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This document focuses on how a pen display connects to a mobile device such as a phone. It's a subset of the broader guide Connecting a pen display to a computer, but focused on the specific issues that come up for a mobile devices.
USB-C port on the mobile device
Your mobile device must have a USB-C port
Your mobile device's USB-C port must support DP alt mode. Not all USB-C ports support DP alt mode.
USB-C cable connecting the phone to the tablet
This cable must also support DP alt mode
Compatibility between pen display and a phone
Even if your phone's USB-C port supports DP alt mode, your phone simply may not support using it with a pen display. A great example here is iPhones - they simply do not work with pen displays at all.
A pen display may be compatible with some mobile devices but not others. You should contact the manufacturer and ensure which phones they support with their tablets.
Power
Your pen display needs power from somewhere.
Most likely your mobile device cannot provide enough power so you will need get power separately.
Apple iPhones - these phones DO NOT WORK with pen display
All pen tablets connect to a computer with a USB cable. Some pen tablets ALSO connect to a computer wirelessly - almost always Bluetooth. See: Wireless connection
If you are getting a tablet setup for the first time, use the cable.
In general, I recommend using the cable because any wireless connection typically has a little extra latency and is more prone to interference. Also in general, I've found wireless connection to sometimes just be a bit flakier and require manual reconnection sometimes.
Pen tablets, because they do not have a screen, don't draw much power and don't transmit a lot of data. So any USB 2.0 cable will work that fits the tablet and that carries data.
Modern pen tablets all have a standard USB-C port flush with the edge of the tablet.
Older pen tablets may use micro-USB ports. Some even older tablets, have the cable permanently affixed to the tablet. An example is the Wacom Intuos 4 XL.
If you want to use 3rd party cables, learn more here: Using 3rd-party cables with your drawing tablet.
Remember that essentially a pen display is a plastic box that contains two separate devices: (1) a pen tablet and (2) a display.
We need to account for 4 things to use a pen display.
Power to tablet
tablet component
very little power is needed
Data
tablet component
for example, pen position data is sent to the computer. Also the computer can send data to the tablet such as a firmware update
Power to display
display component
much more power needed than the tablet component
Display signal
display component
What is shown by the tablet
This document is going to talk about connectors a lot. So you need to know what they look like first. Read this guide on different display connector types before you continue.
Those four components are distributed over cabling differently, depending on the the cabling option involved.
Some pen displays can run on a single USB-C cable. This used to be uncommon. But Increasingly many pen displays support this option. More here: Connecting a pen display with one USB-C cable
One USB cable for pen tablet (power, data)
One power cable for the display power
One display cable to carry the display signal - This will almost always be an HDMI cable. Though some tablets support alternate connector types for the display signal
one cable provides power for the display component
one USB-C cable handles everything the other 4 components
The 2 cable setup is how I use my Wacom Cintiq Pro 27.
This is a special kind of cable. One end will have a single USB-C connection. The other end it will have the different connections. Typically these will be: HDMI, USB-A, and some kind of power. More here: 3-in-1 cables
HDMI connectors are extensively used. So let's start by addressing HDMI which shows up in option B and option D.
In principle this is easy: Take the HDMI from the pen display and find an HDMI port and plug it in.
For the vast majority of you this will "just work".
But now let us explore all the complications
If your computer has multiple HDMI ports you need to pick one.
If it's a laptop - it shouldn't matter. Any HDMI port should work.
If it's a small form factor PC - then also it shouldn't matter. Any HDMI port should work.
If it's a PC that has a separate graphics card you might have an HDMI port in multiple very different locations
You could have HDMI ports on the graphics card
You could have HDMI ports on the motherboard of the computer
As a general rule, always use the HDMI ports on the graphics card
Only use the HDMI ports on the motherboard as a last resort.
Sometimes you'll read a statement like "HDMI doesn't work on the motherboard". That's kind of an exaggeration but its a well intentioned one. But it is true that sometimes HDMI ports don't work on the motherboard. Let's go through the reasons.
First, to get an motherboard HDMI port working you need several things to be true
First the HDMI port must exist
Second, the computer has to have a component that sends a display signal to the port. This is called integrated graphics. It's called "integrated" because the graphics component is on the CPU.
Third, the use of the HDMI port must be enabled.
What often happens is, not all these conditions are met with motherboard HDMI ports on all PCs.
The HDMI port might exist, but there is no "integrated graphics" - so that port won't work
You might have the port and integrated graphics is available, but also the BIOS might be set to disable the use of that port. So you'll have to enable it in the BIOS.
