General advice

• See this page: https://www.ifixit.com/Wiki/Electronics_Water_Damage

• Leave the pen/tablet to draw dry for at least 48 hours. Keeping it in a dry warm (but not hot) place will help.

Tablet

• if your tablet is connected with any cables, disconnect the cables.

• If your tablet is connected wirelessly, it may have an on/off button. Turn it off.

Pen

• Remove the nib to help it dry faster

• Keep the pen upright with the nib removed and pointed down to help drain water

• Some pens buttons are a "rocker" type which can be removed and put back in. if you are confident you won't harm your pen this is one option.

• Some people, disassemble their pens - but only try this if you find a good reference on YouTube and are confident around electronics.

https://www.reddit.com/r/wacom/comments/tcmqpz/ctl4100_wacom_intuos_pen_accident_with_water/ -

Overview

You may have a pen tablet with a larger active area than you'd like. For example it may feel like you're having to move your hand too much over the tablet surface in order to draw.

The good news is you can actually configure your pen tablet to use a smaller active area. You can control the active areas dimensions and make them as small as you need so that drawing feels comfortable.

This is something supported in all tablet drivers.

Instruction for for Wacom drivers

• Open the Wacom tablet properties app

• Then go to the Mapping tab

• Enable the force proportions checkbox

• Change tablet area from full to portion

• The Portion of tablet dialog will launch

• At the top part there's a region that shows a red rectangle drawn on top of a photo of tablet.

• Using the corner handles, resize the rectangle roughly to the area you want to use for the active area

  • Don't worry about matching the aspect ratio of your display - the force proportions check box will ensure that the correct aspect ratio is used.

• Now click OK

• And now in the mapping tab you will see a red rectangle that is smaller and has the correct aspect ratio.

Background

Pen displays (tablets with a screen) come in two varieties

• those that have a glass surface, where your pen is making direct contact with the glass surface

• And those that have a film on top of the glass surface, where your pen only touches the film and does not touch the glass

Displays with etched glass surface

the glass surface is usually an etched glass surface. The etching is a very subtle texture created on the glass usually through the means of some acid that has eaten away a little bit of the surface.

The texture gives two benefits. First, it helps the glass avoid feeling slippery as you draw. That slippery feeling is a very common complaint for some devices like an iPad. Second, that texture also disperses light that is coming from the room and this dispersion will reduce glare. So the etching is often referred to as an anti glare treatment.

One negative aspect of the etching is that it can create an effect called anti glare sparkle. Sometimes the anti glare sparkle is very subtle but sometimes it is extremely strong and people do not like it. More here: Anti-Glare Sparkle.

Displays with a film on top of glass

in this case the film provides an anti glare treatment typically and provide some texture. Though I typically find that the texture.

Wear on a etched glass surface

In a general sense the glass that is used for append display is highly durable. They are designed to be directly drawn upon with the pens / nibs that the manufacturer also supplies.

And while these glass surfaces are designed to be very durable, they are not infinitely resistant to damage from various sources.

Glass Surface Wear from drawing

Let's talk about the first kind of damage which is damage from just basic drawing. There are a wide variety of experiences people have with scratching up or damaging the glass of their pen display.

Some people like me have drawn on pen displays for many years and have never seen any kind of scratching or damage that came from drawing.

But you can easily find people posting on online forums who show you photos of how the surface of their pen display has become worn. You can see for example regions of their pen displays that seem more scratched up and where the etched texture has clearly changed.

Preventing damage and wear to the glass surface

Small particle damage

Some people suggest that small particles of various materials can be on your land on the glass or attach themselves to the nib of the pen. And they suggests that as you draw on the glass with your pen that you might see scratches that are caused not by the pen and nib itself, but by the motion of those small particles as your nib moves them across the surface of the glass.

I cannot say that I have personally experienced this myself. But I do think it is in your best interests to keep the surface of your pen display and your pens clean.

Contact with objects on your hand

Some artists are very careful to remove anything metallic from there hands or wrists when they draw. And I think this is also a very reasonable thing to do to avoid the potential damaging the glass.

Scratches during transport

If you were transporting your pen display you should make sure that the glass is covered by something to protect it during it's journey. I have seen people mentioned that they put their pen display in a backpack but that's some other object in the backpack made contact with and

Removing wear damage on a glass surface

The glass surface of a pen display is not designed to be removed. In the case of fully laminated pen displays, remember that the glass is bonded to the display panel with the layer of optically clear adhesive (OCA). So in summary the glass you have is going to be there forever.

And anywhere or damage you caused the glass will also be there forever.

I have never seen anyone find anyway to somehow remove any on the glass surface

Preventing damage using protective sheets

Protective sheets on top of the tablet glass naturally protect the glass from damage.

One benefit of protective sheets is if they do get damaged you can generally replace them.

Examples of damage

Example 1

Overview

Removing the nib in the pen is a common maintenance task to deal with nibs that are wearing down and need to be replaced. You may also need to do this in an emergency if the nib is broken.

Purpose-built nib removers

Your drawing tablet likely came with a nib remover. It's usually either a piece of metal or a metal part of a pen stand

Here's a simple nib remover.

This pen case has a nib remover (the small metal ring) built in.

Alternatives to nib removers

If don't have a nib remover, it's not a problem you can use any instrument that can pinch the nib. Here are some options:

• Tweezers

• Needle-nose pliers

• Fingernail clippers

Broken nib stuck in pen

A nib that has snapped off and left part of itself inside the pen may require some special techniques. See: Removing a broken nib.

Videos

[AARON RUTTEN] How to Remove a Completely Worn Nib From Your Drawing Tablet Pen

Overview

If the nib is broken in half and stuck deeply inside or there's not enough of it to grip then normal techniques may not get it out.

Here are some other options.

OPTION: Precision tweezers

I used this iFixit set of precision tweezers. Specifically I used the one in the middle. I wasn't able to put both both ends into the pen. Instead, I put one end into the pen and pressed against the side of the nib to slowly pull the nib out a little bit at a time. Once enough was out, I used the tweezers normally to pull the nib out.

OPTION: The hot glue method

This method involves using a glue gun. Roughly the steps are:

• put a very tiny amount of hot glue on the end of a toothpick

• Then keep the toothpick touching the nib inside the pen for a minute as the glue cools

• then pulling the toothpick which should hopefully cause the nib to come out

You've got to be careful to not get glue stick inside the pen.

OPTION: The hot needle method

Stick a heated needle into the nib and when the plastic of nib cools, pull it out. Some people suggest combining this technique with glue on the needle tip. Use this option with great caution. People have ruined their pens and made the problem worse with this hot needle technique.

Reddit threads:

• (https://www.reddit.com/r/huion/comments/1104oj6/help_ive_broken_my_stylus_nib_is_there_a_way_to/)

Overview

Cleaning your drawing tablet should be a regular part of how you care for it. I recommend cleaning your drawing tablet once a month - and more frequently if needed.

Manufacturer guidance

Depending on the brand of tablet and the kind of tablet you'll find that manufacturers provide different advice for cleaning. For example, some manufacturers say it's OK to clean the tablet with isopropyl alcohol. While other manufacturers explicitly indicate that you should not use isopropyl alcohol.

Below are a few links I found from different brands about how to clean their tablets. It may not be comprehensive but it's a start.

• Wacom - How to clean your Wacom product

• Huion - How to correctly clean the screen of Huion pen display?

How I clean my tablets

STEP 1 - First, I remove dust from tablets, pens, and monitors with a microfiber duster. Specifically this one: the OXO Good Grips Microfiber Hand Duster ($12) that I bought on Amazon. The red microfiber brush can be detached and easily cleaned in a laundry machine and then dried on low heat.

STEP 2 - I gently wipe down the tablet with a damp cloth or towel

• OPTION 1: If the tablet is a little greasy I may put a bit of soapy water on the damp cloth. I want to emphasize that the cloth is damp and not wet. You shouldn't have any water drops coming off the cloth.

• OPTION 2: Since September 2024, for pen displays I've switched from soapy water to using a screen cleaning sprays (WOOSH and MISTIFY). more here: Screen cleaning sprays.

Other cleaning guides

• Aaron Rutten - How to Safely CLEAN Your Drawing Tablet 2017/09/16

• Wacom - How to clean your Wacom One (DTC-133) display with Guido 2021/05/31

• MossCharmly - How to Clean You're Drawing Tablet and Cleaning tips 2023/05/26

Overview

Store your pens so that the nib is not experiencing constant pressure. Some tablet users suggest that if the nib has a constant pressure applied to it, over time the pressure could damage the pressure sensor.

Pen case

If you pen came with a case designed for it, that is the safest place to store it. These cases provide a lt of protection for the entire pen and the pressure sensor

In the photo below you can see how a case has extra room for the nib so nothing can press into it.

Vertical options

Below, three conceptual options are presented for storing a pen.

• The one on the far right places no load on the pressure sensor

• The one on the far left places the entire weight of the pen on the pressure sensor

• The one in the middle places only the weight of the nib on the pressure sensor. This is the way I store my pens.

Overview of surface wear on pen tablets

All pen tablets (those without a screen) will experience some form of wear. The amount and type of wear will be affected by:

• The material of the surface

• The texture of the surface

• The material of the nib

• How you draw

• Other sources of damage not related to normal use of the pen tablet

In general, surface wear is not a problem, unless it interferes with your pen. Typically this means a deep scratch which deflects the tip of the pen. This deflection may be strong enough that you will get little "bumps" if you try to draw a line across the scratch.

Types of surface wear

• Texture erosion - where the surface texture starts getting a little smoother as you continue to move your pen over it. More here: .

• False scratches - False scratches are things that look like scratches but are really the result of a tablet surface that isn't clean. More here:

• Scratches - permanent grooves cut into the surface. More here: .

Protecting the surface

There are options to help protect the surface

• Maintain your pen nibs so that they don't develop a flat edge

• Use a felt nib which is softer than a plastic nib.

• Don't press down so hard on the tablet

• When traveling with the tablet, make sure you put it inside something to prevent something from scratching the surface

Introduction

If the aspect ratio of your pen tablet's active area does not match your monitor's aspect ratio. You will see distortion. The diagram below shows that if you trace out a circle on the pen tablet, you will have traced out an oval on the screen.

Don't worry! You can correct this. And it's important you do. Because not only does it produce a distorted drawing experience, the mismatch between what your hand is doing and what is happening on the screen can be incredibly frustrating.

Companion Video

Pen tablets are prone to this problem

The issue with pen tablets is that the tablet and the display are separate devices. And each device has its own aspect ratio. The odds of the aspect rations matching by chance are very low. For example, as of 2024 most pen tablets do not have a 16x9 aspect ratio even though most displays do have a a6x9 aspect ratio.

If the aspect ratios match, then there is no distortion when you draw.

How much distortion you might experience

Here are some examples of what happens some Wacom pen tablets because of the mismatched aspect ratios when using a 16:9 monitor.

Force the aspect ratios to match on pen tablets

This mismatch of aspect ratios is SIMPLE to solve. All tablet drivers have a setting for this, although they call it by different names and the drive UI has a different way to enable it.

What this setting does is let you use only the region of the active area that matches to that of your monitor - so the aspect ratios will match.

Trade-offs

If you enable this setting you will not be able to take advantage of some of your tablet's active area, but BY FAR this is the better alternative than the distorted drawing.

