A graphics tablet (or digitizing tablet, graphics pad, drawing tablet[1]) is a computer input device that allows one to hand-draw images and graphics, similar to the way one draws images with a pencil and paper. An input device is any Peripheral (piece of Computer hardware equipment used to provide data and control signals to an information processing system (such as a These tablets may also be used to capture data of handwritten signatures.
A graphics tablet (also called pen pad) consists of a flat surface upon which the user may "draw" an image using an attached stylus, a pen-like drawing apparatus. A stylus (plural styli or styluses) is a Writing utensil. The word is also used for a computer accessory ( PDAs) The image generally does not appear on the tablet itself but, rather, is displayed on the computer monitor. A visual display unit, often called simply a monitor or display, is a piece of Electrical equipment which displays images generated from the Video
Some tablets are intended as a general replacement for a mouse as the primary pointing and navigation device for desktop computers.
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History and background
Early graphics tablets are most commonly known as spark or acoustic tablets, used a stylus that generated clicks with a spark plug. An acoustic tablet, also known as a spark tablet, is a form of Graphics tablet that uses Sound to locate the position of the Stylus within the An acoustic tablet, also known as a spark tablet, is a form of Graphics tablet that uses Sound to locate the position of the Stylus within the A spark plug (also very rarely nowadays in British English: a sparking plug) is an electrical device that fits into the Cylinder The clicks were then triangulated by a series of microphones to locate the pen in space. The system was fairly complex and expensive, and the sensors were susceptible to interference by external noise.
The first graphics tablet resembling contemporary tablets was the RAND Tablet[2] also known as the Grafacon (for Graphic Converter), introduced in 1964. The RAND Tablet employed a grid of wires under the surface of the pad that encoded horizontal and vertical coordinates in a small magnetic signal. In Mathematics and its applications a coordinate system is a system for assigning an n - Tuple of Numbers or scalars to each point In Physics, magnetism is one of the Phenomena by which Materials exert attractive or repulsive Forces on other Materials. In Telecommunication, signalling (UK spelling or signaling (US spelling has the following meanings The use of signals for controlling communications The stylus would receive the magnetic signal, which could then be decoded back as coordinate information.
Digitizers were popularized in the mid 1970s and early 1980s by the commercial success of the ID (Intelligent Digitizer) and BitPad manufactured by the Summagraphics Corp. These digitizers were used as the input device for many high-end CAD (Computer Aided Design) systems as well as bundled with PC's and PC based CAD software like AutoCAD. AutoCAD is a CAD (Computer Aided Design Software application for 2D and 3D Design and drafting, developed and sold by
Summagraphics also made an OEM version of its BitPad which was sold by Apple Computer as an accessory to their Apple II. Apple Inc, ( formerly Apple Computer Inc, is an American Multinational corporation with a focus on designing and manufacturing Consumer electronics These tablets used a magneto-strictive technology which used wires made of a special alloy stretched over a solid substrate to accurately locate the tip of a stylus or the center of a digitizer cursor on the surface of the tablet. This technology also allowed Proximity or "Z" axis measurement.
The first home computer graphics tablet was the KoalaPad. A home computer was a class of Personal computer entering the market in 1977 and becoming common during the 1980s "PC Design" redirects here For the design of the IBM PC and its clones see IBM PC. Though originally designed for the Apple II, the Koala eventually broadened its applicability to practically all home computers with graphics support, examples of which include the TRS-80 Color Computer, Commodore 64, and Atari 8-bit family. The Radio Shack TRS-80 Color Computer (also called Tandy Color Computer, or CoCo) was a Home computer launched in 1980 The Atari 8-bit family is a series of 8-bit Home computers manufactured from 1979 to 1992 Competing tablets were eventually produced; the tablets produced by Atari were generally considered to be of high quality. Atari is a corporate and brand name owned by several entities since its inception in 1972.
