Touch Screen Registering Touches When Not Being Touched

I am having touch screen problems with my Acer Iconia W700-6821. There are three points along the bottom of the screen (bottom meanng the edge closest to the Windows button) that are registering "touches" when nothing is touching the screen. Two of the spots are about midway between the middle of the screen and the left edge; the third is near the lower right corner. When rotating the device, so that the windows button is at the top, the points registering the phantom touches remain at the same physical points on the device, so they are then at the top of the display. Several "touches" register per second. Device Manager reports that the touch screen is working properly.

To troubleshoot, I have tried: cleaning the screen, rebooting (both cold and warm reboots), updating the display driver, updating the touch screen driver, disabling and reenabling the touch screen and recalibrating the touch screen. The problem initially occured while running Windows 8.1, but I have since upgraded to Windows 10 and the problem has persisted. I am currently using the device with the touch screen turned off, as it is virtually unusable with it enabled.

I would appreciate any guidance anyone can offer in resolving this issue. Thanks

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billsey

Sure sounds like a hardware issue. Has it ever been apart? Do you see any evidence of the touch layer separating from the display? I've heard of people having issues with bubbles forming between the touch layer and the display, so it's feasible that your issue is similar, just without the air that creates an air bubble.

TimHansgen

Thanks for the reply. The device has never been apart. There is no visible evidence of layer separation, or of bubbles, or any other damage for that matter.

billsey

It's possible for a cable to work loose over time, but I can't think of a scenario where a loose cable would give your symptoms. If you are under warranty it's time to contact Acer support, if you are out of warranty then you might open it up just to verify things are all plugged in solidly. I'm guessing the problem will be between the digitizer and the display, but I don't know how easy that'll be to fix other than a replacement.

TimHansgen

Thanks. I was afraid it would probably come down to a hardware issue. I will check on the warranty, but I believe it was a one-year warranty, and the device is a little over two years old. My guess is that I'll either have to keep using it with touch disabled, which limits its usefulness, or replace it. I appreciate your help.