Finally, some computers have an interesting behavior where, if a graphics card is installed, then they automatically disable the motherboard HDMI. In other words, you can either use the motherboard HDMI or the graphics card, but not both.
You aren't going to hurt your computer by trying to use motherboard HDMI, but you should know why it might not work.
These will work, but there is one thing you should be aware of. Sometimes graphics cards have N ports, but only N-1 can be used simultaneously. I have a card like this.
If you have two ports that work - one on the motherboard and one on the graphics card, then which should you pick? The answer is ALWAYS try the graphics card HDMI first and only use the motherboard HDMI as a last resort.
First, Motherboard HDMI support just isn't as powerful as what you will typically find on a graphics card from the same era. The motherboard HDMI may not support 4K or may not support a high enough refresh rate. So it might, work but your experience might be degraded.
Second, both motherboard HDMI and the graphics card need to use memory to do their work. A graphics card comes with its own memory that is dedicated to dealing with graphics. Motherboard HDMI as far as I know - does not use any dedicated memory - but instead uses the same memory as the CPU. This means that you CPU is "losing" some memory so that the motherboard HDMI can use it instead.
If you need to make an HDMI connection but have no HDMI ports you can convert other ports to HDMI using an adapter. See Using HDMI adapters with pen displays
When you've connected your display you might see it show a message saying NO SIGNAL. Here is a troubleshooting guide to work through the NO SIGNAL problem.
Go here: Connecting a pen display to a mobile device
No pen displays connect wirelessly. They all require at least one cable to connect to your computer.
Your drawing tablet comes with the cables needed to connect it to a computer.
It IS POSSIBLE that you can use other cables depending on the type of drawing tablet and the type of computer.
Pen tablets - you can almost always use a 3rd-party cable
Pen displays - You can often use a 3rd-party cable but sometimes a manufacturer cable is really the best or only option
For pen tablets, I recommend using the cables that the manufacturer provides. But sometimes these get lost or damaged. Even though I never use those cables myself, I always use 3rd party cables.
If you use a 3rd party cable you have to make sure the cable can do 2 things:
Can carry power
Can carry data - not all USB-C cables carry data. For example, some USB-C cables are power only.
Can you use the cable that you use for other devices? Yes, as long as it can carry power and data.
I use USB 2.0 cables with a USB-C plug on one end (this goes to the tablet) and a USB-A end on the other (this goes to the computer or to a USB-hub).
The specific cables I use are these:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0851N5MS1
And I use these cables with many other devices that only need USB 2.0 connectivity.
I specifically choose the blue color so that I can visually identify it is a USB 2.0 cable.
These days the ports on pen tablets are all USB C ports. However older tablets used different kinds of ports. These could be micro USB or mini USB. And cables that have micro USB ends or mini USB ends are getting more difficult to find. For this reason I prefer to continue to use USB C cables but use adapters for these older tablets if possible.
More here: Cable adapters
Single USB-C cable connection
If the pen display was connected with a single USB-C cable, then you can TYPICALLY use a USB-C cable that MEETS CERTAIN REQUIREMENTS to connect your pen display. More here: Connecting a pen display with a single USB-C cable.
Even if the cable meets the requirements - there are some issues you should be aware of.
Recessed Ports
Sometimes the USB-C port on table goes into a recessed port and the manufacturer cable was specially designed to go into that port.
Longer connectors
Sometimes the USB-C port is not recessed, but expects the metallic part of the USB-C cable to be a little longer (an extra 1 mm for example). The manufacturer provided cable works correct, but you may find that a 3rd party cable's metallic end does not go as deep and the connection might work but is loose and might disconnect if the cable is moved slightly.
Random issues
Sometimes, in my experience, 3rd party cables are seem to - for whatever reason - sometimes not work correctly or as well as the manufacturer cables. This is rare, but happens.
3-in 1 cable connection
3-in-1 cables provided by the manufacturer are almost always proprietary. You have to get to get the same exact cable from the manufacturer.
You don't need to "connect" your pen.
With drawing tablets and their pens, as long as you using a pen that is compatible with your tablet, then the pen should automatically start working when you bring it within around 10mm of the surface of your drawing tablet.
There is no specific connection or pairing step required unlike a Bluetooth device.
For example: Apple Pens and most Microsoft Surface pens - These pens use Bluetooth.
So, you'll have to enable Bluetooth on your computer than follow the instructions for the specific device you have.
