How A Wacom Digitizer Pen Works
Pen Abled Tech
Throughout history, we have used writing devices and have witnessed the pen take on different shapes or forms, from the simple quill dipped in ink to the famous ball point pen of today. We have even chuckled when the animated Fred Flintstone yielded his crude hammer and chisel with surprising dexterity!
Recently, thanks to Wacom’s Patented Penabled Technology, the pen has become a very sensitive digital tool. Not only can you write, sketch or draw while your work instantly appears on the monitor screen, but you can navigate your computer with it as well, with taps and a flick of the wrist … all that without any batteries or wires!
How it Works
Wacom Bamboo Fun Small
The secret lies in electromagnetic resonance technology. The graphic tablet and its partner pen communicate with each other through radio waves. The graphic tablet conceals a grid of wires which alternates the signals of transmission and reception at approximately every 20 microseconds. Within the stylus, an ingenious arrangement of tiny coil-oscillators, capacitor resonant circuits, transmitters, pressure sensors and minuscule modulator chips, all work in synchronicity to relay messages back to the graphic tablet.
As the Wacom digital pen comes close to the graphic tablet’s drawing area, it begins to resonate and generates its own frequency back to the tablet. Instantly and with exceptional accuracy, the tablet detects the pen’s presence and tracks the pen’s location. The tablet then transmits all the information necessary for a smooth, precise performance to the computer.
Battery-free and Wireless Stylus
This information signal not only relays the location of the stylus and whether the pen point or the eraser (if any present) is being used, but also the pressure being applied on the pen or eraser, tilt angles and rotation sensitivity (in certain pens) plus all the personalized adjustments the user can program into the pen. With the Intuos3 and Cintiq series, the graphic tablet can even detect which type of pen is being utilized with all of its specific configurations.
Since the tablet grid provides all the power to its accompanying pen (and mouse if present) through reciprocal resonance detection, batteries and wires are absent. Replacing parts that might run down in a regular cordless pen or having to deal with batteries that make a cordless pen top heavy has now become obsolete in a Wacom stylus. What you are left with is a slim, ultra-light device which adds to its precision, comfort and enjoyment of use.
Pens with a Purpose
Each Wacom graphic tablet, be it Bamboo, Bamboo Fun, Graphire Bluetooth, Intuos3. Intuos4 or Cintiq, comes with its own matching digital stylus. Plus, there is a programmable button, which you can reconfigure to your preferences, on the shaft of every stylus (except for the Ink pens and the 6D Art Pen). However, if you are searching for a specific result, desire more precision, and require tilt sensitivity, Wacom provides the Intuos3 /Cintiq series and the new Intuos4 pen tablet models with a variety of optional pens to choose from, such as:
Wacom Intuos3 Pen Series
1. the Grip Pen, included with every Intuos3 Graphic Tablet and Cintiq Interactive Pen Display, has a latex-free cushioned contoured barrel which reduces grip tension by up to 40% – a feature helpful in relieving many hand and finger muscle strains
2. the Classic Pen, a slim version of the standard Grip Pen, for those who prefer to work without a cushioned-grip
3. the Ink pen, allows you to draw or trace with ink on a regular sheet of paper placed on the drawing area of the graphic tablet while your work immediately appears on the screen
4. the Airbrush, simulates the real thing and can do a lot more with amazing dexterity and performance
5. the 6D Art Pen, the only digitizer pen with rotation sensitivity and an elliptically-shaped barrel whose broad angled pen-tip brilliantly recaptures felt marker, paint brush or calligraphic fountain-pen effects
(The Intuos4 Pen Tablets have their own set of optional digitizer pens with the same names and functions as the above Intuos3 pens but with more features and capabilities, thus making them compatible with Intuos4 graphic tablets only.)
Pen on Monitor Screen Sensation
Wacom Cintiq 21UX
However, Wacom has taken one step further. With the above Intuos3 digitizer pens, (except for the Ink Pen) you can now write or draw directly on a special LCD monitor screen. Known as interactive pen displays, the adjustable Cintiq 12WX or Cintiq 21UX become portable digital canvasses providing pixel-perfect accuracy, stunning results and mouse-free comfort !
The digitizer pen has even evolved beyond the basic speed and precision of the regular computer mouse. More and more people are enjoying the enhanced freedom of interacting with their computer using a wireless and battery-free stylus. As a result, many have reaped the health benefits of less wrist and finger pain.
Through the centuries, paint brushes, pencils and pens have been the “natural” tool of choice for writing or drawing. Now with Wacom graphic tablets, using a pen has never been so exciting and empowering! The digitizer pen has truly become a sophisticated and intelligent computer input device allowing you to do more with a stylus than you ever dreamed possible.
February 2009
