The present disclosure is directed to a transparent conductor for use in touch panel devices having a plurality of nanostructures therein that provides reliable output based on user touch or pen input. To determine if a touch panel is reliable, there is disclosed a method of measuring voltages across the transparent conductor when it is touched. These measured voltages are converted into contact resistances, which are statistically analyzed. A median contact resistance is determined based on the converted contact resistances. The remaining set of converted contact resistances are analyzed to determine if they are within acceptable limits. Acceptable limits may include most of the contact resistances falling within a range, none of the contact resistances exceeding an upper limit, and a difference in contact resistances converted for different users or pens does not exceed a maximum variability.