Ideally you would be able to connect your pen display to your computer with a single USB C cable. And that cable would provide display signal as well as enough power for the pen display. You should understand
Key things to keep in mind:
- Not all pen displays support this configuration - even if they do have USB C ports on the tablet
- Not all computers are capable of sending power and display signal over their USB C ports
- Not all USB C cables can be used for this purpose.
So, you have to do your research and plan carefgully. Do not buy a pen display assuming that a single USB C cable connection will work.
The first thing you should do is verify whether the tablet supports a single USB C connection.
Ideally you do this before you even purchase the tablet.
You can do this verification easily:
look at the user manual for the tablet and see how it connects
or contact product support for the tablet and ask them specifically if it will work for that specific model.
When doing this research it will simplify things if you know the exact model number of the tablet and not just its name.
Cables
Thunderbolt USB-C cables do support carrying enough power
Ports
Even if the cable supports power, your computers USB-C port may not supply enough power.
Power needed
The size of the pen display affects how much power is needed.
It's very likely that if your USB-C port can deliver enough power a 13" pen display
At 16", some pen displays require additional power usually from a power adapter that is plugged into a wall.
Above 16" most often in my experience a single USB-C cable is not enough and these pen displays require additional power.
I recommend you get the USB-C cables the manufacturer provides for use with a single USB-C cable configuration for two reasons:
These cables are known to work with the device
The tablet may have recessed USB-C ports and these cables are designed to git.
To keep it simple, I often just use Thunderbolt 3 or Thunderbolt 4 cables since these are USB-C cables that are defined to support DP alt mode and enough power.
A 3-in-one cable is a special kind of connection cable used for pen displays to connect to a computer.
More here on the different ways a pen display can be connected to a computer: Connecting a pen display to a computer
A 3-in-1 cable typically looks like this:
The power end can work in different ways depending on which 3-in-1 cable you have
Older 3-in-1 cables may have a proprietary connection to the tablet instead of a regular USB-C connection.
Simplifies the physical design of the tablet. It minimizes the number of physical ports on the tablet. Instead of having an HDMI port, power port, and USB-A data port, the tablet can just have 1 USB-C port.
It also makes it easier to keep track of cables. You just have to have 3-in-1 cable instead of three separate cables.
Ideally you would connect your table to the computer with a single USB-C able. But this is not always possible.
USB-C ports on your computer may not supply enough power
USB-C ports on your computer may not support sending a display signal (aka DP alt mode)
Your computer may not have a USB-C port at all
So a 3-in-1 cable allows you to use older ports that many computers do have such as HDMI and USB-A and way to get enough power to the tablert.
Some drawing tablets - specifically some models of pen tablets - support wireless connection to a computer. No pen displays support wireless connection.
Most pen tablets use some versions of Bluetooth to connect to a computer. But some use a different wireless protocol. If they do use Bluetooth it's almost always specifically advertised on the box for the drawing tablet.
if a pen tablet supports wireless via Bluetooth, it is simply built in to the pen tablet and it will work with any computer that also supports Bluetooth. For those pen tablets that support a non Bluetooth wireless protocol they will often come with a dongle that you plug into the computer. And that dongle lets the two connect.
nobody has ever measured how much latency or lag it introduced by wireless connection for a pen tablet. We may be able to take a few cues however from data collected for mice. rtings.com measured mouse left click latency. And here are two examples of what they found.
Bluetooth wireless connections show that there can be very little latency or a lot of latency. It varies quite a bit even within a single mouse.
Keep in mind when interpreting these numbers that
There are different versions of the Bluetooth protocol that have different latencies.
These numbers are for the click latency of mice And not for pen tablets.
it is possible that electromagnetic interference in a room might cause problems with a wireless connection. Though in my personal experience I can't say I've run into that problem.
if you've just purchased a drawing tablet and now you're setting it up. I highly recommend that you first connect the tablet with the provided USB cable. And once that's working then try the wireless connection.
Your cable and ports MUST support DP alt mode. To find out if you ports and cables support DP alt mode, read this: .
More here:
I use a CableMatters Thunderbolt 3 cable. The exact cable and my testing results can be found here. .
Here is a list from Huion about devices that can use a single USB-C cable:
Brad Colbow connecting the Huion Kamvas 13 with a single USB-C cable: See 6:00 in this video:
Teoh on Tech connecting the XP-Pen Artist 13 (2nd gen) using a single USB-C cable. See 4:30 in the video:
