Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Cintiq 24HD: update.


No big changes, one week more on the calendar, no real solution for Cintiq 24HD problems.

I am waiting for an official answer from Wacom to the fan sound problem. Other people have reported in my blog and in other forums that the fan noise is clearly audible,  some of them reported that they have an “irregular, scratchy, noisy sound” like the one that I have reported.

I am also waiting for an official (and also an unofficial) answer to the Art Pen problem. Nobody in all the forums that I have checked and on YouTube seem to have tested the Cintiq 24 HD with an Art Pen. I really don’t know if my unit was defective, if it is a driver problem, or if it is an ArtPen problem. Only time will tell us.

I am starting to get disappointed with Wacom support. I have emailed them several times and I have also asked for a telephone number, but I never got an answer. They told me that my Cintiq 24 HD will be replaced. Today at 3:00 pm an UPS courier tried to retire a package but I was outside. I was waiting for an email from Wacom to know some basilar things such as:

1) When the courier was coming.

2) What I should put inside the box (only the Cintiq 24HD, the tablet with all accessories?).

3) Time to have a replacement unit.

4) Type of replacement unit (used, new?).


I really don’t understand why they didn’t answer my questions. My first email was sent on the 5th, then I sent an email on the 7th, then another email on the 10th. Never got an answer.

Meanwhile I found the Wacom policy for bad pixel: There is a detailed European ISO norm 13406-2 regarding pixel default classes. We apply class 2 rules and additionally we do not accept any panels with a fully black or fully white pixel. This seems very unreasonable to me. We are paying perfectly working and flawless 2300 euros for this tablet. We expect a perfectly working tablet. I would be happy to pay more to have a 0 bad pixel warranty. You can find it on many low-cost monitors nowadays! I have already reported that in 2006 I purchased a 1200 euro monitor with this kind of warranty. We are in 2011 and we are talking about a product that is almost two times more expensive. Wacom should really work on this. A single bad pixel in the center of the monitor can really ruin the working experience with this product.

Other problems that have been reported are:

1) Red cast: I think that this is more a colorimeter problem, I will let you know if any update is available.

2) Color “gradient” from side to side (with a gray background one side is magenta and the other is green). This is absolutely normal if the color difference is below 2 DeltaE 2000(1.5 DeltaE 2000 would be better). You have this kind of gradient also on very expensive Eizos and NECs monitors. A perfectly uniform panel.

That’s all for now. I hope to receive a response to my emails soon.

8 comments:

  1. Hey Vittorio,

    I just got my Cintiq 24HD and earlier last week I recently found out that I have a bad pixel. I absolutely love this thing, but this is what I was told.

    "A small number of pixels are allowed to show a wrong color for some parts of the color spectrum. This does not mean the display is defective.

    Each LCD panel is produced under very stringent quality standards. Production techniques cannot guarantee an absolutely perfect TFT display.

    As referred to in the manual and warranty, a number of sub-pixels are allowed to show a wrong color"

    I haven't witnessed any other issues like calibration or fans, and I'm using the Cintiq at least for over 3hours a day when I get home from work.

    I'm going to try and hook up the Cintiq to another computer just to see if the Cintiq will still show a bad pixel. Otherwise I suppose there's not much else I can do, but I 100% agree with the fact that we paid a good amount and To not get something up to par is a let down.

    Good luck with yours and thanks for posting.

    ~tyke

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  2. My red-cast is also at pink or orange. I think it's a colorimeter-thing. Spyder3 failed. I calibrated it with Apples Color-Sync and it's quiet not so good. But the standard-ICC-profile for the Cintiq 24HD is still the best. Using Cintiq with Reset-Defaults and 65K.

    But I'm still not happy with the reds, oranges, bright yellows.

    In fact I like the colors on my iPad or iPhone much better.

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  3. To Michael: Thanks for your comment. Wacom in Europe is using a normative that is very permissive in terms of bad pixel. The Cintiq 24HD is a very nice hardware, but I think that Wacom should consider to offer a 0 bad pixel warranty, I would be happy to pay more to have a 0 bad pixel screen. I think that we are already paying enough to have a 0 bad pixel included. Customers should woke up and ask for 0 bad pixel. This is an old and sad story.
    Calibration of the screen is not an issue, is a process needed to bring the monitor to optimal working conditions (needed both on a 100 and on an 10000 euro monitor).

    To Thomas: many times colors that we like are not correct. If you are calibrating and making a profile for your Cintiq 24HD is not a problem of taste, is a problem of right or wrong. Glossy display could look “more beautiful”, this does not mean that they are better for color critical works. My suggestion is to get a good colorimeter, the new X-Rite i1Display should do a good job with the Cintiq 24HD.

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  4. I am having issues with my Cintiq 24HD too. One permanent white pixel to the left. It's terribly upsetting and offputting as I spent so long saving up.

    An official wacom response is found here: http://forum.wacom.eu/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=7602

    Quote: Wacom does not allow fully black or fully white pixels on the screen, but a small number of colored pixels is allowed and not covered by warranty

    The first part which is as you said in your post. But, I still need to get it confirmed, does this not mean if it's a colored dead pixel it's not covered, but if it white it will be covered by the warranty? Either way I think it's wrong and it should be a 0 bad pixel policy.

    Otherwise, it's a superb product really...

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  5. The lack of a 0 defective pixel warranty is the only sticking point preventing me from purchasing a Cintiq 24HD at the moment. Since I had problems with a LCD panel in the past this in the FIRST thing I check for before picking up any product that incorporates a LCD panel.

    I must say I was shocked to see that Wacom did not cover all defective pixels considering their target market. Oh well it looks like I will be sticking to the current intuos for the foreseeable future.

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  6. Many resellers (and Wacom eShop Europe, for example) offer a 14 days trial period. If you are not happy with you Cintiq 24HD you can simply send it back, you will have to pay for the shipping, but you will have your money back. In this case you don’t have to tell them why you are sending the Cintiq back, you can just say “I didn’t like it”.

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  7. I just had a problem with my 6 month old Cintinq HD24. It was working quite nicely, but now after I turn it on (or power the computer on) the screen appears for barely 1-2 seconds and then it goes to black. The blue light remains on but there´s no image. Even when unplugged from the computer, the centered square that says "no signal" appears for barely one second and goes to black again. Im affraid this could be the end of it...

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  8. Hi, I´ve got the same problem, like Erykh , my cintiq hd24 , the screen appears for barely 1-2 seconds and then it goes to black. I´ve asked to wacom service , and they told, as I bought my wacom to USA , and I live in Europe ,the garantee is not working in this area.
    I think , this is a problem with wacom capacitors, but only when I turn on the tablet.
    I´ve found a trick ,it´s I turn off the tablet when it´s with the black screen, and I put it in vertically position until I hear the security click.And I turn it on, once it´s on I have not problem with the tablet.
    I hope this is helpful for you.

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