Operation
- Passive tablets
- Passive tablets, most notably those by Wacom, make use of electromagnetic induction technology, where the horizontal and vertical wires of the tablet operate as both transmitting and receiving coils (as opposed to the wires of the RAND Tablet which only transmit). (pronounced in English as /'wɑːkɒm/ or /'wækɒm/ ( is a world-wide company that produces Graphics tablets and related products headquartered in Otone, Saitama Faraday's law of induction describes an important basic law of electromagnetism which is involved in the working of Transformers Inductors and many forms of The tablet generates an electromagnetic signal, which is received by the LC circuit in the pen. An LC circuit is a variety of resonant circuit or tuned circuit and consists of an Inductor, represented by the letter L and a Capacitor, represented The wires in the tablet then change to a receiving mode and read the signal generated by the pen. Modern arrangements also provide pressure sensitivity and one or more switches (similar to the buttons on a mouse), with the electronics for this information present in the pen itself, not the tablet. Pressure (symbol 'p' is the force per unit Area applied to an object in a direction perpendicular to the surface On older tablets, changing the pressure on the pen nub or pressing a switch changed the properties of the LC circuit, affecting the signal generated by the pen, which modern ones often encode a digital data stream onto the signal. By using electromagnetic signals, the tablet is able to sense the stylus position without the stylus having to even touch the surface, and powering the pen with this signal means that devices used with the tablet never need batteries. Wacom's patents don't permit their competitors to employ such techniques.
- Active tablets
- Active tablets differ in that the stylus used contains self-powered electronics that generate and transmit a signal to the tablet. These pens rely on an internal battery rather than the tablet for their power, resulting in a bulkier pen. Eliminating the need to power the pen means that such tablets may listen for pen signals constantly, as they do not have to alternate between transmit and receive modes, which can result in less jitter.
For both technologies, the tablet can use the received signal to also determine the distance of the stylus from the surface of the tablet, the tilt (angle from vertical) of the stylus, and other information in addition to the horizontal and vertical positions.
Compared to a resistive or capacitive touchscreen, a graphics tablet offers much higher precision, the ability to track an object which is not touching the tablet, and can gather much more information about the stylus, but is typically more expensive, and can only be used with the special stylus or other accessories. A Touch Screen is a display which can detect the presence and location of a touch within the display area
Some tablets, especially inexpensive ones aimed at young children, come with a corded stylus, using technology similar to older RAND tablets, although this design is no longer used on any normal tablets.
Accessories
The first accessories were special mouse-like pucks designed for CAD applications, typically with a clear plastic area containing crosshairs for precise tracing of drawings, followed by a basic stylus. In Computing, a mouse (plural mice, mouse devices, or mouses) Today, a graphics tablet will come with a stylus for all models and a mouse for all but the cheapest or smallest models, and typically have a wide variety of other accessories available too. Many tablets use a digital data stream to encode information on the pen, often also transmitting a unique serial number, allowing the software to recognize if the user has multiple input devices, and assign different properties (brush type, color, etc) to each one.
Stylus
A modern stylus has a pressure sensitive tip capable of sensing many levels of pressure against the tablet. A very inexpensive tablet might be able to sense 256 levels of pressure, while a normal tablet 512 levels, and a professional tablet a full 1024 levels of pressure. The increase in sensitivity of the tablet tip allows more precise control, especially if software scaling is used to allow a large response to a light increase in pressure. Most styli contain at least one button, with two being the most common number, that are typically assigned to the same functions as mouse buttons would be. High-end tablets will also measure the tilt of the pen, giving the angle from vertical along both the X and Y axis (typically up to 60 degrees), allowing the graphics program to change the shape or other attributes of the brush depending on how the stylus is held. Some manufacturers also sell a stylus that uses a ball-point pen cartridge in the tip, allowing the user to place a sheet of paper onto the tablet, and draw a hard-copy on the paper in addition to the digitized version. A ballpoint pen ( Hungarian: golyóstoll also Eponymously known in British English and Australian English as a biro and ˈbaɪroʊ
Stylus eraser
Many modern styli have an eraser-shaped tip on the top of the pen, and additional circuitry to allow the pen to be used upside-down with the eraser end against the tablet, often very similar or identical to the circuitry used for the tip. An eraser or rubber is an article of Stationery that is used for removing Pencil and sometimes Pen writings The pressure-sensitive eraser is typically assigned a function similar to a real eraser, removing recent or all layers of coloring from the image, although it can be assigned other functions, such as a differently shaped brush, a selection tool, or other feature of the application.