Should everyone use this setting?

YES. I highly recommend it for for the vast majority of cases.

Instructions for pen tablets

Wacom

The setting is called Force Proportions.

• Launch Wacom Tablet Properties

• Under the Mapping tab, enable Force Proportions

Huion

The setting is called Screen Ratio.

• Launch the HuionTablet App

• Go to Working Area

• On the bottom left there is a drop down.

• Switch the dropdown to Screen Ratio.

Gaomon

The setting is called Screen Ratio.

• Open the Gaomon driver app

• Go to Workspace

• Select Screen Ratio

XP-Pen

The setting is called Proportion.

• Open the XP-Pen driver app (called PenTablet)

• Go to Work Area

• Go to Pen Tablet

• Select Proportion

Xencelabs

The setting is called Screen Ratio

• Open the Xencelabs driver app

• Go to Device Settings

• Look in Tablet to Screen Area Mapping

• There's a drop down on the left side. It has three options: Full Tablet Area, Define Portion, and Screen Ratio

• Select Screen Ratio in the bottom

Pen displays and aspect ratios

The active area of a pen display and their display panel inside the pen display are equivalent. So they always match.

To prevent glare a pen display will have either:

• An etched glass surface

• Or a anti-glare film.

Besides reducing the glare, films have the added benefit that they prevent the glass underneath from being scratched. Also the films can be removed and replaced.

This document covers the case when your tablet has an anti-glare film.

Removing the film

If it has an anti-glare film, the film can be carefully lifted off.

You can start at a corner and gently and slowly start lifting it up. And then slowly working your way across the entire surface.

Replacing the film

First, you should realize than manufacturers might sell replacement films for their tablets. But even if they do not, you can find third party films that are pre-cut for your tablet or for which you can order them cut to a specific size. More here on your options:

How much anti-glare sparkle do you want?

Your replacement will will likely have some amount of anti-glare sparkle effect. If you buy the replacement film from the manufacturer you will get the same amount of ag sparkle as you originally had. More here on .

If you want less ag sparkle, you should consider getting a film which has less. This is where you should evaluate options from companies like photodon. They sell little samples you can try out to evaluate how much the film will look on your tablet. I highly recommend trying those samples first before you commit to putting a new will film on.

Here's a video where you can see me try some of these photodon samples and talk about how it affected the ag sparkle:

Overview

In terms of what you see on it, your pen display is just another monitor/display to your computer. So, you can control how the computer shows its desktop to the pen display.

You have two options:

• Extend the desktop - this means you can see different things on the pen display from your monitor. This is what I recommend you use.

• Duplicate the desktop (aka "Mirror ther desktop") - This means your pen display and monitor will try to show the same exact thing. Sometimes this is very useful but generally I think Extend is better choice for most people and situations.

Steps to control extend vs duplicate

The steps depend on which operating system you are using.

Windows 11

• Open Display Settings

• The displays your computer is connected to will be shown and each one is numbered. The one in blue is the display currently selected.

  • If a display has two numbers, that means the desktop is being duplicated across those displays

• NOTE: If you only see one display then the these settings do not apply.

• Select the display that corresponds to your tablet

• Towards the button right (to the right of the Identify button) you will see a dropdown setting that controls how the desktop is being applied to this display. Depending on how the display is already configured, the dropdown will say either

  • Extend desktop to this display

  • Duplicate desktop on X and Y

    • X and Y will be the numbers referring to the displays

• Switch the dropdown between the Extend or Duplicate option as needed.

Mac OS (Monterey)

• Go to Displays > Display Settings

• Select your monitor, then set Use As to Primary Display

• Then select your drawing tablet's display and set Use As to Mirror.

These days many monitors and pen displays support very wide colors gamuts.

While these can look amazing, many people often find that they are too intensely saturated. This is often observed with reds, purples, and greens.

Often changing saturation levels or brightness might not do anything to reduce the intensity of these colors.

There are some techniques you can use to reduce the intensity of these colors

Option 1 Use the display's sRGB emulation mode

Many monitors an pen displays have an "sRGB emulation mode" that will rude the intensity of these colors.

This is the first option you should try.

A possible negative is that often these displays not only restrict the color gamut, but also keep reduce the brightness. If reduced brightness is not working for you you can try other options

Option 2: use the GPU to clamp the gamut to sRGB

AMD GPUs

• Launch AMD Radeon Software

• Click Settings

• Click Display

• Enable Custom Color

• Disable Temperature Control (CTC)

NVidia GPUs

• Use the novideo_srgb tool

• Download the release.zip file from here: https://github.com/ledoge/novideo_srgb/releases

• Extract the files in the release.zip

• Launch novideo_srgb.exe

• Click Clamped

References

• Taming the Wide Gamut using sRGB Emulation (https://pcmonitors.info/articles/taming-the-wide-gamut-using-srgb-emulation/)

• r/Monitors - sRGB clamp - what is it and how can it affect user experience. 10/24/2021

• r/Monitors - sRGB clamp for NVIDIA GPUs 8/24/2021

• novideo_rgb tool (https://github.com/ledoge/novideo_srgb)

• Blog: Wide Colour Gamut & SRGB Clamp (https://youtu.be/blcWTkv1bvQ)

• What Is sRGB Emulation Mode And Why Is It Important? (https://www.displayninja.com/what-is-srgb-emulation-mode/)

Introduction

If you are wearing out your plastic pen nibs too quickly, you might be considering a metal nib. Metal nibs in theory never wear out.

Metal nib video series

Are metal nibs safe for your pen tablet?

• (part 1) (https://youtu.be/m0kYXa7Y4a8)

• (part 2) (https://youtu.be/aByhTQOcIeM)

• (part 3) (https://youtu.be/mU8MsD-DY0w)

• (part 4) (https://youtu.be/c1dQj4q5lDk)

• (part 5) (https://youtu.be/WvmMHzZoclg)

Metal nibs can damage pens

I DO NOT recommend using a metal nib

• ferrite core damage - Some people report that the metal nibs can cause the pen's ferrite core to easily break. When the ferrite core breaks it cannot be replaced. You have to buy a new pen. I did not experience damage to the ferrite core even after I dropped my KP-504E pen repeatedly with the metal nib hitting the floor directly. However, I don't doubt that others have experienced real damage.

• pressure sensor damage - I personally experienced that a metal nib cause a permanent increase in the initial activation force of my Wacom Pro Pen 2. This means the pen become less sensitive and going back plastic nib does not restore a low initial activation force. See this video for more details (https://youtu.be/WvmMHzZoclg).

Metal nibs and pen displays

I DO NOT recommend using a metal nib directly against the glass of a pen display

I haven't tried it with a pen display and I right now would not recommend someone doing doing that. I do believe there's a chance it can damage the screen. I've even seen people with plastic nibs damage the screen of their pen display.

If someone is going to do use a metal nib with a pen display, I would recommend using a protective sheet. See this doc protective sheets.

Metal nib options

You may find different options for nibs, here several I know of.

For Wacom Pro Pen 2

• TWITE Graphics (https://hitomins.tumblr.com/products_sus_English#b)

  • I purchased from (https://alice-books.com/item/show/1113-4) but you may find other sources.

  • This is the nib I use for the "Are metal nibs safe" videos

• REEYEAR ( https://a.co/d/8H6lqGq)

• TWITE Hybrid metal/plastix nib (https://hitomins.tumblr.com/products_hybrid)

  • Store: https://alice-books.com/item/show/1113-3

For Wacom CTL-672,CTL-671,CTL-471, CTL-472

• REEYEAR metal nibs (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B2PGDF6S)

Reddit Threads

• https://www.reddit.com/r/wacom/comments/740ktd/metal_nibs_where_do_you_purchase_them/ -

• https://www.reddit.com/r/wacom/comments/ts2ted/titanium_alloy_pen_nib/ -

• https://www.reddit.com/r/wacom/comments/tklhcn/stainless_steel_nib_finally_came_time_to_art/ -

• https://www.reddit.com/r/wacom/comments/t7lraf/better_nibs_for_ctl472/ -

• https://www.reddit.com/r/wacom/comments/gyo4ug/pro_pen_2_stainless_steel_nib/ -

• https://www.reddit.com/r/wacom/comments/kyl5lj/but_seriously_why_are_all_my_nibs_sharpened_to/ -

Overview

You can use a pen display like a regular monitor. However, there are a few things you should be aware of.

Safety

It's completely safe. It's safe for your pen display, your computers, and the cables connecting them.

Leaving them on continuously

Pen displays that use LCD display panels

The VAST majority of pen displays use LCD display panels. Just like any monitor or TV that uses LCD panels you can just keep them on all the time.

I've used multiple pen displays as a second display and leave them on 24/7 and my computers are set to never sleep so they are always showing something.

With some LCD panels, If they are showing the same thing on the screen that you many encounter a phenomena called Image Persistence. This is normal and is not a permanent change and is not screen burn in (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screen_burn-in).

Specific pen displays I have used this way (each has been continuously turned on and showing something for several months at least):

• Wacom Cintiq Pro 16 DTH-167

• Wacom Cintiq Pro 27 DTH-271

• XP-Pen Artist Pro 16 GEN2 MD160QH

• Wacom One GEN1 (DTC-133)

• Wacom One 13 GEN2 (DTH-134)

• Wacom One 12 GEN2 (DTC-121)

• Huion Kamvas 22 Plus (GS2202)

• Huion Kamvas 13 (GS1331)

• Huion Kamvas Pro 16 Plus 4k (GT1562)

• Huion Kamvas Pro 24 4K (GT2401)

• Xencelabs Pen Display 24 (LPH2412U-A)

Pen displays that use LCD display panels

OLED panels are relatively new to pen displays. They only started appearing in 2024 with the arrival of the Wacom Movink. How long OLED panels can last without issues like burn-in is unknown, but it is widely understood that their lifetime is less than that of an IPS panel. For now, my recommendation is to turn off OLED pen displays if you are not actively using them.

Refresh Rate

Pen displays typically they only up to 60Hz. Higher refresh rates are EXTREMELY rare. More here: Pen display refresh rate

Display inputs and cabling

A monitor often has a variety of inputs. For example, most of the monitors I have support these display inputs such as HDMI, DisplayPort, USB-C.

Some pen displays have a variety of inputs. The Wacom Cintiq pro 27 DTH271 is a great example of one. It supports all of the inputs mentioned above.

But most modern pen displays now have only USB-C ports - usually two. One for a display signal & data and one for additional power if needed.

See: Connecting a pen display

Aspect ratio

Typically monitors have to aspect ratios: 16:9 and 16:10. And there are variety of widescreen or ultra-widescreen monitors that support many other aspect ratios.

Pen displays have much less diversity of aspect ratios. The vast majority of modern pen displays are exactly 16:9. A very small number are 16:10.

Learn more: active area aspect ratio

Display panel technology

Monitors and pen displays use various panel tech such as:

• IPS

• TN

• VA

• OLED

OLED introduction to pen displays. Starting by around May 2024, we seen the introduction of a few pen displays with OLED panels. The first pen display to use OLED was the Wacom Movink 13 (DTH-135) and the second OLED pen display was the Xencelabs Pen Display 16.

Display panel brightness

Pen displays aren't especially bright. most around around 250 nits. And only a few are >= 300 nits.

