Alright Guys, here's my review! You can use the Flash file to get view some images.
About 3 or so weeks ago, Huion, a drawing tablet manufacturer based in China sent me one of there Digital Pen Displays for review. I spent those weeks putting the display through some paces and the result was a very rewarding experience! So without wasting anymore time, let's get started!
The Huion GT-220
21.5" Digital Pen Display
SPECS:
Tech - Electromagnetic Digitizer
Type - IPS Monitor
Screen Size - 21.5" (Diagonal)
Aspect Ratio - 16:9
Display Area (H x V) - 476.64 mm x 268.11 mm
Pen Pressure - 2048 Levels
Viewing Angle (Typical) - H : 178° V : 178°
Pixel Pitch (H x V) - 0.2485 mm x 0.2485 mm
Native Resolution - 1920x1080
Resolution - 5080 LPI (Lines per Inch)
Reading Height - 0.12mm 2048 PPI (Pixels per Inch)
Brightness - 250 cd/m2
Contrast Ratio (Typical) - 1000:1
Number of Colors - 16.7 M
Report Rate - 220 RPS (Revolutions per Second)
Response Time - 5 ms
Video Interface - VGA DVI HDMI
Data Communication Interface - USB 1.1
Power Supply Type - External Adapter
Power Supply (Adapter) - Input 100-240 VAC, 50/60 Hz, Output 12VDC, 3A
Operation Power Consumption - <36W
Standby Power Consumption - < 1W
Pen Power Consumption - 300uA (Max.)
Errors of Digital Pen Detecting (Parallax) - ±3mm (Tilted ±50°from Vertical)
OS Support - Win 10/Windows 8/Windows 7/Vista/XP/2000, Mac OS X10.8.0 and above
OSD Language - English, Traditional Chinese and Simplified Chinese, etc.
Operation Temperature - 5-+40°C (41-104°F)
Operation Humidity - 10-80% (Non-condensing)
Dimensions/piece - 520mmx40mmx320mm
Out Box Dimensions - 558mmx154mmx448mm
Net Weight/piece - Net 5.42kg
Gross Weight/piece - 9kg
Rechargeable Pen - Minimum 800 hours of continuous use
CONTENTS:
Huion GT-220 Digital Pen Display
Rechargeable Stylus Pen GT-80
Pen holder
8 pen tips
Pen Charging Cable
VGA Cable
Power Adapter
Power Cable
USB Cable (Bolted)
HDMI Cable
Instruction Manual
Software CD Driver
Philips Screwdriver
Display Stand (Removable)
REVIEW:
Lets start with the unboxing. The display was shipped to me from China. It arrived in about 1 week (would have been faster if it wasn't the holidays at the time. Average shipping time is usually four days). It was shipped in a large brown box, not too much larger than the box that held the display itself. It was taped up fairly secure, with no loose ends.
Inside this package was the actual box which held the display. It has a plastic handle on it, perfect for pulling it out of this very snug outer package. Opening it reveals a very thick and cushy foam container housing the display, the video interface cables (VGA,HDMI), the Software CD, the Instruction Manual, the Display Stand and a small box that contains the Power Supply, Screwdriver, the stylus, it's charge cable and Pen Holder with 8 replaceable nubs. Everything is of course rapped or packaged in plastic.
Now this thing's packed in there but good, so it's going to take a teensy bit of elbow grease to get it out of there. I wanted to talk about this in the review because I'm certain many of you out there will have shipping concerns. Rest assured, it's packed tight and secure.
Now on to the set-up.
The first thing I noticed when I took the display out of the package, was how utterly massive it is. Yes, I was aware that it's a 21.5" display, but it's when you see it for the first time that you really appreciate the size of it. As a point of comparence, my monitor is 19". It's more than 2.5" larger than my PC monitor. That's a whole lot of space to draw on, especially if your moving from a 6 X 8 inch drawing tablet like myself. It also takes up a lot of space, not surprising considering how large it is. So if your working in a more cozy, confined area like I am and you don't have a lot of table space, you might either have to rearrange some things to make room or consider a smaller tablet. It might be a good idea to look up some monitor arms. Amazon has a pretty varied selection.
The stand does not come pre-mounted, so you'll have to install it yourself. No need to worry, a handy phillips screwdriver and four screws are included in your bundle. Also, while this should be a given, the display itself is quite hefty. Weighing in at 5.42kg (11lbs).
Once the stand was mounted, I moved on to the inputs. This brings the first of two cons I had with this unit. The input ports are all on the bottom of the display. It's not a detrimental issue, but it does make the initial set-up quite cumbersome. Especially if you need to move it around a lot. The stand itself was bare bones, but sturdy. It could go from in almost 180 degree angle to a 90 degree angle. I went with the simpler set-up using HDMI instead of VGA. I also downloaded Huion's brand new driver for this model rather than installing it off the software CD.
I've seen countless complaints about getting the drivers to work correctly. I had absolutely NO problem in this regard. As of this date, the display supports from Windows 2000 up to Windows 10 as well as Mac OS 10.8.0 and higher. This unit has been out for some years now, so I suppose by the time I acquired it, the drivers were far more capable.
