lived. Promethean had discontinued FTIR-based products by the end of 2021. Smart followed suit in 2024, effectively marking the end of FTIR’s market presence. Samsung, meanwhile, restructured its premium portfolio and significantly reduced reliance on FTIR. As a result, FTIR experienced rapid short-term growth but failed to establish a sustainable long-term foundation in the face of strategic shifts by key vendors and structural market changes.
The rise of high-performance IR and the expansion of PCap
The most direct factor eroding FTIR’s position was the rapid advancement of IR. By the 2020s, IR technology had improved dramatically. Longstanding weaknesses such as low resolution, latency, and multi-touch conflicts were largely resolved through high-density LED sensor arrays, faster processors, and more sophisticated calibration algorithms. High-performance IR products offered a user experience increasingly similar to FTIR, while maintaining a much lower cost. Particularly in the education sector, IR became the natural choice for large-scale deployments. FTIR’s key advantage—stable multi-touch performance—was no longer unique.
At the same time, PCap gained strong momentum in the premium market. Originally confined to smartphones and tablets, PCap was successfully scaled up to large-format displays while retaining its advantages—slim bezels, high optical clarity, and in-cell integration. Costs also stabilized, making PCap the ideal solution for corporate meeting rooms and high-end educational institutions demanding precise writing fidelity and sleek design. Major vendors responded to this shift by reorienting their premium portfolios toward PCap between 2023 and 2024.
By 2024, outside of China, Samsung had emerged as the global leader in the PCap segment, followed by Iiyama, Microsoft, Cisco, LG Electronics, Philips, Newline, and Maxhub. This ranking shows that PCap is no longer a niche or proprietary technology but a broadly adopted premium standard, supported by a wide range of vendors. In the past, PCap adoption was limited by cost and technical complexity, but today multiple vendors are actively participating, intensifying competition. Within this increasingly diverse landscape, FTIR has lost its opportunity to stand out.
Decline and future outlook
From 2022 onward, FTIR’s global market share has been on a steady decline (see Figure 1). Promethean’s withdrawal in 2021 signaled the abrupt end of its peak, and Smart’s exit in 2024 removed one of the last major players still supporting FTIR. Samsung, too, scaled down its FTIR-based products in favor of IR and PCap. Today, FTIR solutions exist only in limited product lines or specific regional projects. In fact, according to Omdia’s Public Display Market Tracker, published this quarter (see Further reading), the global FTIR market outside of China is projected to contract by -70.8% year-on-year in 2025 compared with 2024, underscoring the dramatic pace of decline.
Figure 1: Global touch technology trend (excluding China)
Source: Omdia
Still, it is premature to say whether FTIR will vanish completely. In certain education markets and niche deployments, FTIR’s characteristics are still appreciated. PCap delivers superior performance but comes at a higher cost, while IR—despite its progress—can still face challenges in difficult ambient-light conditions. In these gaps, FTIR may survive in limited forms. Moreover, technology providers such as FlatFrog may attempt to reintroduce FTIR with new features or refinements, keeping open the possibility of partial revival.
The broader trajectory, however, is clear. IR will continue to anchor the mass-volume, cost-driven segment, while PCap—bolstered by a diverse set of global vendors—has become the premium market standard. FTIR is steadily losing ground between these two, but its role in elevating user experience benchmarks makes it an important milestone in the history of IFP development. FTIR never fully transitioned into a mainstream technology, yet it served as a catalyst for innovation in both IR and PCap—a legacy that should not be overlooked in any serious analysis of the market.
Appendix
Further reading
Public Displays Market Tracker, Country-Level – Pivot – History + Forecast – 2Q25 (September 2025)
Author
Tay Kim, Practice Leader, ProAV