More here: Brightness

VESA-mounting

Most often monitors support VESA mounting so you can attach them to a stand or an arm.

Many pen displays support VESA mounting also. However, the pen displays that are 16" or smaller often do not support VESA mounting. Likely they do not support VESA mounting because these sizes of pen displays are to thin to do so.

More here:

• Using monitor arms with a pen display

• VESA

Power cabling

Monitors tend to have the normal power cables and adapters.

Modern pen displays may also use normal power adapters. But some support getting power via their USB-C ports.

Anti-glare sparkle

It varies quite a bit among pen displays, but often they exhibit more Anti-Glare sparkle than monitors. Sometimes it is quite noticeable. Some people are very irritated by the visual effect of this anti-glare sparkle. More here: Anti-glare sparkle

Speakers

Many monitors come with built-in speakers. They usually sound terrible, but they can be useful. As far as I am aware, no pen displays have speakers.

Picture-by-picture & Picture-in-picture

One of the benefits of supporting multiple display input ports is that it makes it possible to display two or more inputs simultaneously. Many monitors allow this now and it is very useful for very wide monitors. Pen displays do not support this feature.

Heat

It's common question whether pen displays would get to hot if they are continually used. Pen displays don't get any hotter than a normal monitor. More here: Heat

Noise

Monitors are almost always completely silent and don't even have fans. However, some pen displays - notably some Wacom Cintiq Pro models - have fans are are known for fan noise. If you are sensitive to noise research this first.

Overview

Sometimes you may encounter something that looks like a scratch on a tablet. But it is what I call a "false scratch" or a "temporary scratch". I use these terms because, these kinds of "scratches" can be removed by cleaning the tablet or even rubbing the it away with your finger.

Cause

These marks are caused by the pen displacing material on the surface. This material can include includes:

• Oil from your skin

• Dust and other grime

• Tiny bits of the nib that have worn away.

Cleaning tips

Here are some options for cleaning your tablet: Cleaning a drawing tablet

Overview

Typically, when you press down with your pen and touch the tablet it will be interpreted is a "click" action - just as if you left clicked with a mouse.

However, in some rare circumstances and depending on the tablet and tablet brand and tablet driver, you MIGHT be able to modify the behavior to a slight degree.

What customizations are possible

• Sometimes you can enable or disable the clicking of the tip

• I don't know of any way to assign the tip to perform some other behavior when pressed. For example, no way for the tip to be assigned to the SHIFT key or something.

Wacom

Wacom pens just always "click". There's no way to change this behavior.

Huion

The Huion driver lets you disable clicking.

In the Driver UI it is a little confusing though. The tip is shown as being in one of two states: valid and invalid.

The default is valid and this means the pen works normally.

The invalid setting, disables clicking.

XP-Pen

In the XP-Pen driver, you can only disable the tip.

In the driver, press the gear icon and you can disable the tip by checking the box that says disable pressure.

Sometimes people want to take a pen display and use it as a pen tablet. There are several options here. In this case, someone doesn't want to see anything on the pen display. It should be blank.

Option 1: Built-in support

Some pen displays have their power button configured to effect only the screen. You can power off the tablet, which will turn off the screen, but since the tablet is still connected to the computer it will essentially act just like a pen tablet.

Not all pen displays are like this. Many have their power button set to turn off everything. So if you turn the tablet off, you wont be able to see anything on it or use the pen.

Option 2: Disconnect the display signal via hardware

If your tablet is connected via an HDMI cable to the computer, you can disconnect the HDMI cable. In every pen display I know of, this will result in a blank screen but the pen can still be used with the tablet.

Option 3: Do not send a display signal to the pen display

In your operating system, you can configure the displays settings to not use the screen in the pen display. This should leave you with a pen display that shows nothing and the pen should still work.

Lag

Pen tablets have low pointer lag. Pen displays have higher pointer lag. More here: lag

If you use a pen display even if the screen is off, you will still likely see the larger pointer lag.

Overview

For a display tablet your are pointing at one location on the pen, but the pointer is showing somewhere else. It could be do to the pen being incorrectly calibrated to the display.

What about pen tablets?

Most pen displays offer a pen calibration to solve this problem.

Some, like the Wacom Cintiq Pro 27 offer this claibration because they are well-calibrated when you get them.

What about pen tablets?

Pen calibration is a feature found in pen displays. Pen tablets don't need the feature.

XP-Pen pen displays

• Open the XP-Pen Pentablet app

• Under Work area > Screen, press Calibrate

• Follow the calibration steps

Huion pen displays

• Open the HuionTablet app

• Under Pen Display > Working Area, press Monitor Calibration

• Follow the calibration steps

Overview

A large pen tablet has an active area diagonal of about 15 inches.

Generally I advise against getting a LARGE pen tablet unless:

• you already have experience using one

• or are highly confident your art style will benefit from it and you are ready to deal with the ergonomic issues that come from using one.

Ergonomics

With a medium pen tablet most people put their tablet to the right or left of their keyboard.

You can certainly try this with a large pen tablet. But what you'll discover is that it is extremely difficult to reach the more distant edges of the keyboard or tablet depending on how they're situated in front of you.

So a large pen tablet typically means you will have to have it directly in front of you. And then you place the keyboard above it. This of course means that it's more difficult to reach the keyboard.

Often if I'm not really drawing I'll in fact put the keyboard on top of the tablet.

Effort

With a large pen tablet your hand is really moving quite a distance to do some things. So for example if you are trying to reach a menu item at the very top of the screen you might be surprised how much distance you're going to have to move your pen. This can be very tiring for some people.

The active area is adjustable

If the active area is too big for you, then you should keep in mind that you can always scale down the active area to any size you want. You can make the active area match a medium sized tablet for example.

Large pen tablets in the market

If you want a large pen tablet, pick from one of these:

• Wacom Intuos Pro PTH-860: EXCELLENT (my notes on this tablet)

• XP-Pen Deco Pro XLW GEN2 (MT1592B): VERY GOOD (my notes on this tablet)

• Huion Inspiroy Giano G930L: GOOD (my notes on this tablet)

Video

In this video I go through a lot of detail about what it's like to actually use a large pen tablet. In this case I'm specifically using a Wacom intuos pro (PTH-860). But the same general issues apply to any large pen tablet.

Overview

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

Considerations

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.

Verify with your manufacturer

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.

Summary of requirements

Display signal with DP alt mode support

Power support

• 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.

Manufacturer cables vs third-party cables

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.

Thunderbolt 3/4 cables

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.

The specific Thunderbolt 3 cable I use

Resources

Overview of surface wear on pen tablets

Scratches are a form of permanent damage. Depending on how deep the scratch is, it can affect your drawing experience. For more examples of surface wear and how to minimize it go here: Surface wear on pen tablets.

Below is an example of some scratches that while ugly, do not interfere with the drawing experience. Small scratches are also hard to see sometime and greatly affected by the lighting conditions.

As you can see the scratches can be very small. These kinds of scratches will not affect your drawing experience.

Here is a close up view through a microscope:

Deeper and larger scratches are also possible. This can definitely affect your drawing experience.

Extreme damage

Dropping sharp objects onto the surface of a pen tablet can result in big changes. The crater below was formed by an accidental dropping of scissors from a height of about 6" above the pen tablet.

Overview

The surfaces of a pen tablet usually have some texture applies to prevent drawing on them from feeling "slippery".

Tablets vary quite a bit in how much texture is on them. The Intuos Pro models (PTH-460, PTH-660, PTH-860) are known for having a lot of texture.

As you drag your pen on the surface you will eventually notice two forms of texture erosion:

• thin or thick marks

• broad areas where the texture has been worn off

For more examples of surface wear and how to minimize it go here: Surface wear on pen tablets.

Examples

These texture erosion marks can be very difficult to see. Depending on the lighting, they may be invisible, lighter than the texture color, or darker than the texture color.

Some texture erosion marks aren't even caused by then pen. Other objects that come in contact with the tablet can cause them. You can often detect these because they produce much wider marks than the pen can produce.

Here is an example of broad area texture erosion on a Wacom Intuos Pro PTH-860. The overall area can be uniformly smooth/shiny or smooth/shiny in patches.

Here is an close up example of the texture of a Wacom Intuos Pro Large (PTH-860)

The texture erosion can be very subtle.

Below is an example of deliberately trying to erode the texture over a wide area by moving the pen back and forth over an area. Notice how much of the texture is gone.

Impact of texture erosion

Texture erosion is typically benign. While it is unattractive and sometimes visible it does not deflect the tip of the pen.

More examples of texture erosion

https://www.reddit.com/r/wacom/comments/144a6lk/is_my_wacom_intous_pro_m_okay/

Overview

Nib wears down due to friction caused by the nib moving against the tablet surface.

Many factors influence how fast a nib wears down and people have vastly different experiences. For some people a nib may last years. Some people seem to go through a nib in a week.

Examples

Below you can see the wear on an Wacom Art Pen nib which has been used on a Wacom Intuos Pro Large (PTH-860) surface after two weeks.

Surface texture

Tablets vary in the amount of surface texture they have. The more texture, the more likely the nib is to wear down. More here: surface texture.

Keep in mind, even the surface texture can wear down and become smoother. So, even if the texture is eating through your nibs at first, later it may not affect them so much. More here: Surface wear on pen tablets

Heavy-handed drawing

Some people draw "heavy-handed" and put a lot of pressure on their nib. This will increase the friction and the rate at which the nib wears down.

Many fast strokes

Some people a have drawing style that features lots of strokes drawn over and over. For example they might fill in an by drawing hundreds of cross-hatched lines. This can accelerate nib wear.

Nib material affects nib wear

Nibs are typically made of plastic or felt. And the material choice will affect how fast the nib wears down. For example felt nibs wear down faster than plastic nibs. More here: Nib material.

Preventing or slowing nib wear

• Try drawing with less pressure. You can change the pressure curve in your driver to help lessen the need to press down so hard.

• If you are doing a lot of back and forth strokes to fill in an area, that repeated motion of the pen can wear down the nib fast. Consider using some other way of filling in an area.

• Some tablets like the Wacom Intuos Pro have replaceable texture sheets. In Wacom's case there are three texture styles: standard, smooth, rough. Try the smooth texture sheet.

• I do NOT recommend using a metal nib.

When should you replace you nib?

I recommend you replace you nib when:

• Most of the tip has become flat

• The nib is getting short - nib remover tools need to be able to grasp enough of the nib to pull it out. If you let them get to short, they are going to be stuck or very difficult to remove.

Resources

Here's some videos related to this topic:

• Mink - Tips for increasing your Pen Nibs’ lifespan

• Aaron Rutten - When to CHANGE Drawing Tablet Pen Nibs

• Aaron Rutten - Wearing Down Nibs & Tablet Scratches

For me what works best is just buying more nibs because they are cheap and easy to replace.

Overview

Extra-large pen tablets have an active area diagonal of about 23".

• Are very specialized and not appropriate for most people

• Are no longer in production - only Wacom made them and the most recent models series - the Wacom Intuos 4 XL is from 2011.

• Require lots of adjustment to your work style due to their size

Video

Watch this video to learn about the reality of using EXTRA LARGE pen tablets:

Pen tablet size vs monitor size

Using a pen tablet with a widescreen monitor presents some challenges and some new opportunities with a pen tablet due to the extreme differences in aspect ratio.