The IPS display (In-plane Switching) puts my PC monitor to shame. Basically, an IPS monitor makes it so, that regardless of the viewing angle you still get a clean crisp picture. No color wash out or contrast shifting. So no matter the angle you draw at, you won't have to shift it around to correctly apply your colors. This is just a minor note, IPS displays were created in the 60's and used prominently in the 80's.
One area I did have problems with was setting up the dual screen attributes. Personally, this was an experience barrier on my part. I had never used a dual monitor set-up, so I mostly stumbled my way through it. The instruction manual provides general help in many areas, albeit the translation could stand to be a bit cleaner which oddly enough is my second con, but not much in using the display in dual monitor mode. It seems as if it's mostly meant to be used in stand alone monitor mode. However, it may just be my inexperience.
With the initial set-up complete, it was time to put this thing through some paces.
First, before I attempt to use any of my art software, I made a pit stop inside the device driver. Once you download the driver, it gives you an option for adding a desktop icon during install for easy access. The driver is fairly sparse in terms of options. Some input choices for the stylus buttons, a toggle for pen pressure sensitivity, a test for pen pressure and pen calibration. That's it. To be honest, I never fiddled with those settings anyway, so the spareness wasn't a issue for me. The driver MUST BE ACTIVE in order for the display to funtion with the stylus. You will easily know whether or not it's active by looking in your notifications box on your taskbar. If it's crossed out, it's inactive.
The GT-220 seems to work with all of the art software I use:
Photoshop (CS6 is the version I use)
Clip Studio Paint (64bit)
Manga Studio
Adobe Flash Professional (CS5.5 is the version I use)
and probably most importantly... Easy Paint Tool Sai
So many artist use the old version of Clip Art Studio, Paint Tool Sai. I can happily tell you that it works absolutely fine with it. In fact, I've already produced a number of pieces of art using the display with this software.
Working with the software usually means being able to use the functions built into it. The stylus itself is comfortable enough, but for a big guy like me who tends to use more force than he should, I had a habit of accidentally pressing the button on the stylus that I toggled as the left trigger. More of a flaw as an artist myself than with the pen. I was able to make smooth broad strokes with little effort and the pressure sensitivity was to my liking. The stylus does not have an eraser on the back like the majority of Wacom tablets out there. I admit, I found myself flipping the pen over to use the non-existing eraser, but I quickly became accustomed to this. Some have complained about the slight squeaking noise the nubs produce when using it on the smooth surface of the display. I wasn't bothered at all by it.
The display does not have a roughed surface mimicking of the texture of paper. It's a smooth glass surface. I've heard some users have complained about this, but again, I had no issues with it. You might want to pick up a drawing glove or have a microfiber cloth handy though.
As with all pen displays, there is some parallax on the screen while using it. Parallax, in this case, being the distance of the pen tip in relation to the display. Like with other displays, you can calibrate your pen until you feel comfortable with the desired setting. As time passed, I didn't even notice it anymore. I do calibrate the display each time I turn it on even when it looks and feels fine. Just me being obsessive I guess.
The display itself, DOES NOT have tilt functions or hotkeys. Again, these are amenities I've never had or needed in my works. I've never used hotkeys, I've always did every thing manually so the lack of hotkeys didn't effect me one bit (Those of you that live for them will have to keep your keyboard close by). By that same token, I've never needed tilt functions either. Tilt functionality is being able to tilt your stylus to produce a broader stroke, like with a paint brush. Not to say this wouldn't make a stellar product even better, but it wasn't a deal breaker for me.
It's also prudent to note, that the power supply as well as the bottom of the display gets warm after extended use. Never hot, it won't burn you. If you've ever used a cell phone or a tablet (iPad, Galaxy Tab) for extended use, usually when your playing a game, you know what your in for.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
I've been using an Intuos2 Platinum, for TEN years. Going from that to this? It's like being blind, then given the ability to see. I love this thing. It's helped my productivity and increased the accuracy and speed of my artwork. The Huion GT-220 ends at $799.
If that's still a bit to rich for your blood, they have smaller pen display offerings, down to the GT-185HD. An 18.4" unit that has since, rectified the issues some had with the GT-220. It has inputs on the side rather than the top. It also has the much hallowed hotkeys the people tend to clamor about and that one goes for $569.
The biggest determent Huion had with customers was with quality control and driver functionality. Customers complained about dead pixels and drivers not working. My unit, was pristine in box, it had no dead pixels or quality issues. The new driver I downloaded from the website launched without incident. My unit worked right out of the box with no issues.
Huion seemed intensely aware of these issues and have indeed been working on them. Even in customer complaints they remark how helpful and dutiful Huion has been through the entire process. I really hope more artists and consumers give Huion a chance. It's awesome to have another manufacturer out there with more affordable options to get drawing tablets from.
PROS:
The price
Massive work space
Sturdy
Fast shipping
Excellent Customer Service
CONS:
Location of inputs on bottom of unit
No Hotkeys
Instruction Manual needs better translating
Whew! Welp, there it is! Got questions? Throw em' in the comments!
Details
Type:
Shockwave/Flash - Interactive
Published:
9 years ago
26 Jan 2016 21:32 CET
Initial: cb8b7e69c29f7ab55dff946c494d2d85
Full Size: cb8b7e69c29f7ab55dff946c494d2d85
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