[Jean Poitiers]

Suing ASUS would be a fools errand, have you read one of their badly translated manuals? they are almost as impenetrable as some academic theses. I have some old camera manuals that use genderised instructions E.G: "grab her crank"

Bonjour,

I've seen similar or even worse in French to English translations ... but, "grab her crank" is not bad!

Allez et A+, John le Frog

[Anvh]

those panels on the back of our cameras are TN panels, not IPS.

Curious how you came with the conclusion, when you look at the view angle it must be something like IPS or PVA.

[falconeye]

One example which seems to be a step in the right direction but not yet quite there, is the Samsung "ATIV Smart PC Pro 700%": Samsung Series 7 ATIV Smart PC Pro 700T 11.6"

Interesting link.
Interestingly, this is product XE700T1C-A01US, Samsung now displays XE700T1C-A02US and XE700T1C-A04US (Tablet PCs - Slate Windows 7 Tablet PC | Samsung). While the former still made mention to Wacom (Samsung Series 7 Slate PC: a Wacom-enabled, dual-coretablet... with Windows 7 (hands-on) | The Verge), the latter only refers to Samsung S-pen (sometimes mentioning that it can hoover and use "Wacom-enabled" pen buttons -- but a true Wacom pen has tilt, angle and pressure).

I really fear that Wacom ceased to license their technology after releasing their Cinteq boards.

So, the XE700T1C-A01US may have been a step in the right direction, but it may have turned into a dead end already.

Does anybody know if there is a Windows-application turning the XE700T1C-A01US into a Wacom tablet/2nd display (read Cinteq)? Could be an interesting alternative to the Cintiq 12WX (same size) which is criticized for low resolution and a dark screen.

[gazonk]

the latter only refers to Samsung S-pen (sometimes mentioning that it can hoover and use "Wacom-enabled" pen buttons -- but a true Wacom pen has tilt, angle and pressure).

Is there really a difference? I wasn't quite aware (I have to keep my daughter informed about this...)

I really fear that Wacom ceased to license their technology after releasing their Cinteq boards.

Huh? Cintiq has been on the market for more than 5 years and is first and foremost characterized by its outdated technology (except for the drawing technology itself)

Wacom really, really needs some competition.

[Digitalis]

Wacom ceased to license their technology after releasing their Cinteq boards.

That would make sense, Wacom pretty much have a monopoly on the graphics tablet industry, it is hard to complain as their products are good. I could never get used to the Cintiq displays though, after almost a decade of never touching the surface of my screen I have to go against that deeply ingrained habit.

but a true Wacom pen has tilt, angle and pressure

The art pen that I use on my Intuos 4 can also sense rotation, very useful if you are using angled brushes.

Curious how you came with the conclusion, when you look at the view angle it must be something like IPS or PVA.

You're right, it could be PVA - IPS displays tend to be energy hungry devices, I know for a fact that the rear displays on Nikon DSLRs are all TN panels. TN panels discolour when you press on them IPS based displays don't.

[falconeye]

Is there really a difference?...
Wacom really, really needs some competition.

That would make sense, Wacom pretty much have a monopoly on the graphics tablet industry

I must revise a bit what I just said. I had to look a bit deeper.

First, S-pen and a Wacom stylus do indeed differ. E.g., an Intuos 5 pen doesn't work an the Galaxy Note 2 (S-pen). I don't know how sophisticated an S-pen does get (tilt, leave alone rotation (this is what I meant by angle)). But it seems to support pressure in one of the Samsung Apps (S-Memo). The video I've seen produced at least 2 widths.

OTOH, Samsung does indeed use Wacom's EMR patented technology (Electo-Magnetic Resonance).

And eventually, it isn't a dead end at all:

On January 31, Wacom has announced that Samsung has laid out $58.9 million for a 5% share in the company. So, chances are that Samsung and Wacom become allies.

The best of course would be if any Samsung Android tablet could replace a smaller Wacom Cintiq and Wacom become an App maker.


As for tablets replacing laptops or PCs. I don't know. Apple didn't intend them to replace them (remember Jobs' harsh comment, when introducing the iPad about Netbooks which are the "worst of both worlds"?). We just entered the era of multiple personal devices and the fortune of tablet makers IMHO will depend on how well they can make all these devices blend. An area where Apple has taken a lead, btw.