The typical case

Normally a pen tablet aspect ratio has an aspect ratio of around 16:10 but monitors often have an aspect ratio of 16:9. By default this distorts shapes drawn on the pen tablet so that they appear stretched slightly in one direction. The solution is to force the tablet's active area aspect ratio to match that of the monitor.

Because the aspect ratios are close (1.6 vs 1.78), we lose a little bit of active area on the tablet, but now the drawing is without distortion.

The widescreen case

But in the widescreen case, the aspect ratios are quite different (1.6 vs 2.33). So, if we match the tablet's aspect ratio to the monitor, we lose much more active area.

Options for widescreen monitors

You could map the active area of the tablet to a region of the monitor with the same aspect ratio.

The region is shown in the center of the monitor, but it could be left or right aligned.

You get to use the full area of your tablet, but then you have to carefully possition yoru drawing application into a region that the tablet is mapped to.

This is pretty rare, but I've seen people do it.

If you can reliably tile your windows to the left half and right half, this is an alternative arrangement

It loses active area on the tablet, but may be easier to work with in terms of resizing windows.

Some widescreen monitors, support presenting themselves to a computer as two separate monitors. Usually this requires two separate cables for two separate video signals.

In this case you can map the tablet to one the monitors.

This still loses some active area on the tablet, but now it is very easy to get windows into the appropriate regions.

Also some tablets, have the ability for you to use an express key or a pen button to swap between monitors. This means you can use your tablet with the entire physical display of your monitor.

Introduction

With a little care and light maintenance your tablet will keep working for a long time. Here are some basic tips.

Do not lose your pen!

They are surprisingly expensive to replace. They can cost from $40 USD to $120 USD for a Wacom Pro Pen 3.

Because drawing tablet pens usually have a case of black plastic they can be difficult to see under some lighting conditions, also they can be mistaken for other pens, etc. To give them some additional visibility I use masking tape to add some some color to make it more visible and serve as a label.

Here is an example:

Do not drop your pen!

Pens are the most sensitive component because they have some small parts and some moving parts. A fall onto a floor can damage your pen:

• The can completely break the internals of your pen. Your pressure may be less sensitive, stuck at a certain pressure value for example either 0% pressure or 100% pressure , have sudden changes in its pressure profile.

• The nib can be broken and make it be stuck inside the pen and very hard to remove

Dop not place excessive pressure on your pen tip!

Normal drawing is fine. But don't *mash* it or hit it on a surface. You can damage the pressure sensor or you might break the nib. Use it for drawing on your tablet and nothing else.

Do not let your tablet drop to the floor!

A pen tablet, has fewer moving parts and most of the time nothing bad will happen to it.

However, If you drop a pen display, you almost certainly will cause significant damage that cannot be repaired. For example, any of these things can happen:

• The pen displays will not turn on again

• The screen will crack

• The display panel will break and not show a full screen or will show random color patterns

• The ports can get damaged, preventing it from getting a display signal

Do not get your tablet or pen wet

Keep water away from your tablet and pen. If you get them wet, consult this guide on dealing with potential damage: Dealing with water damage.

Cleaning your tablet

Periodically, clean your tablet. Some people recommend lightly cleaning your pen displays before you start drawing. More here: Cleaning a drawing tablet.

Storing pen safely

In general store your pens so that you avoid pressure on your nibs. More here: Storing your pen.

Surface wear

The surface of your tablet will be in contact with your pen, that contact and the friction that comes from it will cause some wear. It's good for you to understand what this wear will look like and how you can control it. Read the two documents below.

• Surface wear on pen tablets

• Surface wear on pen displays

There are options to protect the surface from damage. See: protective sheets.

Protection during transport

If you are carrying your tablet with you or transporting it, consider some extra protection via a case. More here: Protective cases.

Maintain your nibs

Monitor your nibs and replace then when they are getting too worn down. Nibs that are worn down to flat surface may be scratching up your tablet. See more here: Nib wear

To remove a nib see this guide: Removing nibs

Don't void your warranty

Avoid doing any of these things:

• Disassembling the tablet

• Disassembling the pen

• Using metal nibs with the pen

Overview

Size = Active Area Size. The way we measure a tablets size is NOT the physical size of the device. Instead we measure the diagonal of the ACTIVE AREA of the tablet. The ACTIVE AREA is the region on the surface of the tablet that is responsive to the tablet's EMR pen. Learn more: Active area & Active area size

Companion Video

My size categories

I've given convenient labels ("small", "medium", "large") to drawing tablets. This will make it easier to talk about their sizes. These categories are based off the standard sizes that Wacom uses. The sizes here are approximate. For each category a typical value is provided, and also a range of values.

Manufacturer size categories

Manufactures also sometimes provide size categories in the names of their pen tablets. But don't trust the size categories - always calculate the actual diagonal distance when comparing sizes.

Here's are some great examples:

• The XP-Deco L is much closer in size to a Wacom Intuos Pro Medium than the Intuos Pro Large.

• Inspiroy 2L is sort of in-between a medium and large size.

Considerations

Here's what you should consider in your choice

• What is your natural drawing style? some people draw a lot from the wrist and others use much larger motions driven from their elbows and shoulders

• Do you have enough space on your desk?

• Do you intend to be mobile and use the tablet in different locations?

Size recommendations

Pen tablets size

• Small (7") pen tablets are good for scenarios where the focus is less on creating strokes. For example, if you need to simply use a tablet as a replacement for a mouse, then a small tablet will work fine. One creative task that works great with small tablets in photo editing - since it doesn't typically require "drawing". Most people who are drawing would find using a small tablet, to feel very "cramped".

• Medium (11") pen tablets are the best combination of size, cost, and ergonomics for most people interested in drawing tablets and is my standard recommendation. Medium tablets are the minimum size I would recommend for anyone who is interested in drawing, sketching, painting, or any creative task that requires drawing with strokes.

• Large (15") pen tablets are these days the largest size available. They are popular for some artists. They are large enough though that you will have to adapt to using them. More here: Using large pen tablets.

• Extra large (23") pen tablets are no longer produced but for some users they are ideal but require quite a bit of adjustment to use. More here: Using Extra-large pen tablets.

Pen tablet size vs monitor size

If you have a pen tablet (which does not have a screen), then you use it with a monitor. You should consider the relationship between these two sizes. I find that that relationship influences how it feels to draw on the pen tablet. A much more detailed explanation is here: Matching pen tablet size to monitor size.

Pen display size

• SMALL (13") pen displays may be good choices for children.

• If you are drawing the minimum size I would recommend is MEDIUM (16"), though many people work very effectively with SMALL pen displays.

• LARGE (24") are great but they do occupy a lot of space so ensure you have a desk that is big enough.

• I think the best balance is around 20" to 22" - these provide enough space to draw on without being to cumbersome, occupying too much space on a desk, or being difficult to move.

Impact of pen display size

• Anti-glare sparkle - For a given anti-glare treatment, the higher the pixels-per-inch of the display, the more anti-glare sparkle you will notice. For example using the same anti-glare treatment a 4K 24" display will show less AG sparkle, than a 4K 16" display.

In relation to paper size

Some of you like to think of a tablet size relative standard papers sizes. The tablet below shows the paper sizes with their diagonal size and you can see how specific paper size matches my standard tablet sizes

Videos

• Tim McBurnie - Which Size Wacom Is Right For You? Nov 28, 2022

• Aaron Rutten - What Size Drawing Tablet Should I Get? Mar 18, 2022

• The Seven Pens - What size drawing tablet should you get? Mar 8, 2022

• The SevenPens - Is a LARGE pen tablet right for you? Jun 27, 2022

• The Seven Pens - Is an EXTRA LARGE Pen tablet right for you? Jul 25, 2022

Overview

There is a relationship between the size of a pen tablet and the size of your monitor that you should pay attention to. They both have different sizes and certain combinations may work better than others.

For more general information about choosing the right size, go here: Choosing the right tablet size.

General guidance

This table is based on my preferences - you might find you find that difference combinations work better.

Video

This video helps explain the thinking behind it:

Overview

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 , but focused on the specific issues that come up for a mobile devices.

Key requirements and realities

• 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.

Specific cases

• Apple iPhones - these phones DO NOT WORK with pen display

Overview

All pen tablets connect to a computer with a USB cable. Some pen tablets ALSO connect to a computer wirelessly - almost always Bluetooth. See:

Wired vs Wireless

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.

Basic cabling requirements

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: .

Inputs & outputs

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.

Display connector types

This document is going to talk about connectors a lot. So you need to know what they look like first. Read this guide on before you continue.

Cabling options

Those four components are distributed over cabling differently, depending on the the cabling option involved.

Option A: one USB-C cable

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:

Option B: 3 cables

• 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

Option C: 2 cables

• 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.

Option D: 3-in-one cable

Connecting via HDMI

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

Which HDMI port on the computer should you use?

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.

Motherboard HDMI ports

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.

HDMI ports on graphics cards

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.

Motherboard HDMI vs graphics card HDMI

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.

What if you don't have any HDMI ports?

Dealing with NO SIGNAL

What about connecting a pen display mobile devices?

What about wireless connectivity?

No pen displays connect wirelessly. They all require at least one cable to connect to your computer.

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:

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.

Benefits of a 3-in-1 cable

• 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.

Overview

Some drawing tablets - specifically some models of pen tablets - support wireless connection to a computer. No pen displays support wireless connection.

Wireless protocol

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.

Hardware

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.

Latency and Lag

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.

Reliability

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.

Setting up your tablet

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.

Overview

Almost all drawing tablet send pen tilt data to the computer. Wacom consumer tablets are the notable exception.

Assuming your tablet is sending tilt, data you may want to have to tilt control what you draw. This document explains how to configure your application so that it can take advantage of tilt

Drivers

First, make sure your tablet drivers are installed typically these will be necessary to take advantage of tilt.

Tilt in Clip studio paint

Here is an example of how to configure tilt in Clip Studio Paint

• A simple example is the Calligraphy brush in CSP

• Open up the brush settings then go to brush size

• Click on the arrow pointing up at the end of brush size

• A dialog called Brush Size Dynamics will open

• There are four checkboxes controlling what will control the brush size

• Disable everything and enable tilt

• NOTE: it's not required to disable everything , but it just makes it easy to see how tilt is affecting size if only it is enabled.

• Then once the brush is configured you should see tilt affecting the size of the brush

• After that you can look at other brush settings and get tilt to affect other properties of the brush.

Overview

A pen display will either one of two surfaces:

• Etched glass - glass that has an etched texture. Learn more here: etched glass

• Film - A thin film on plastic that sits on top of the glass. See anti-glare film.

The traditional thinking is that etched glass is better. You will see many "pro" tablets that have etched glass while their "consumer" counterparts have the film.

My view is that it is not so clear that etched glass is better. In some cases films have real advantages. In this document we'll discuss the merits of each.

Anti-glare sparkle

AMOUNT of Anti-glare sparkle - which is an undesirable effect - is present in both etched glass and films. And the amount is highly variable. It's not possible to say that either choices has less of the sparkle. You have to examine the specific etching or film used for a tablet.

Changing the etching

This is not possible. There is no known way to reduce the amount etching on glass.

