Review of Cintiq 22HD by Wacom

The life of an artist is truly a blessed one. They get to sit the whole day in a dimly-lit, comfortably warm room without the incessant sounds of telephones, keyboards, and noisy co-workers, sketching on the uber-cool Wacom Cintiq 22HD Interactive Monitor.

Continuing on its tradition of bringing the best drawing surfaces to suit illustrators, artists, designers and all those who want to sketch without bothering about the dent in their pockets, Wacom has come up with Cintiq 22HD drawing surface. 

The Look:

Cintiq 22HD looks classy and sleek with an equal dose of simplicity and modernity in its make. The tablet is slim at just 55mm with curved, well finished edges. You can use the tablet without the stand but I don’t suppose it would be comfortable to use that way. There are small vents lining the back panel to keep the device cool enough to touch.

The tablet with the stand attached weighs just over 18.5 pounds. But the device is quite large, thanks to its bezel and various controls adorning the sides. There is a power switch, menu, settings and shortcuts buttons on the top of the device, DVI-H, DisplayPort connector and USB cables available on the back.

The Metal Stand:

Sure, the metal stand looks like something out of a sci-fi movie but it certainly is sturdy enough to hold the Cintiq 22HD firm. Once hooked up, you’ll notice that there are no loose or dangling components. After attaching the stand to the device’s back panels, you can position it at any angle you want.

You can lay it flat on the table or make it stand erect. You can rest assured that even if you exert a little more pressure while drawing, your Cintiq 22HD will not budge. The adjustments are perfectly smooth, firm and as accurate as ever. The movement control levers work in sync with one another; one locks itself as you work the other. 

The Display and the Grip Pen:

Your Cintiq 22HD comes with an LED backlight, a 1920 X 1080 display resolution and an aspect ratio of 16:9. Although Wacom claims to have made Cintiq 22HD perfect even for viewing content at 178 degrees, the panel bears noticeable dimness as the device is turned off axis. The images on Cintiq 22HD appear brighter than on Cintiq’s previous versions, even though the surface coating brings about a blurring effect to the images.

The Grip Pen has about 2048 pressure sensitive levels. These pressure sensitive levels are present on both the pen and the eraser. The Pen need not be charged as it comes without a battery. It also comes with a latex-free rubber grip. It has the ability to work even when tilted to 60 degrees. In addition to the standard nib, there are various other nibs that can be used to mimic the effects of a brush, marker, paints etc.

Conclusion:

For an accurate drawing surface that comes with a strong mount, Touch Strips and supports 1080 pixel resolution, Cintiq 22HD certainly bears the standard for professional drawing tablets. The display in Cintiq 22HD lacks the vibrancy and brightness expected from this expensive device. The absence of multi touch support doesn’t seem to be a deal breaker for this accurate and versatile drawing surface.

  Samantha Kirk

About the Guest Author:

This is a guest post by Samantha Kirk of mytechhelp.com, a site that offers savings and current information on Toshiba Support.