Mouse
Unlike a regular computer mouse, a graphics tablet mouse is capable of being used in "absolute mode," where the mouse position on the screen directly corresponds with its physical location on the tablet, or in "relative mode," where it emulates a regular mouse, for high-speed pointing. Graphics tablet mice typically contain several buttons, and often pressure-sensitive thumb wheels or other controls allowing similar capabilities as the pressure-sensitive tip of a stylus. Many tablets can also detect the rotation of the mouse on the tablet, allowing applications to use this data.
Puck
A puck is typically distinguished from a mouse as having crosshairs for accurately tracing diagrams, a large number of buttons (12 buttons laid out similar to a telephone pad is not uncommon), or other features aimed at CAD usage. A crosshair or reticle is a shape superimposed on an image that is used for precise alignment of a device most notably that of a Scope rifle. They are far less common than a regular tablet mouse, and only available for some tablets.
Airbrush
Some tablets come with a speciality stylus designed to emulate an airbrush, often with additional finger-operated wheels to mimic the paint flow, nozzle shape, and other adjustments found on the genuine article. An airbrush is a small air-operated tool that sprays various media including Ink and Dye, but most often Paint by a process of Nebulization These are significantly less common than a regular stylus, and often much more expensive.
Art pens
Like a regular stylus, they typically resemble a pen with a pressure-sensitive tip, but have additional features, such as allowing the tablet to recognize the rotation of the pen in addition to the standard tilt and pressure, allowing the application to rotate the brush, reshape the brush, or otherwise make use of this additional information, often to generate more realistic brush strokes.
Screen
A graphics tablet/screen hybrid (or tablet/LCD hybrid, Tablet LCD Monitor[3]) is a graphics tablet that incorporates an LCD into the tablet itself, allowing the user to draw directly "on" the display surface. A graphics tablet/screen hybrid (or tablet/LCD hybrid Tablet LCD Monitor) is a Graphics tablet that incorporates an LCD into the tablet itself allowing the user It should not be confused with tablet PC hybrids. A Tablet PC is a Notebook or slate-shaped Mobile computer, equipped with a Touchscreen or Graphics tablet/screen hybrid technology which allows
Uses
General uses
Graphics tablets, because of their stylus-based interface and ability to detect some or all of pressure, tilt, and other attributes of the stylus and its interaction with the tablet, are widely considered to offer a very natural way to create computer graphics, especially two-dimensional computer graphics. Computer graphics are Graphics created by Computers and more generally the Representation and Manipulation of Pictorial Data Indeed, many graphics packages (e. g. The GIMP, Corel Painter, Inkscape, Photoshop, Pixel image editor, Studio Artist, the Crosfield imaging system, Quantel Paintbox, and others) are able to make use of the pressure (and, in some cases, stylus tilt or rotation) information generated by a tablet, by modifying the brush size, shape, opacity, color, or other attributes based on data received from the graphics tablet. The GNU Image Manipulation Program, or GIMP, is a free Raster graphics editor used to process digital graphics and photographs Inkscape is a free and Open source Vector graphics editor application Pixel image editor (formerly known as Pixel32 is an Image editor written by the Slovak programmer Pavel Kanzelsberger The Quantel Paintbox is a dedicated Computer graphics Workstation for composition of Broadcast television Video and graphics Opacity is the measure of impenetrability to electromagnetic or other kinds of radiation especially visible Light.
In East Asia, graphics tablets, or pen tablets as they are known, are widely used in conjunction with input method editor software (IMEs) to write Chinese, Japanese, Korean characters (CJK). CJK is a collective term for Chinese, Japanese, and Korean, which constitute the main East Asian languages. The technology is popular and inexpensive and offers a methodology for interacting with the computer in a more natural manner than typing on the keyboard, with the pen tablet supplanting the role of the computer mouse.