Removing and replacing the film

For films, many tablets that do have films have removable films. And manufacturers even sell replacement films.

This is one flexibility that films have over etching.

• You can remove the film entirely

• If you scratch the film, you can replace the film.

• If you don't like some aspect of the film - maybe it has too much AG sparkle - you can buy a different film that has different properties. For example, Photodon sells films that have different amounts of AG effects. You can even get completely clear film.

NOTE: Some pen displays have very securely attached films, and it may be difficult to remove them.

Handling scratches

• Scratches in etched glass are permanent

• Films are clearly better at this since the films can be replaced.

Texture

Plain glass will feel slippery to draw on. Etched glass offers some texture and so too do films - so you will find that your pen grips the surface a bit better.

In my opinion the etched glass has a silghtly stronger texture feeling. The films tend to fill a little different. Both are better than plain glass.

Drawing tablets with EMR Pens

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.

Other devices with Non-EMR Pens (iPads, etc)

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.

Introduction

Just like a monitor a pen display contains a display panel with a native display resolution.

Monitors tend to have a large variety of resolutions, but pen displays have just 3:

• 2K (aka HD) = 1920x1080

• 2.5K = 2560x1440

• 4K = 3840x2160

Some considerations about the display resolution

Seeing pixels

• Some people are very sensitive to seeing pixels.

• When drawing on a pen display you'll be much closer to it than when you are using a monitor

• So you might notice the pixels more due to this proximity

Compatibility

The resolution with the least compatibility issues is 2K.

This format has the least issues with ports, cables, GPUs, adapters, etc.

As you start getting into higher resolutions, you have to be more careful about compatibility and ensure everything is going to work.

For example:

• Not all HDMI cables support 4K

• Some laptops struggle to support an external 4K display

• Macintoshes have difficulty supporting 2.5K resolutions

• Some systems support the higher resolutions but not a high-enough refresh rate. For example one of my laptops supports 4K but only at 30Hz instead of the standard 60Hz.

Pixels-per-Inch at different diagonal sizes

You can find PPI values by using this tool: https://www.sven.de/dpi/

Picking between 2.5K vs 4K resolution

People often ask about picking between these two resolutions. Overall I think 2.5K is the best value for your money.

Especially at the 13" and 16" sizes, a 2.5K delivers a massive increase over 2K. After that the benefits are incremental.

Anti-glare sparkle

Given a specific physical size for a display panel, anti-glare sparkle is more noticeable on higher resolutions. See this document for more information: anti-glare sparkle.

Overview

When you draw a stroke with a drawing tablet, your stroke will not be perfectly smooth. There are many causes for it any many things you can do to address it.

Causes

The tablet and driver are components that can contribute to strokes that aren't as smooth as you would like

• All tablets have a degree of diagonal wobble that can appear in your stroke.

• Tablet sometimes exhibit a little bit of "noise" in their stroke. This noise is similar to wobble in that it deviates from a smooth line, but it does so in a more random way.

• The surface of a tablet may be too smooth and this can cause the pen to easily "slip" away from your intended path.

You are user and your drawing style can affect the smoothness of a stroke

• Your hand and arm and way of moving them over the tablet can cause imperfections in your stroke.

• Drawing slower is more prone to introducing errors into your strokes.

How you hold the pen

Consider how you hold you pen. Different techniques of holding your pen can affect how smooth your strokes are.

• Aaron Rutten - How to Hold a Drawing Tablet Pen 2023/09/03

• Brad Colbow - How Pros Hold a Pencil 2024/05/28

Increase the surface texture of your tablet

Using a digital; pen on a very smooth tablet surface can result in the pen feeling "slippery" as you draw. And so the pen often seems to "slide away" from the intended path of the stroke you are trying to make. This is a common complain for iPads because an iPad's surface if very smooth glass.

Consider buying a protective sheet to increase the surface texture a bit. See: protective sheets.

Use a felt nib

Another way of increasing the surface texture and avoiding a slippery feeling is to use a felt nib. Many tablets now come with felt nibs, though they may not be installed in your pen by default.

Draw with your shoulder instead of your wrist

Many people draw just by moving their wrist. Try instead drawing by moving your shoulders more.

Rotate or mirror the canvas to make it easier to draw a smooth stroke.

Usually someone's hand can draw a smooth stroke easier at some angles than at others. For example, if you are right handed drawing a strong from bottom left to top right is easy but drawing from top left to bottom right is harder and the stroke less smooth. Rotate the application canvas so that you accommodate what your hand is better at doing.

Draw your stroke toward your instead of away from you

Some people find that drawing a stroke toward themselves is easier to keep smooth than drawing away from themselves.

Draw a faster stroke

Generally speaking a faster stroke will result in a smoother stroke.

Avoid mouse mode

Occasionally some people enable mouse mode in their tablet driver. Mouse mode uses relative positioning and usually makes it harder to make a consistent stroke. Instead try disabling mouse mode.

Match aspect ratios (very important)

If you are using a pen tablet, mismatched aspect rations between your pen tablet and your monitor will distort your strokes and make it harder to draw smoothly. Make sure you check for this and correct it. More here: Matching aspect ratios.

Please do check for this. Many people have been using their tablets for years with mismatched aspect ratios and when they make the ratios match it is a BIG DIFFERENCE in their ability to draw strokes correctly.

Zoom in as much as possible for your stroke

Use zoom to your advantage. The stroke is affected several things which are physical in nature. For example, a diagonal wobble may introduce a 1mm wobble as your draw. If you are drawing with your canvas zoomed out then 1mm accounts for a lot of pixels. If you zoom in more then the 1mm accounts for fewer pixels of wobble. So you can really minimize some effects my zooming in as much as possible for your stroke. This minimizes the effect of those disturbances and also forces you to draw with a longer stroke which itself will minimize errors.

Use your tablet driver's precision mode

Precision mode is a temporary change in how the active area of the tablet is mapped to your desktop. When precision mode is engaged, your entire tablet active area is mapped to a small region of the desktop. This means you have to make very large physical gestures on the tablet to create smaller strokes on your displays. That has the effect of making it easier to smoother strokes.

• Wacom - How to use the Wacom's Precision Mode 2024/11/14

Application brush smoothing

Use brush smoothing in your applications.

Krita

Krita, under Tool Options, has 4 different brush smoothing options: None, Basic, Weighted, and Stabilizer.

Clip Studio Paint

Clip Studio Paint has several options

• A setting called Stabilization that goes from 0 to 100. Where 100 adds the most amount of smoothing possible.

• You can also separately use the Adjust by speed setting. It has two options: Increase stabilization when drawing slowly and increase stabilization when drawing quickly.

Application stroke post-correction smoothing

Some apps like Clip Studio Paint have the ability to "fix" strokes after they have been drawn.

The advantage to this technique is that it doesn't slow down your stroke as you draw.

The disadvantage to this technique is that you don't exactly know the path of your stroke until a moment after you draw the stroke. Also if you draw a sharp corner, post-correction techniques can somethings not recognize the corner and instead show it as a smooth corner.

Use vector drawing tools

Applications like Krita also support vector tools. If you are having problems with smooth strokes with you pen, the vector tools can produce perfectly smooth strokes.

Use application auto-shape detection

Some applications, like ProCreate on the iPad, have a a shape detection feature. Roughly speaking after you draw a stroke and hold you pen still for a moment, it will recognize a line, or circle, or curve and create a perfect smooth version of your stroke.

Introduction

The tablet sends "tablet reports" to the computer at somewhere around 200 reports per second. Each report contains information like pen position, pressure, tilt, button info, etc. More here: tablet reports. A brush engine's responsibility is to take that information and use it to draw a stroke in a drawing application.

Brush engines

In a creative applications that draws strokes - applications such as clip studio paint, krita, or photoshop, there is a component (or set of components) we can refer to as the brush engine

Among its responsibilities is to take this pen data and combine it to draw a stroke.

Brush engines vs brushes

Your drawing apps typically feature different brushes: pen, pencil, watercolor, etc. You could think of separate brush engines for each kind of brush. In reality a single brush engine may handle multiple kinds of brushes.

Applying pen data to the brush

But what all these brush engines have in common is that they transform the pen data in various ways to affect how the brush works.

Typically these are the ways in which a brush engine can control the stroke

• stroke opacity

• brush size

• brush rotation

And there are lot of other settings

Here is an example from Clip Studio Paint 2.0 for its Calligraphy brush

Here is an example from Krita

Pressure

If you are in a creative application that draws strokes,

The most common mapping of pen input to stroke is how pressure is handled. Typically, pressure is either:

• pressure -> ignored - it has no effect on the brush. this is common for very simple brushes

• pressure -> brush size - more pressure gives a bigger brush

• pressure -> brush opacity - more pressure gives a more opaque brush

Tilt

Tilt typically is treated like this:

• tilt -> Ignored

• tilt -> brush size - for example a pencil brushes may get wider as the pen is tilted to simulate how a real pencil makes wider marks on paper as it is tilted.

• tilt -> brush rotation - enabling the tilt to orient the brush shape

Overview

Drawing tablets that have an embedded display panel and those display panels have maximum typical brightness. You have been exposed to many display panels in televisions in phones and watches. Here I'd like to set your expectations about what you're going to experience in terms of brightness for drawing tablets.

Measurement

Brightness is measured in cd/m2 (Candela per square meter) but that is hard to type so man people use the equivalent unit of nit.

Lighting conditions

The environment you are using the tablet in greatly affects the brightness you need. Below is my take on what you need under different conditions

What you can expect from drawing tablets

Overall, display panels for drawing tablets fall in the range of 200 to 400 nits.

• Many are within the range 220 to 250 nits.

• Only a few are >= 300 nits.

Distribution of brightness values

Here is the distribution of brightness values for pen displays released on 2020 or later.

Top 10 brightest pen displays

Includes only those pen displays that have been released since 2020

Fan noise

A few tablets (only Wacom as far as I know) have fans. And these fans help to keep their brighter displays cool. The fan noise can be disturbing for some people. For others it doesn't matter.

Clip Studio Paint

In Clip Studio Paint, smoothing is called Stabilization. The Stabilization setting found under the brush's Tool property > Correction options.

If you don't see this setting click on the little wrench icon at the bottom right of the Tool property palette and you then can see the option, set it, and make it appear in the brush's tool property palette.

Krita

In Krita, under Tool Options, use the Brush Smoothing options

• David Revoy - The Brush Stabilizer - Krita features explained 2024/03/01

• TutsByKai - HOW TO USE BRUSH SMOOTHING in Krita 2020/04/29

Overview

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

Using 3rd-party USB cables for pen tablets

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.

The cables I use for pen tablets

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.

Using adapters for USB port types

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

Using 3rd-party cables for pen displays

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.

Overview

Etched glass is one of two popular treatments the glass surface of a pen display. (The other is called an anti-glare film).

"Etched glass" describes a microscopic texture applied to a glass surface.

Etched glass provides two benefits

• It reduces glare and reflections due to light hitting the tablet. Etched glass does this my scattering that light.

• Provides more "grip" for the pen. Without the etching a pen would feel "slippery" on the smooth glass surface.

Sparkle

Like other anti-glare treatments, etched glass can produce an effect called anti-glare sparkle which is a "rainbow noise" effect. Depending on the tablet there will be a little or lot of this sparkle. Learn more here: Anti-glare sparkle.

