The XPPen Artist Ultra 16 pen display, which won a Red Dot Award for its design, has officially launched today. This flagship 15.6-inch tablet boasts XPPen’s proprietary next-gen touch technology, a 4K OLED screen, and is Calman Verified. The Artist Ultra 16 debuts the brand’s new Ultra series, and according to the Shenzhen-based outfit, “sets a new industry benchmark by combining professional-grade performance with versatile portability”.
Despite the midrange price tag, XPPen is firmly targeting professional creators with the Artist Ultra 16. The manufacturer touts headline features such as “ultra-responsive touch interaction”, a 4K OLED display with “exceptional color accuracy”, and 16K-pressure sensitivity. The “revolutionary” touch system, said to deliver “unprecedented creative freedom”, is called X-Touch. It supports 10-finger multi-touch for both Windows and macOS, and here’s the exciting bit, it’s designed to mitigate accidental inputs.
Anyone who’s used a touch-sensitive pen display before will know that, while they offer intuitive operation when zooming in/out or moving around the canvas, the user’s palm can occasionally conflict with stylus inputs. A drawing glove is a popular, but not infallible, workaround, and some tablets, such as the Xencelabs Pen Display 16 have combated this by omitting non-stylus touch inputs altogether. The XPPen Artist Ultra 16, then, is said to use customizable touch zones, so users are able to “effortlessly define their workspace by simply drawing on screen”. If it works, it could be a fantastic solution to an age-old frustration.
Elsewhere, the Artist Ultra 16’s 15.6-inch 4K OLED screen is powered by AMOLED technology, features a 100,000:1 contrast ratio, and 1-ms response time for “smooth, accurate strokes”. And of course, the display’s Calman Verified status means it will ship with a high level of color accuracy and that’s before you consider the 10-bit native color depth, a Delta E <1.1 rating, so you can expect almost no difference in color between input and display, and a wide gamut coverage of 99% Adobe RGB, 99% sRGB, and 98% Display P3.
As has become the norm with higher-end XPPen products, the Artist Ultra 16 comes with a pair of X3 styluses and a case for them to reside in: the thicker X3 Pro Smart Chip Stylus and X3 Pro Slim Stylus, both providing 16K pressure sensitivity and 60-degree tilt. The device also comes with the ACK05 Wireless Shortcut Remote, which features ten customizable shortcut buttons and a dial.
The XPPen Artist Ultra 16 has an aluminum casing and a slim profile, so it can slip into an appropriately sized rucksack. Shortcut keys and integrated palm rests have been ergonomically implemented to enhance comfort and precision.
Pen displays are a great solution for photographers whose work revolves around skin retouching, compositing, and/or dodging and burning. XPPen is one of the market leaders in the drawing tablet/pen display sphere, covering mid-range peripherals as part of the Hanvon Ugee Group, which is also the parent company of premium drawing tablet brand, Xencelabs. The XPPen Artist Ultra 16 is available now and retails for $899.99 / £899 (AU$TBC).
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Thinking of adding a pen display to your workflow? Here's how I edit photos with an Apple Pencil and my iPad Pro. If a 16-inch pen display isn't big enough, check out the Xencelabs Pen Display 24+. If you'd like a more traditional drawing pad, take a look at the Wacom Intuos Pro.