And big Photoshop is getting more powerful on its own. Just think how slow large brushes paint on big Photoshop, how demanding content-aware fill behaves or how powerful PS actually is at processing dSLR video (it grew into a full blown video editor!) ... And why should I work on an 8" (or 11") screen if one, two or three 27" screens are so much more powerful ...

[Anvh]

The cheaper wacom tablets (bamboo) don't sense angle either, just pressure.
The intuos pen work on the intuos tablets, but not on the bamboo and vice versa.

I know that you mean the intuos pens with "real" wacom, but the bamboo is also a real wacom

[Anvh]

You're right, it could be PVA - IPS displays tend to be energy hungry devices, I know for a fact that the rear displays on Nikon DSLRs are all TN panels. TN panels discolour when you press on them IPS based displays don't.

Pentax use IPS Pentax K-5 Camera - Full Review
as far as i can find out the Nikon D7000 also use IPS so it would be strange that higher tier uses TN...
So know idea where you base your facts on....

[Anvh]

As for tablets replacing laptops or PCs. I don't know. Apple didn't intend them to replace them (remember Jobs' harsh comment, when introducing the iPad about Netbooks which are the "worst of both worlds"?). We just entered the era of multiple personal devices and the fortune of tablet makers IMHO will depend on how well they can make all these devices blend. An area where Apple has taken a lead, btw.

Microsoft at least sees a future in it and we see more and more iOS in the Mac OS so i doubt it will take long before they also make one and the same OS.

I'm currently eying this one ASUS Transformer Book ? The World?s First Detachable Notebook
I've the original transformer runnning on android replacing my mobile needs but with windows and i7 it can be more productive device.

Also the tablet market is selling more and more smaller screens, 7inch is now very populair. Steve Job was also very much against that i believe. It seems that tablets are moving to the "ultra portable" while 10inch device are getting more productive.

[Parry]

This full frame thing will be in K-mount, won't it?

[Ash]

Nothing's certain but Pentax has suggested commitment to the K mount as well as dSLR development. So by deduction, it's likely the FF camera will be a K-mount dSLR.

But the K-3 is unlikely to be this FF camera.

[Digitalis]

The best of course would be if any Samsung Android tablet could replace a smaller Wacom Cintiq and Wacom become an App maker.

Now that will be interesting, But I think Wacom - with their current position in the industry will still remain in the hardware market. Since I am rather familiar with some of the driver issues encountered with wacom tablets, I personally hope they never become an app publisher.

As for tablets replacing laptops or PCs. I don't know.

I don't know either, but my instincts tell me that desktop PC's will continue to exist,there are too many specialised applications where a tablet PC would due to hardware, and software limitations be less than Ideal. For the average consumer, I think tablet PC's will be quite effective and the market will continue to grow.

as far as i can find out the Nikon D7000 also use IPS so it would be strange that higher tier uses TN... So know idea where you base your facts on....

When there was a huge issue over the green cast visible on Nikon D3 and D700, D800 screens, back then nikon was using dominantly TN panels,that was where I got my information from (Nikon released a list of products affected). They must have changed to IPS because of the fallout that issue caused. On average an 2.7" IPS display will chew up around 17% more energy than a TN panel of the same size, also IPS panels typically do not have very fast response times and frequently suffer from ghosting artefacts so it limits their usefulness with video. LG is one of the biggest manufacturers of IPS panels, Samsung seems to be making some headway by competing against LG with their own S-PLS panels.

[Anvh]

The D800, D700, D3 (all nikon) are said to support LCD screen with 170 degree viewing angle, no TN panel is able to deliver that so i assume it also uses IPS.

I've still no idea what your source is for the TN panels, you say Nikon gave out a list with effected products but did they say they are TN panels?

[Digitalis]

The D800, D700, D3 (all nikon) are said to support LCD screen with 170 degree viewing angle, no TN panel is able to deliver that so i assume it also uses IPS.

Since you don't own a D3s you would know that the horizontal viewing angles are quite wide for a TN panel- however there are visible shifts in contrast, colour and gamma at certain angles this shift is rather dramatic - which is a characteristic of a TN panel. With IPS gamma isn't as affected by viewing angle but there can be a slight shift in image contrast, colours shouldn't be affected at all.

[stevebrot]

You would be giving up magnesium body for these things.
Inductive charging is not great either since there is quite a lot of lost, it's quicker and more efficient to just put the battery in a charger in the end.

Oh! But you would be gaining the ability to automagically share your location with all your peeps on facebook.


Steve

(gotta keep our priorities straight here!)