Permanence

Etched glass is a permanent treatment to the glass. It cannot be removed.

Companion video

Because this is a visible phenomenon, watching the video I made on this topic may be a good starting point. https://youtu.be/g_nsvraK3P8

Reducing the anti-glare sparkle

Overview

To prevent reflections and room lighting from interfering with your drawing experience, manufacturers of pen displays provide an anti-glare treatment.

The treatment comes in two forms:

• anti-glare etched glass

• anti-glare film

The physics of the anti-glare treatment produces an effect called anti-glare sparkle (AG sparkle).

AG sparkle is hard to describe in words, but overall it will look like a grainy look.

What it looks like

Photographing it or filming it is very tricky.

Depending on the camera settings...

• the effect can disappear

• the sparkle can look very different from what your eyes see.

• you might notice it more with some colors than others

Example 1

The the pictures below show screens that are showing black, white, and gray pixels.

The one on the right represents an mor extreme example . You can clearly see that different "color grains"

Example 2

It could also look like this - this is a very close up view

Example 3

I found this in a reddit post. The AG sparkle is everywhere but is most noticeable in the green area.

How manufacturers refer to the AG treatment

Huion Kamvas Pro 24 (4K) [GT2401]

XP-Pen Artist Pro 16TP [MD160U]

Wacom One [DTC133]

Buying a tablet

You MUST research AG sparkly for any tablet you are intend to buy.

I see many people buy tablets and not realize the AG sparkle might be present. And so they get very frustrated with their purchase.

DO NOT rely on photos provided by the manufacturer. These photos never show AG sparkle. It's probably not even deliberate that AG sparkle isn't shown because it is very tricky to photograph.

You need to ask people who use the tablet if the tablet exhibits the effect and how much the effect is visible.

Prevalence

AG sparkle is varies depending on the model of pen display.

All pen displays that I know of will have some amount of it because they all have some kind of anti-glare treatment.

Contributing factors

Your perception of AG sparkly will be affected by several factors.

• The nature of anti-glare treatment. Some tablets models in general seem to use a very intense AG treatment and others have a much milder treatment.

• The distance between your eyes and the tablet. What might be strongly noticeable at 1 few inches might be essentially invisible at a normal drawing distance.

• The pixels-per-inch (PPI) of the display.

High Pitch (PPI) displays

High-pitch means lots of pixels per inch (PPI).

For example:

• 4K on a 27" pen display has a pitch of 163.7 PPI

• 4K on 16" pen display gives a pitch of 281.4 PPI

AG Sparkle will appear more on high-pitch displays

If the same exact AG treatment is used on those two displays you will notice it more on the 16" display.

Removing the Anti-glare sparkle

AG Etched Glass

I don't know of any way to remove the anti-glare sparkle if it is due to etched glass.

However, some people have had luck reducing the sparkle by adding a film on top of the AG glass.

Here is an example:

• r/wacom - Cintiq 24 Pro OEM screen protector 6/9/2023

AG Film

Tablets with replaceable AG films

Some tablets have a film that is designed to be removed and replaced. For example the Huion Kamvas 13 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8CyIZfX8co. If you have such a tablet you could remove the film.

You could also try 3rd party screen protectors to replace the one you have. See protective sheets.

Tablets without replaceable AG films

If the tablet's film is not designed to be removed, you could still do it, but I think you might risk damaging the glass. If you do pursue this route, try to find someone who did this before and learn from their experience.

Removing the AG film without replacing it

If you do remove the film, you will be drawing on the glass of the display. To avoid scratching that glass, you may want to search for a film that can protect it, but that does not have any anti-glare treatment. See protective sheets.

Reddit threads

• r/huion - https://www.reddit.com/r/huion/comments/13ikmph/ - This deleted reddit post has an video thet perfectly demonstrates the shimmering effect of the sparkle.

• r/huion - Is this normal? Possible display issue? noisy output? 11/23/2022

References

https://www.radiantvisionsystems.com/blog/repeatable-sparkle-measurement-quality-control-anti-glare-displays

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iTGUNAxPOc

https://jamesferwerda.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/j18_ferwerda14_jsid.pdf

Overview

Also called "Matte film", anti-glare film glass is one of two popular treatments the glass surface of a pen display. (The other is called ).

This film is affixed to the glass underneath with some optically clear adhesive.

Benefits

Anti-glare film provides two benefits

• It reduces glare and reflections due to light hitting the tablet. The film does this my scattering that light.

• It adds some texture which helps the pen grip better - without this the pen would feel slippery on the glass

• As a film, it provides some protection to the glass underneath.

• Some films are designed can be removed and replaced. So if you've scratched up the film, you can restore the table to its original feeling.

Removal and replacement

For SOME tablets, these films are intended to be removed by the user. Some manufacturers even sell replacement films. These films, tend to be easily removed.

For SOME tablets, these films are quite firmly attached to the glass and are not easily removed.

If you remove the film, you'll notice typically that the display will look brighter and the colors more vibrant, however:

• you'll notice glare

• And of course the glass is no longer protected from scratches

Films are NOT lamination

Sometime people confuse these films with lamination. They are very different and have different benefits:

• These films are on TOP of the glass

• Lamination means that the glass is bonded UNDERNEATH to the display panel

So it is quite possible to have a pen display that has BOTH a film AND is laminated.

Before you begin

You may want to familiarize yourself with this doc before you continue if you are not experienced connection options:

Overview

Sometimes the tablet needs to be connected to your computer through HDMI. This means that there's a cable coming from your tablet that has a “male” HDMI plug. And of course you then need a “female” HDMI receptacle.

“Plug” and “receptable” are the official terms, by the way 😊

However it is possible you can use another port.

Order of preference of ports for adapters

Not all ports are equally good for connecting to HDMI. Some you should try first because they will give you a better experience.

If you don't have an HDMI port you should try alternative ports in the order below.

• DisplayPort

• USB-C (remember not all USB-C ports support sending a display signal).

• DVI

• VGA

Adapter details

Check your requirements

You need to make sure your adapter supports the resolution and refresh rate that you want from you pen display.

General flakiness

Generally these adapters "just work". But sometimes there are odd quirks on some computers and they just don't work or not work correctly.

VGA is a very old display technology. You should use it as a last resort.

Quality: Because VGA is analog and must be converted to a digital signal for HDMI, it is possible you might see some degradation in quality.

Reddit threads:

TLDR

Try to avoid using HDMI splitters if possible. If you need to use one, then understand the limitations and research before you buy one. But overall I recommend that you try the alternatives listed at the end of this document.

Summary

HDMI splitters are devices that take a single HDMI input and provide two HDMI outputs.

They can be very useful devices, but they are often misunderstood in the context of using pen displays. This doc will help clarify how and if you can use them.

Below is an example of a simple HDMI splitter. The male HDMI end goes to your computer. The two female HDMI ports are intended to connect to monitors, pen displays, etc. This splitter takes the signal from the computer and copies the two devices you have attached.

The problem

Often someone with a new pen display will need to connect it to their computer via HDMI.

In this situation they may have an HDMI port but it is already in use.

So, they wonder if an HDMI splitter can turn that 1 HDMI port into 2 HDMI ports. In a sense, that is exactly what an HDMI port does, but it may not do that in a way that is desirable.

What an HDMI splitter does

Physically an HDMI splitter will take a single HDMI port and then provide two HDMI ports.

However, it is important to understand that whatever input the HDMI splitter gets from the computer will ALWAYS be duplicated on the two HDMI ports.

In other words, if you were expecting to show two different things on your pen display and your monitor, then an HDMI port WILL NOT BE HELPFUL. It will always duplicate the exact same image.

If duplication is what you want then an HDMI will work for you.

Your computer thinks of the HDMI splitter as a single display

If you are an HDMI splitter, and you check your computer's settings you will see that it thinks only 1 display is connected. The computer has no idea that the signal is being split.

Native resolutions

Every display device has a native resolution.

It is typically best if the display signal they receive exactly that native resolution

If you pen display and monitor have different native resolutions and yet receive the same display signal, ALWAYS something weird will happen.

You may see an image on one of your displays that is:

• cropped

• smaller but with correct proportions

• smaller but with incorrect proportions - it will looks stretched in one dimension

• flickering

• etc.

Or you may not even see an image on one of them at all.

Refresh rate

Your HDMI splitter may not support the refresh rate you want. For example, some might only work at 4K resolution up to 30Hz. Verify refresh rate support before you buy a splitter.

Max resolution

HDMI splitters may not support the resolution of the display signal you want to send. You may want to send a 4K signal, but your HDMI splitter may only support up to 2.5K signal.

All HDMI splitters that I know of support at least 2K resolution (1920x1080)

General weirdness

Sometimes displays just don't like receiving a signal from an HDMI splitter and will show you a blank screen or some other problem.

Alternatives

Your computer may have other ports you can use.

If you have a DisplayPort port available, you can buy a DisplayPort to HDMI adapter. I use these often.

If you have a DVI port, you may be able to find an adapter that works. I don't have any experience with this.

If you have a USB-C port THAT SUPPORTS A DISPLAY SIGNAL, then you could buy a USB-C to- HDMI adapter. I have used one of these and found it to work, but it is flaky - working with some USB-C ports but not others.

Input lag

There are many threads on this, some linked below - and there isn't a clear consensus. Some claim that there is no additional lag, some claim it does. Overall I haven't noticed that splitters that I have personally used have introduce any lag into the signal.

Overview

DVI is a bit of an older display protocol type. There are DVI-to-HDMI adapters on the market but I don't have a direct experience in using them.

If your computer has a DVI port:

• You need to know the "shape" of the DVI port (see below)

• And get a male DVI to female HDMI adapter that matches that port type

Example

Here's an example of such an adapter.

DVI port types

Videos:

Reddit threads

Other resources

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Visual_Interface

These will be MALE DisplayPort to FEMALE HDMI.

Quality: There is no loss in quality when using this kind of adapter.

What I use

• Display Port - For a 2K display at 60Hz: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00K2E4T88/

• Mini DisplayPort - for 2K display at 60Hz: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00K0UDJFI

Overview

The VAST majority of pen displays up to 60Hz.

Only a handful of pen displays support refresh rates of at least 120Hz.

Pen displays that support high refresh rates

As of Nov 2024, only a few pen displays support high refresh rates:

• Wacom Cintiq Pro 27 (DTH- 271) -> 120Hz

• Wacom Cintiq Pro 22 (DTH-172) -> 120Hz

• Wacom Cintiq Pro 17 (DTH-227) -> 120Hz

• XP-Pen Artist Pro 24 GEN2 165Hz (MD240QH) -> 165Hz

Do high refresh rates improve pointer lag?

Slightly.

I've tested several of these high-refresh-rate pen displays. Compared to a 60Hz pen display, the pointer lag visually seems improved by maybe 10% to my eyes. This indicates to me that pointer lag is driven by other latencies and rates in the system.

Frequency of occurrence

A dead pixel does occur on some small percentage of monitors and pen displays.

I have not seen it be super common on pen displays from any manufacturer. And none of my pen displays from Wacom, Huion, or XP-Pen have any dead pixels.

Fixing

It MIGHT be possible to fix a dead pixel

See this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pvtiV3B_nE

Returning your tablet or getting a refund

Usually a single dead or pixel will not be enough to qualify for a return or refund.

