Wacom MobileStudio Pro

huh, I had screen flaws appear like that on my new Cintiq Pro 24. Just a scattered smattering of green pixels, here and there. I was running the Cintiq through an adapter (HDMI to Display Port), and it went away when I plugged it directly into a HDMI port. So maybe it's not a screen problem but a connector problem inside the MSP?

 

I've noticed over multiple tests that Wacom devices just don't play well with adapters as well.

 

I just had to follow up and say fate smiled upon me in this instance, and they really took care of me on that issue I had a few posts back. They sent me a new MSP (albeit refurbished, not that I am complaining at all since that was the category of my original unit) with another year of warranty!!!

I noticed, offhand, the glass on this unit has a small blotch or two that is only perceptible when a light is shone over it at the right angle, and against a near-black color (such as when you are trying to discern if there are any scratches). It basically looks like a fingerprint that won't wipe off, but I can't feel any textural difference when the pen passes over it. I imagine it is just a quirk in the glass manufacturing, and won't be trying to raise a fuss over it.

Also, it might be time for a bit of excitement for some of you, as they just slashed prices on all MSP16 models today. Looks like it may be happening Even if the next one has OLED, I'm clearly going to be out of the market for a long time, I hope.

 

So, I have to report back in on something I've observed while drawing on my new MSP16.
Occasionally, maybe once every few days while drawing, I've been able to observe a single bright "flare up" of neon green of an individual pixel within the circumference of the pressure pool my pen is creating. It's sort of a cute addition to the undulations everyone gets in the liquid crystal when you apply moderate pressure due to the closure of the air gap. As always, it's most easily observed when you're basically going in to ink with a dark color or a black.

When I see this, it fills me with dread, and I immediately proceed to make my strokes in a different area of the screen instead of "experimenting" with it, if you catch my meaning. The last thing I want to do right now is play with one of these pixels, when I spot it, to see if it will fail to return to the color it is supposed to be after the pressure is retracted. It seems like I can return to the same area later and it won't happen. It distracts me with anxiety, though, as I anticipate the day when those pixels will become stuck on that green again, and I'll have to do another exchange, but at least it has a whole year to show this defect. If it's going to happen, I'm somehow confident it will happen within 6 months (lol).

I'd be particularly interested to hear if anyone who has 2+ year old MSPs has ever observed this. If you've seen it and your screen still hasn't had any pixels stuck, then maybe it's just a minor quirk and no big deal, rather than a reason to assume it is absolutely going to happen to me again.

I can't confirm this but the flaring may be happening directly over one of those grid dots that comprises the EMR board. You know, the dots that you can see when the computer is turned off and light is shined directly into it. That would seem to add credence idea that the EMR doesn't play nice with the pixels of these screens, possibly due to an improper calibration (?) as they came off the assembly line.

Anyway, as always, can't wait for sweet, sweet OLED. If you're supposed to be able to bend that ****, then I can't imagine these sorts of things ever happening (lol). Maybe we'll even be kissing the undulations goodbye, not that they were that big of a deal (I've still never personally seen an OLED tablet, maybe those of you drawing on your Samsungs could confirm lol).

 

I just had to quickly share some more experiences:

- I discovered recently that I can actually spot, at times, faint clusters of green pixels immediately upon startup, before the loading screen with the Wacom logo even kicks in. Within seconds, they start to fade into the blacks that they are actually supposed to see, so everything's still good for now, but discoveries like this might help to possibly close in on finding the answer to why it happens. I thought maybe it was a bad video card on the last unit, but now it's seeming like it's all about the screen. I wonder if the nVidia or Intel drivers are screwing with it? At any rate, I went into the Intel options and finally disabled that annoying adaptive screen brightness that is supposed to save battery life but frankly has no place in our line of work anyways. Maybe I'll get lucky and that will somehow make the pixel effect go away entirely -- I can't verify for now.

- Did you guys see the Pro Pen Slim, successor to the Classic Pen? I threw down the cash for as soon as I saw it and... it is so awesome. It's exactly what I needed. I'd write out more details that weren't covered in the few YT vids that are out on it right now, but I'm out of time. It's all stuff you'd likely notice, anyways.

 

I got it too, have a review up on my channel. I like it alot.

 

So, reading over the MSP instruction manual as linked through the Wacom Desktop Center https://cdn.wacom.com/f/ipi/0x034e/IPI-EN.pdf , I'm making some distressing discoveries. They tell you not to plug or unplug the MSP into the AC adapter while the machine is turned on, which is mind-blowing news to me, and if it's true, does that mean you just throw it in sleep mode, and then immediately wake it back up after plugging in? Have you guys always been doing this since day one!?

There is also - no kidding - a bullet point that says "Do not use the Felt nib. It may scratch the display screen". Obviously something must have been lost in translation, right? Maybe they mean "Do not use the felt nib of just any other pen besides Pro Pen 2"? When I read that, it calls into question what they also say about charging the device. Could it possibly mean that the included felt nibs were only meant for the latest Intuos models? Another thing I wasn't doing was specifically assembling the AC adapter before plugging it in. Whoops I mean, I used to just plug things into each other, in any order, when getting ready to charge. Sometimes I'd pre-assemble it, but a lot of times I preferred to plug the cable into the outlet first, then into the AC adapter, and then into the MSP16 (and, of course, while it was turned on).

Surely this must all be just a formality? Especially the felt nibs? Why would they bundle it in without an explicit warning if they did not want you to use them on an MSP?


Edit: Sorry, this was really the kind of thing best answered by Wacom support. I just brought it up with them and will report back. Regardless of what they say, this documentation is really vague and confusing and should be further revised...

 

Wacom has been saying not to use felt nibs on cintiqs for years. The felt itself isn't the issue. The issue is that if they get dirty with sand particles it can scratch glass. Make sure your nibs and screen are clean and you shouldn't have issue.

It's messed up that they are shipping it with them. They never used to on the Cintiqs IIR.

 

As an owner of a MSP 13 for over 2 years now, I feel confident in saying both of these concerning discoveries are utterly false.

I've used my MSP in all manner of scenarios of plugged, unplugged, and in the process of plugging and plugged. Two years later....never once an issue or problem resulted from it.

And the Pro Pen 2 only has 2 styles of Nibs, the default Black ones, and the white felts ones. I bounce between both, typically favoring the Felt nibs...which wear down a tad quicker necessitating me buying additional felt nibs from B&H. Now while the nibs themselves may wear down....over two years of usage and poor upkeep (rarely ever clean the screen)....my MSP 13's screen is still completely scratch free.

 

Thanks for responses. They got with me a while back to confirm what you already knew, and I've just been too exhausted from work and not near a wifi spot at the right time to post on it.

On another note, this got started because I had many RMAs so far over the stuck pixels thing, and was just reading over the documentation in the slight chance I might find an insight. This latest unit is likely from a different batch, as the serial # starts with WJH instead of WIH.

I saw it begin to happen again a few weeks ago, but this time they did not remain stuck. This occurred after I decided to plug the charger into the middle USB-C port, which, as far as I know, is where all the Cintiq-mode stuff is handled. (I will likely never use that feature.) This lines up with a very interesting comment made earlier in the thread about someone experiencing a similar anomaly when using Cintiq connectivity, but I can't go back to find it right now. For the time being, I'm never going to use the middle port for charging.