Tablets are also popular for technical drawings and CAD, as one can put a piece of paper on them without interfering with their function. A technical drawing is a form of graphic communication This type of Drawing is used in the transforming of an idea into physical form
Many of the most successful webcomic artists use tablets, including Hawk of AppleGeeks, Jorge Cham of Piled Higher and Deeper, Tim of Ctrl+Alt+Del and Gabe of Penny Arcade, who uses a graphics tablet to color directly into the computer. Webcomics, online comics, or Internet comics are Comics Published on a Website, often exclusively providing easy access to an Applegeeks is a Webcomic illustrated by Mohammad "Hawk" Haque, and written by Ananth Panagariya. Piled Higher and Deeper (also known as PhD Comics) is a newspaper and web comic strip written and drawn by Jorge Cham that follows the lives Ctrl+Alt+Del (CAD is a gaming -related Webcomic and animated series written by Tim Buckley Penny Arcade is a Webcomic written by Jerry Holkins and illustrated by Mike Krahulik.
Finally, tablets are gaining popularity as a replacement for the computer mouse as a pointing device. In Computing, a mouse (plural mice, mouse devices, or mouses) They can be more intuitive to some users than the mouse, as the position of the pen on the tablet typically corresponds to the location of the pointer on the GUI shown on the computer screen. Those artists using the pen for graphics work will as a matter of convenience use the tablet and pen for standard computer operations rather than put down the pen and find the mouse.
Graphics tablets are available in various sizes and price ranges; A6-sized tablets being relatively inexpensive and A3-sized tablets being far more expensive. A series Paper in the A series format has a 1\sqrt{2} aspect ratio although this is rounded to the nearest millimetre A series Paper in the A series format has a 1\sqrt{2} aspect ratio although this is rounded to the nearest millimetre Modern tablets usually connect to the computer via a USB interface.
A solution for injuries
Advocates of tablets and pens cite relief from occupational overuse syndrome varieties such as repetitive strain injury [1]. Numerous human body disorders are now classed as occupational overuse syndrome. A repetitive strain injury (RSI also called cumulative trauma disorder ( CTD) occupational overuse syndrome, or work related upper limb disorder Sufferers of carpal tunnel syndrome also report good results. Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS or median neuropathy at the wrist is a medical condition in which the Median nerve is compressed at the Wrist, leading This is because the use of a computer mouse tends to be very repetitive on the wrist, whereas operating a pen is more natural and tends to involve the movement of the entire arm [2].
Similar devices
Some Interactive Whiteboards operate on the induction principle, with some brands offering high resolution wall size graphic tablets up to 95" along with options for pressure and multiple input based on different resonance patterns from tuned pens. An interactive whiteboard is a large interactive display that connects to a Computer and Projector. Interactive Whiteboards are proving to be immensely popular in schools in the UK, US and Mexico.
Touch screens like those found on some Tablet PCs and the Nintendo DS are operated in similar ways, but they usually use either optical grids or a pressure sensitive film instead, and therefore they do not need a special pointing device. A Touch Screen is a display which can detect the presence and location of a touch within the display area A Tablet PC is a Notebook or slate-shaped Mobile computer, equipped with a Touchscreen or Graphics tablet/screen hybrid technology which allows The is a dual-screen Handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo.
The graphics tablet are also used for Audio Haptic products where blind or visually impaired people touch swelled graphics on a graphic tablet and get audio feedback from that. [4] The product that is using this technology is called Tactile Talking Tablet or T3. A talking tactile tablet or T3 is a Graphic tablet with a touch surface that can be used as an Input device that uses swell paper to create 3D overlays and connects
References
- ^ About.com - Before You Buy a Graphics Tablet
- ^ An Historical Timeline of Computer Graphics and Animation,
- ^ USync's 17" Tablet LCD Monitor
- ^ Aaron Marks. "Audio Haptics for Visually Impaired Information Technology", Axistive, 2006-11-17. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 284 - Diocletian is proclaimed emperor by his soldiers
- Repetitive Stress. WACOM Technology United States Website. Retrieved on 2005-08-24. Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 49 BC - Julius Caesar 's General Gaius Scribonius Curio is defeated in the Second Battle of the Bagradas River
See also
External links
- Graphics Tablet for Linux
- Photoshop Power Tab Vs Paupers Paint Pad - A Comparison Between A Graphics Tablet And A Touch Pad by John 'Darlo' Darlington
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