If you have a lot of them or a cluster of them, then you have a case for a refund.

In either case there is no harm checking to see if you can return the product.

Intro

To some extent, It is possible to use an iPad as a pen display connected to your computer. I don't have any direct experience with this, so I recommend you consult the resources below.

Resources

• EyekooDrawsStuff - EasyCanvas Review - your iPad as a drawing tablet and extended display Dec 30, 2023

• Brad Colbow - Testing Luna Display and Astropad on Windows 2021/12/06

• Teoh on Tech - Luna Display for Windows (review) 2021/11/26

• EyekooDrawsStuff - iPad as a drawing tablet? Astropad Studio for Windows (2022 Review) Aug 26, 2022

Not all USB-C ports carry a display signal. You need one that can. Read more here: USB-C DisplayPort alt mode

Quality. There is no loss in quality using this kind of adapter.

What I use

I've had good luck with the "Amazon Basics Premium Aluminum USB-C to HDMI Cable Adapter (Thunderbolt 3 Compatible) 4K@60Hz, 6-Foot, Black". Note that is an entire cable, not just an adapter. link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B083KV1BR3

This comes in different lengths (6ft and 3ft) and different refresh rates (60Hz and 30Hz). Make sure you buy one long enough for your needs and get the 60Hz version.

Overview

When working with pen displays tablets you'll encounter lots of different connector types. This is a visual map of those connectors.

Terminology

• the "male" end is called the plug

• the "female" end is called the receptacle

HDMI connectors

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDMI

DisplayPort connectors

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DisplayPort

Normal-sized DisplayPort connectors

Mini-DisplayPort connectors

USB-C connectors

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB-C

The important thing to remember about USB-C is that it is a popular connector type, but it often not clear what a given cable or port support. For example:

• Some ports and cables support power only

• Some ports and cables support power + data

• Some ports and cables support power + data + display signal

• Some ports may not deliver as much power as you need

• Some cables may not support as much power as you need

Thunderbolt 3 and 4 connectors

Thunderbolt 3 and 4 use the same USB-C port shape.

The important thing about thunderbolt cables and ports is that they are required to carry a display signal. So, if your USB

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderbolt_(interface)

Thunderbolt 2 connectors

Thunderbolt 2 connectors use the min-DisplayPort connector type. And again by definition they can carry a display signal.

USB-A connectors

USB-A ports are not used to provide a display signal. They are being listed here as a reference so you know what they look like compared to the other USB ports.

Other resources

• Techquickie - Why DisplayPort Is Still Better Than HDMI Aug 11, 2023

Definition

Parallax = an apparent inaccuracy in pen tracking due to physical separation of the display panel from the surface the tip of the pen is touching. The apparent inaccuracy will change as the position of your eyes changes relative to the pen on tablet.

Video

Parallax is discussed in great detail in this video (https://youtu.be/M4rEk_RNBrM)

Cause

The cause of parallax is a physical separation between the display panel and the tip of the pen. Whenever there is any distance between the two, some parallax will be introduced. The greater the separation, the greater the visual effect of the parallax.

In drawing tablets this is caused because there the glass that covers the display panel has some non-zero width.

Depending on where your eye is, the what you see the tip of the pen pointing to is different.

Compare this line of sight

To this one:

Clearly parallax makes you see different things.

Additional parallax can be introduced by:

• anti glare matte films that applied on top of the glass.

• protective films on top of the glass

• touch senser between the glass and the display panel

Reducing parallax

The way to reduce parallax is to minimize the distance between the tip of the pen and the display panel

Here is a thick sheet of glass with lots of parallax

Compare it to a very thin sheet of glass with much less parallax

Lamination

Especially in older models of pen displays and pen computers, there is an air gap between the display panel and the glass. This air gap itself is another source of parallax. Replacing the air gap so that it is replaced with an optically clear adhesive can improve the parallax.

learn more here: Lamination

It is always preferable to by a drawing tablet that has a laminated display.

Good examples of parallax

The Apple iPad Pro has the best (lowest) parallax I've ever seen. I would rank it as EXCELLENT.

Parallax vs pen tracking accuracy

Parallax introduces an apparent visual inaccuracy.

Consider these two cases:

(1) A pen display that tracks the pen position perfectly. If there is any distance between the display panel and the where the tip of the pen touches the tablet (for example due to glass) then there will be some amount of parallax - an apparent inaccuracy.

(2) A pen display that does not track the pen position accurately but also has NO distance between the display panel and the pen tip. Such a pen display would have NO PARALLAX effect but clearly their will always be some real inaccuracy.

So we see that inaccuracy comes from two sources:

• apparent inaccuracy from the parallax

• actual inaccuracy from the tablet EMR sensor

Very often, people refer to any visual discrepancy as "parallax" but that is an incorrect usage of the term. They should only be using it when the position of their eyes in combination with the physical separation of the display panel and glass are causing the discrepancy.

Is parallax always bad?

Generally, users of drawing tablets do not want to see parallax.

However, some people (perhaps not many) even find parallax to be slightly beneficial. For them, they like to see where they are drawing a stroke on the display and having the pen tip be a little displaced from that position makes it easier to see that point.

Examples of parallax

These three pen displays show very good parallax. Notice that the one of the left is a $3500 pen display and two on the right are entry level $300 pen displays. All these displays are laminated/

Compare the laminated pen display on the left to the unlaminated pen display on the right. Disregard the blurry image - that is an issue with the photograph itself. Notice how far away the tip of the pen is from the tip of the point.

Resources

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallax

• Sweet Monia: What is parallax? And is it really bad in a pen display like Cintiq or Kamvas?(https://sweetmonia.com/Sweet-Drawing-Blog/what-is-parallax-and-is-it-really-bad-in-a-pen-display-like-cintiq-or-kamvas/)

Overview

Some pen displays exhibit a color tint at the edges of the display. Often it is a purple or lilac color. Some devices exhibit it as a yellowish or orange color. Is NOT pixelated or rough - has very smooth look.

Appearance

The tint is greatly exaggerated in these diagrams. In reality in can be very subtle.

Keep in mind the topic being discussed here is when the tint as at the edges, not when the tint is evenly distributed over the entire display.

Examples

When it appears

This effect can be visible the first time you use your pen display, or it can can show up after you've been using the pen display for a long time.

Compared to backlight bleed

Unlike backlight bleed, the tint is often visible even on a very bright or pure white background

Causes

Based on what I have read the cause due to an issue with laminated displays (see: lamination). Laminated displays have a layer of optically clear adhesive (OCA) between the glass and the display. Apparently, pressure at the edges of the display causes this effect in the OCA layer.

How often it occurs

Overall it is uncommon. It is present in NONE of the display devices I have that are laminated.

Manufacturer pages

• Huion: https://support.huion.com/en/support/solutions/articles/44002336996-how-to-adjust-color-difference-on-the-edge-of-your-tablet-by-importing-the-new-color-gamut-file-windo

Links

• https://www.reddit.com/r/huion/comments/10i3ftd/purple_edges_on_my_kanvas_24_plus/

• https://www.reddit.com/r/huion/comments/vo3o5m/bought_a_kamvas_pro_16_25k_local_retailer_says_it/

• https://www.reddit.com/r/4kTV/comments/zt6kf2/sony_purple_edges/

Overview

Drawing tablets tablets are very specific about which pens they work with. Never buy a pen without verifying compatibility first. The best way to confirm compatibility is to contact support.

Key points

• Usually a drawing tablet is only compatible with the exact pen model it came with

• A pen from Manufacturer A will most likely not work with Tablet from manufacturer B.

• A pen from Manufacturer A may not work with all tablets made by manufacturer A

• Using the same technology such as "EMR" does not mean two pens are interchangeable.

• Apple Pencils are only compatible with Apple iPads.

• Wacom has so many tablets and and pens that compatibility can get confusing: Wacom pens

If you need to replace a pen, find out the model number that is compatible with your tablet. Then order that exact model. If you don't know the model you need, contact support for your drawing tablet.

Video: Buying compatible pens for your drawing tablet (https://youtu.be/cKBSpIVeZJk)

What causes pen incompatibility?

Tech differences

• Different pens use different resonant frequencies for their EMR signal. So pens that don't use the same frequency as the tablets expect will not be compatible

• Different pens use different techniques for transmitting some kinds of information back to the tablet, and these techniques have to also be supported by the tablet to work.

• This is sometimes why you can for example try using brand X pen with brand UY tablet, and the tablet might be able to sense the position of the pen, but not the button presses, or pressure.

Non-tech causes

Driver selectively excludes pens - I know of at least one case with Wacom where the pen and tablet would actually work but the Wacom driver prevents it. The way around this is to use opentabletdriver which does not have that restriction.

Resources

• Huion's guide to finding compatible pens: (https://support.huion.com/en/support/solutions/articles/44002337828-how-do-i-choose-correct-pen-for-my-huion-tablet-)

• Wacom pen compatibility

Overview

If you want to send a display signal from your computer to a pen display via a USB-C cable, then the ports and cables need to support DP alt mode (DisplayPort Alternative Mode).

NOT ALL USB-C PORTS OR CABLES SUPPORT DP ALT MODE.

Support for DP alt mode is something you must verify for your ports and your cables. Sometimes this is not straightforward to do. You will find multiple techniques described below.

Verifying if your USB-C port or cable supports DP alt mode

Option 1: DisplayPort alt mode symbol

The DisplayPort symbol indicates the cable or port supports DP alt mode. Unfortunately many cables that DO support DP alt mode, do not have this logo.

Option 2: Thunderbolt symbol

The Thunderbolt symbol indicates a cable or port supports DP-alt mode.

Here is an example of two USB-C ports with the Thnderbolt symbol

Here is an example of a cable with a Thunderbolt symbol.

Unfortunately, many USB-C thunderbolt ports and cables simply do not have the thunderbolt logo on them.

Option 3: Unlabeled ports and cables

If your cable or port, does not support DP alt mode, you have several remaining strategies:

• Read the documentation. Look for for the words "Thunderbolt" of "DP alt mode". Sometimes the documentation will say something more ambiguous like "supports display".

• Contact product support from your manufacturer. Just ask them!

• Reach out to an online community and ask if anyone has been able to use that port in their tablet to receive a display signal.

Things to keep in mind

• You have to verify DP support for the USB-C port AND the USB-C cable. Just having one support DP alt mode is not enough.

• DP alt mode has nothing to do with whether the port or cable can carry power or carry enough power. That is a separate issue.

Sources:

• [1] Kuuube

• [2] TheSevenPens

Overview

To fully use all the features of your drawing tablet, you must to install drivers in your computer.

The importance of installing tablet drivers

Without tablet drivers you won't be able to:

• Use tilt

• Use pressure

• Configure the buttons on the pen

• Configure buttons on the tablet

• Control which display the tablet is mapped to

• Ensure that you have matching aspect ratios between your tablet and display so that you are drawing without distortion

• Control the pressure curve of the pen - though you will still be able to control it in those applications that support it.

Driver downloads

• Wacom:

• Huion:

• XP-Pen:

• Xencelabs:

Using a tablet without installing drivers

Driver compatibility with multiple tablets

A specific version of a tablet driver tends to be compatible with a range of tablets from a specific manufacturer.

For example Wacom's windows are compatible with wide range of their tablets.

