The creation of a checkerboard pattern of a plurality of conductive but electrically floating panels of conductive material that are disposed in the space between electrodes on the layers of X and Y electrodes, wherein each panel is separated from adjacent panels by a minimal gap, wherein the panels are aligned such that when viewed from above, the panels appear to form a continuous ITO surface, wherein the panels are not visible to the user from typical user distances, wherein the dis-color effect between etched empty fields and ITO electrodes is thereby eliminated by creating an apparently homogeneous touchpad surface.