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Cintiq 21ux Drivers

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Mar 23, 2010  Wacom's new Cintiq 21UX may have the same name as the original model we reviewed back in 2006. But it includes several significant upgrades, not. First Look Review: Wacom's pressure-sensitive, interactive pen display fits the bill for creative professionals who want a leading-edge tool. Wacom's new Cintiq 21UX is a unique product that combines the best of digitizing tablets with a high-resolution display, allowing digital artists to draw.

• Wacom Cintiq 21UX

The Apple iPad () may be this spring’s most talked about touch-sensitive device, but for digital artists, the Wacom Cintiq 21UX interactive pen display still holds the title of top tablet. Thanks to a recent redesign, the 22-inch Cintiq now offers twice the pressure sensitivity of its predecessor, two strategically repositioned Touch Strips, and 16 programmable ExpressKeys that enable you to customize the tablet to fit your work style.

Traditional graphics tablets require you to sketch on one surface and watch as the results appear on the monitor on the other side of your desk. This approach can be tricky to master. With the Cintiq, you draw directly on the built-in monitor screen. Even better, depending on the software brush you select, you can achieve different artistic effects. Push harder and your stroke darkens. Tilt the pen for a broader line.

The new Cintiq 21UX utilizes Wacom’s second-generation sensor (already incorporated into its Intuos 4 product line) to offer an impressive 2048 levels of pressure sensitivity. Couple the Cintiq with a capable graphics program such as Adobe Photoshop () or Corel Painter () and you can achieve very nuanced, organic-looking illustrations without giving up the flexibility of working in the digital realm.

The updated pen is about the thickness of a Sharpie and features a soft rubber grip that makes it very comfortable to hold. Beneath your index finger is a programmable rocker switch that you can use to right-click or double-click as you point with the pen’s nib. There’s even an eraser on the other end of the pen for quickly cleaning up stray scribbles.

One-time pen calibration took less than 30 seconds. Once calibrated, the pen tracked remarkably accurately, even at the very edges of the working area where some tablets fail.

As with its previous incarnation, the updated Cintiq incorporates two touch sensitive strips that allow you to quickly zoom, scroll, change brush size, or rotate the canvas just by dragging you fingertip. In the redesign, these Touch Strips are relocated to the back side of the unit to avoid accidental activation while sketching. The specific Touch Strip function is designated by using one of the two round toggle buttons on the front of the unit. Also included are 16 programmable ExpressKeys–symmetrically located, of course, so that the unit can be used just as easily use by lefties as righties.

The Cintiq boasts an admirable 1600-by-1200-pixel resolution, 21.3-inch TFT display (measured diagonally). For those accustomed to the ubiquitous widescreen monitor, the Cintiq’s 4:3 aspect ratio may seem like a bit of a throwback, but it makes the physical geometry of rotating the monitor from portrait to landscape much easier. Apple Cinema Display users might notice that the Cintiq is not quite as bright (200 cd/m2 vs. Apple’s 330 cd/m2).

The included display stand allows the tablet to be adjusted from a near-horizontal 10-degree incline to a maximum of 65 degrees. Removing the tablet from the stand is a cinch, but given the unit’s size I found it best to leave it be.

There’s a reason they don’t call it “Thintiq.” At just under two inches thick and 19 pounds (without the stand), Steve Jobs would need to spend a lot of time in the gym in order to wave this tablet around onstage one-handed. And although the unit elegantly integrates its video, data, and power connections into a single six-foot cable, the half-inch-thick cord is a bit unwieldy for stand-free, casual operation. Current Cintiq owners looking to upgrade to a less cumbersome model will have to wait.

Wacom Cintiq 21ux Software

Macworld’s buying advice

Wacom’s Cintiq 21UX interactive pen display is a dream tool for electronic artists looking to expand their digital palettes. But with a $2,000 price tag and a weight of nearly 23 pounds, many will find it too costly or too bulky to meet their needs.

[Tim Haddock is a writer and corporate communications professional living in Vermont.]

• Wacom Cintiq 21UX

  Pros

  • Double the pressure sensitivity of previous model
  • 16 programmable ExpressKeys
  • Twin Touch Strips relocated to rear of unit
  • Screen reclines and rotates using provided stand
  • Solid-feeling, textured glass

  Cons

  • Hefty size and beefy tether limits portability
  • Price still too steep for most users

Wacom has introduced a new version of its Cintiq 21UX, a redesigned update of its interactive pen display. It features enhanced pen performance and improved ergonomics for professional photographers, designers, artists, and animators. The new product carries the same name and nearly the same specifications as the previous version, but it offers a number of updated features.

The new Cintiq 21UX, which is now black in color, will cost $1,999 and will begin shipping in the United States, Canada, and Mexico by early April.

The pen

The Cintiq 21UX Grip Pen features Wacom’s proprietary Tip Sensor technology, offering users what the company calls near-zero (one gram) starting pressure. “Now, pressure-sensitive support can start with an incredibly light touch, emulating the same organic feel, response, and result derived from working with traditional brushes, markers, and pens,” said Don Varga, Wacom’s senior product manager.

The new Cintiq pen features 2048 levels of pressure sensitivity, doubling the resolution of the previous pen’s pressure curve and improving the accuracy of pressure-sensitive effects, such as controlling line weights or opacity adjustments. The Grip Pen also has a pressure-sensitive eraser and two side switches that can be customized for commands such as double-click and right-click.

Designed to improve workflow

This new display features an updated ergonomic design. The customizable, application-specific ExpressKeys, eight located on each side of the display’s bezel, are designed to help improve workflow and boost productivity by making commonly used commands readily available.

Pressing the top ExpressKey brings up an on-screen display showing the settings of all the ExpressKeys and Touch Strips. The close proximity of these tools to the work area improves efficiency and comfort. It also helps save time by minimizing dependence on the keyboard without taking focus away from the pen hand, according to Wacom.

Also new is the introduction of two user-defined, four-function Touch Strip Toggle buttons. These control the function of their associated Touch Strip, which is ergonomically positioned on the back of the bezel. The position of an illuminated LED located along the perimeter of the Toggle button indicates the current function of the Touch Strip. The Touch Strips, which are application specific, can be used for up to four functions—such as zoom, scroll, brush size adjustment, and canvas rotation—per application. This new treatment allows users to toggle with their thumbs while using a forefinger or middle finger to control Touch Strip speed and variation.

Wacom Cintiq 21ux

“The four-function Toggle combined with the new location of the Touch Strips provides increased comfort and measurable increases in speed,” says Varga. “Additionally, locating the Touch Strips on the back of the pen display rather than the front helps prevent accidental contact with the pen hand when, for example, flowing brush strokes are employed and extend beyond the screen’s border.”

The stand

The Cintiq 21UX’s stand lets users set the pen display at any angle between 10 degrees and 65 degrees to match their working posture. The new Cintiq also can be rotated up to 180 degrees in either direction to accommodate natural drawing movements or a different viewing angle. Users can also remove the Cintiq from the stand to use on a table top, or to attach it to an articulating arm (not included) using the standard VESA (Video Electronics Standards Association) mounts located on the back of the display. A new weighted pen stand doubles as a twist-off storage compartment for pen nibs and the nib removal tool. Standard, felt, and stroke nibs are included.

Software

Besides Wacom's driver software, which includes radial menus for quick “pen-point” access to additional customized shortcuts, the Cintiq 21UX ships with Corel Painter Sketch Pad, plus Nik Color Efex Pro 3.0 WE6 and Wacom Brushes 3.0, plug-ins for Adobe Photoshop and Photoshop Elements.

The new tablet works with OS X 10.3.9 or later.