OpenTabletDriver

XP-Pen X3 pen

See this reddit post:

• https://www.reddit.com/r/XPpen/comments/1buiyvy/dismantlingteardown_of_x3_stylus_for_artist_16/

Huion PEN80

The Huion PEN80 is a VERY OLD Huion pen. It use a an active EMR pen - meaning it uses a rechargeable battery for power instead of getting power from the tablet. Again, it is very old and the newer Huion Pens like the PW517 (and other models) are passive EMR pens.

I've mentioned the Huion PEN80 my 2022 EMR video as an example of one older method in which pressure information is transmitted from the pen to the tablet. c

• The nib fits into the hollow ferrite rod.

• There is enough pressure in the ferrite rod such that the nib does not fall out.

• The nib does not go all the way through the ferrite rod. There's about 2mm left inside the ferrite rod

• The spring touches the ferrite rod.

• The plastic piece fit into the the spring.

• The wires from the inductor coil to the circuit board have been cut to make it easier to present

• The wires from the circuit board to the rechargeable battery have been cut to make it easier to present.

Introduction

OpenTabletDriver (OTD) is a third-party tablet driver. "Third-party" means it is made by someone else than the tablet manufacturer.

At the OTD site: you can find:

• A list of compatibles drawing tablets

• Documentation

• A link to the GitHub repo

• A link to their Discord server:

Why use OpenTabletDriver?

Normally, you should use your manufacturer-provided driver for your tablet. However, there are some situations where OpenTabletDriver is extremely useful or required.

• Your manufacturer dropped support for your tablet model with their latest drivers. This may leave you stuck with a tablet you can't use.

• Your manufacturer's drivers may be malfunctioning in some way that is beyond your control to fix.

• You are trying to troubleshoot a problem and want to see if the problem is in the driver vs some other component.

Using OpenTabletDriver on Windows

To learn how to install and configur OTD on windowes, go here:

Key points

• OTD supports 200+ tablets across many brands and many release years

• OTD is actively maintained

• OTD supports plug-ins that can modify its behavior

• OTD runs on Windows, Linux, and MacOS.

• People use OTD as their normal tablet driver for playing osu! and even when they are doing creative tasks.

Overview

Pens vary in weight. Typically between 8g to 16g .

Here are a few examples of pen weight:

• Wacom Pro Pen 2 (KP-504E) 15g

• Huion PW600 15g

• XP-Pen X3 Pro 10g

If you want to see more pen weight data see: Pen weight comparison

Increasing pen weight

The vast majority of EMR pens are not designed to have their weight altered.

The only exception to this is the Wacom Pro Pen 3 which can be easily unscrewed and a custom metal rod from Wacom can be inserted to add weight to the pen.

If you do want to add weight to the pen, consider adding tape. Many osu! players add raquetball tape aorund their pens for a bettwe grip. Maybe that would add enough weight for your needs.

Stopping OpenTabletDriver from starting when your computer boots

• Press WINDOWS+R to bring up the Run window

• In Open, enter shell:startup

• Delete the OpenTabletDriver shortcut

Uninstalling OpenTabletDriver

• If OpenTabletDriver processes are running, then stop them.

• You can use Task manager for stop the processes, or you can stop the processes with these two Powershell commands

stop-process -name OpenTabletDriver.UX.Wpf
stop-process -name OpenTabletDriver.Daemon

• Delete the folder that contains OpenTabletDriver

Uninstalling VMulti

• Navigate to the folder that contains VMulti

• run uninstall_hiddriver.bat as admin

Related documents

• OpenTabletDriver - an introduction

• Install OpenTabletDriver on Windows

Use the OTD discord to get help

• If you need help, join the OpenTabletDriver Discord server: https://discord.gg/9bcMaPkVAR

• DO ask questions in the #support-windows channel

• DO NOT ask for support via DMs.

Do not ask your tablet manufacturer for help with OTD

Your tablet manufacturer WILL NOT help or support you in any way when you are using OpenTabletDriver instead of their own drivers.

Limitations of OpenTabletDriver

• OTD does NOT support touch input.

• OTD does NOT support tablet rotary dials.

• OTD does NOT support pen barrel rotation.

• OTD does NOT support wireless or bluetooth connections.

• OTD does NOT support per-application configuration. All OTD settings are system-wide.

Running OTD as admin

• DO NOT run OTD as administrator.

• OTD will not work correctly if you do.

Windows Ink & WinTab

• There are two Pen APIs in the Windows ecosystem: WinTab which is older, and Windows Ink which is newer.

• OTD only supports Windows Ink so any apps you want to use it with must also support Windows Ink.

• Most creative apps support Windows Ink - Clip Studio Paint, Krita, Photoshop.

• If you want pressure sensitivity, tilt, etc. - you must you MUST configure OTD to use Windows Ink and configure your apps to also use Windows Ink.

Pen hover height

By default, OTD has no restriction on the hover height of your pen. Most drivers impose an artificial limit of about 10mm for a pen. But you'll often find with OTD that the hover height is increased substantially.

The maximum hover height is dependent on the specific model of tablet involved. For example with a Wacom Intuos Pro (PTH-860) my hover height goes from 10mm with the Wacom Driver to 20mm with Open Tablet driver.

You can install a plug-in to control the hover height and have whatever limit you want.

Application data directory

• OTD stores information in its application data directory

• More here: OpenTabletDriver application data directory

• If you are doing more advanced things with OTD you should be familiar with this folder.

Number of buttons

• The vast majority of drawing tablet pens have two buttons.

• Though some consumer Wacom models have only a single button.

• A few pens have three buttons - for example a Wacom Pro Pen 3

Default button actions

These are the default settings for Wacom pens with two buttons.

• lower button (the one closer to the nib) set to perform a mouse right-click

• upper button (the one further away from the nib) set to perform a mouse left double-click

Customizing button actions

The actions taken by the buttons can be customized. Usualy to perform either a mouse action (left click, right click, a keypress, a system action, or to do nothing)

Common button customizations

Other things people configure their buttons to do:

• MOUSE DOUBLE CLICK - because same app use a double click

• CTRL-Z keypress to perform UNDO

• SPACE keypress - in many apps, SPACE + dragging pen will pan the drawing canvas

• CTRL+SPACE keypress - in many apps, this will zoom into and out of the canvas (Krita, Photoshop, Illustrator)

• NO ACTION - sometimes people accidentally press the buttons too oftern, so they set the button to do nothing.

Overview

Some brands (Huion and XP-Pen) and maybe let you export and import driver configurations. This has some great benefits:

• You can backup the settings that work well for you and restore them later

• You can configure a tablet on one computer and import that configuration on another computer.

Wacom Center

Click on the gear icon in the upper right. You will see a New Backup button for exporting, and a Import backup button.

Huion

In the Huion driver, click on the gear icon, then navigate to the Backup tab. You will see Export and Import buttons

XP-Pen

In the XP-pen driver, click on the gear icon. You will see Export config and Import config buttons.

Overview

OpenTabletDriver lets you configure smoothing via plug-ins.

Installing the Slimy Scylla plug-in

Instructions for installing Slimy Scylla are here: Slimy Scylla

Position smoothing

There are several filters that involve smoothing the position of the pen.

• Position Smoothing Moving Average

• Position Smoothing Pulled String

• Position Smoothing Exponential Moving Average

The one I recommend using is Position Smoothing Exponental Moving Average

Configuring Position Smoothing Exponential Moving Average

This is what the configuration looks like:

If you want to enable the filter, click Enable Smily Scylla ... at the top and click Apply.

Amount = how much smoothing (range 0.0 to 1.0). Try 0.1 to start with

Always Apply to Hover = to leave this unchecked.

Slimy Scylla documentation

here: https://github.com/Kuuuube/Slimy_Scylla/tree/main/docs

Overview

OpenTabletDriver lets you configure the pressure curve via plug-ins.

Installing the Slimy Scylla plug-in

Instructions for installing Slimy Scylla are here:

Configuring the pressure curve

In the Filters tab, enable Slimy Scylla Pressure Curve

This is what the configuration looks like:

To enable the filter, click Enable Smily Scylla and click Apply.

Remember once you make changes to the settings, always click Apply in OTD

Slimy Scylla documentation

Finding older drivers

Manufacturers usually keep all the old versions of their tablet drivers on their website. If you can't find the driver you need you can always contact customer support and they should be able to help you find it for you.

Challenges in using older drivers

You may run into problems using an older version of a tablet driver.

A common issue is that the operating system has changed since the driver was first created and applications have also changed in that time. So if you have an older driver you may have difficulty using some features. For example a very new version of Photoshop combined with an older version of the Wacom driver can create a situation where buttons on the pen do not work. The issues you will run into are highly dependent on the specific version of the operating system and the specific version of the application.

Alternatives to using older drivers

Consider

Overview

This site (https://patrickhlauke.github.io/touch/pen-tracker/) is sample app that shows how a web page can interact with a drawing tablet. It is also a good way to easily diagnose some tablet or pen problems.

Start using your pen on the site and you'll see some information in the upper left hand corder.

Additional information

Source code for pen-tracker is here: https://github.com/patrickhlauke/touch/tree/gh-pages/pen-tracker

https://patrickhlauke.github.io/getting-touchy-presentation/ -

Overview

Somewhere between 100 to 250 times a second, your tablet sends a "package" of data to your computer. This package is called a "tablet report" or just "report". The tablet driver, operating, and application may modify that data. And of course a drawing application uses that data to draw a stroke.

Report rate

You can see this often in the specifications for a tablet as "report rate". Here is an example.

"RPS" means "Reports per second"

Because this is a value per second in some literature you might see the unit Hz being used. So for example instead of "200 RPS" you might see "200hz".

Report contents

The exact format of the data varies dpeending on the tablet. But conceptually the report will include data like this:

• The x,y position of the pen

• The pressure reading. 0 = no pressure or some positive integer if there is pressure

• The tilt - composed of two values: x tilt and y tilt

• The button press status

The report contains other interesting things, but these are the critical ones for drawing strokes.

By default, drawing tablets are configured for landscape orientation. However all drawing tablets can be configured to handle portrait orientation also. This applies to both pen tablets and pen displays.

This is done via a "rotation". You will at least need to make a change in the tablet driver. And if you are using a pen display, also in the display settings of your computer's operating system. This rotation configuration instructions are here: Rotating a drawing tablet

Overview

On Windows, manufacturer tablet drivers sometimes uninstalling a manufacturer tablet isn't enough. Occasionally the drivers leave bits of themselves around. The TableDriverCleanup tool created by user can help remove these leftover bits.

If you want to see the source code to understand exactly what it does then go here:

Unfortunately I do not know of an equivalent tool for MacOS. But on the other hand, I don't see that it is needed on MacOS.

Step 1: Follow the normal uninstall procedures

• Navigate to Add/Remove programs and uninstall your existing tablet drivers.

• Note that you may be required to restart your computer.

Step 2: Restart if needed

If Step 1 did not require a restart of your computer, then restart your computer now.

Step 3: Run the TabletDriverCleanup tool

• Download

• Extract all contents of the zip file to any location

• Right-click on TabletDriverCleanup.exe and click Run as administrator

• The cleanup tool will open a terminal window and show the results of its cleaning. In the example below it did not find any leftover driver components to uninstall.