I’m not really sure if that’s something a lot of gadget freaks were waiting for, but here we go: TDK has found a cost-effective way to tint touchscreens. The company claims it can add color to transparent electrode sheets that serve as the basis of those screens. In the future, electrode sheets will be available in 13 colors, including red, green, blue, aquamarine, purple and black hues.

The main selling point here is to match the body of a given device with its touch screen.

Electrode sheets used in touch screens are made of a thin film of indium tin oxide. TDK says they produce these sheets by adding an adhesive layer to a resin film substrate, resulting in a film that can be placed down evenly. Organic pigments mixed in with the adhesive are used to color the sheets in a second step. TDK says they tested 50 kinds of pigments before getting a compound that’s color-stable and durable.

The company plans to start delivering samples and to begin mass production by April next year. Their sheets are not only suitable for cell phones or other portable gadgets but also for large screens, for example those of notebooks.

Via Nikkei [registration required, paid subscription]