[rdgraffix]

Howdy all,

I'm thinking about getting an LCD display tablet, probably a Wacom Cintiq. I was planning on still using my 23in LCD Studio Display as my main viewing screen, but I was hoping that having the screen represented on the tablet surface would help with hand-eye coordination and speed up my workflow.

I was wondering, has anyone here used an LCD disply tablet? What is your opinion of them? What are the good pionts and bad points and would you recommend switching?

Many thanks for you help.

[Socar MYLES]

Well, I tried one out briefly, but I've got to say, I wasn't impressed. It was okay, but that's as far as I'd go. For starters, it was pretty awkward to hold. Then, with my hand constantly touching the screen, it got grubby and smudged very fast. And LCD just isn't the way to go for accurate colour selection. What you draw on a Cintiq is liable to look entirely different on a standard monitor.

For me, I'd say the Cintiq is fine for photo retouching, last-minute updates, or anything where the colours are already in place. It's also great for presentations. But for drawing and painting...nah. Wouldn't go for it, myself.

[MadSamoan]

I use one at work and wouldn't recommend it. The LCD display makes colors look much more saturated than they really are and the maximum resolutions aren't that great. Also, I'm constantly adjusting the angle of the monitor from when I'm just looking at the monitor and when I'm actually drawing on it. At $2000 it's still a novelty. I'd wait until they can handle higher resolutions and are more color accurate. They're not that bad, but for the price, it's not justifiable and I don't really notice a speed up in my workflow.

[ June 06, 2002: Message edited by: MadSamoan ]

[Loki]

waste of money ...

I also would get a CRT display if you want to do digital illustration or similar things ... colors are just more accurate


On an LCD the brightness changes depending on how you position your head ... instant colorcorrection ...


spend the money on a nice tablet and a good CRT (21"+) and you'll be one happy camper

[ June 07, 2002: Message edited by: Loki ]

[sfr]

Loki, did you read which LCD display he has? It's the brand new 23" Apple Cinema Display, it has a resolution of 1920*1200 and costs a mere $3499... I haven't seen it, but I've seen the older 22" model and it's pretty damn impressive already, with accurate color and very wide viewing angle (well, if it's not good enough for someone, just send it my way )

Saffron

[YVerloc]

I have a Wacom Cintiq at work and one at home as well. I now swear by it. I was lucky enough to find a vendor here in Vancouver that let me play with a demo unit for a week before I forked over my hard earned cash to buy one. The cons: low res (1024*768), only 512 levels of pressure sensitivity, skewed colors. The pros: well, this depends on what you want to do I guess. I stopped drawing on paper about a year ago, and I got fairly decent at drawing on my IntuosII. But a drawing that would have taken me a full day before I can now do in a couple of hours on the Cintiq. I've been doing a fair amount of layout drawings, so I used to spend a lot of time with my hand on control-z to undo a wonky line. Now it's not an issue. I even turn the Cintiq on the table like I would a big sheet of paper.

I've got it hooked up to a card that supports dual video outs. I've got my big 25 inch CRT on the analog out, and the Cintiq on the DVI out. The nice thing about this setup is that whenever I feel like it, I can set my CRT to be my only display. I can then boost the res to whatever I like (I usually work at 1600 * 1200 ). In this mode, even though the Cintiq is no longer displaying, it still works as a tablet!

Anyhow, I like it a lot.
cheers
YV

[Loki]

sfr: I don't trust no stinkin LCD ...