Pride of Wacom

The very best in every respect:
no compromise in achieving
the "ultimate balance"

Wacom Movink 13: the first-ever Wacom device with an OLED display

We embarked on the project of developing the Wacom Movink 13 with the intention of delivering the best pen experience to professional creatives. The use of an OLED display was on our minds right from the very early planning stages. This technology is key to a thin, lightweight display, and was indispensable for turning our concept into reality – the product you can take with you anywhere and use to draw with whenever you want. On the other hand, the use of OLEDs led to unexpected interference with the EMR (electromagnetic resonance) technology, Wacom's patented digital device technology.

Wacom's patented EMR technology consists of a layer of hardened glass and a sensor layer that sits behind the device’s LCD screen. The sensors are precisely embedded and arranged in an alternating vertical/horizontal grid pattern and emit weak electromagnetic signals. Together, these signals create a magnetic field having a radius extending about 5 mm above the glass surface of the device. The beauty of EMR is that power can be supplied to a pen through LCD displays and protective surfaces without the need for any external power sources. This means there are no batteries to wear out, or power cables to twist and break. This technology, combined with Wacom’s renowned quality and reliability, results in the industry's best accuracy and durability. With all of these benefits, EMR is one of the core technologies that supports Wacom digital devices today.

Where can we find a clue?
Engineers faced an unknown challenge.

EMR also played a pivotal role in developing Wacom Movink 13 for professional creatives. Tests using several sample OLED displays at the early stage of development showed that their reactions were not synchronized with the EMR sensors. Yoshihiro Kotani was the senior engineer leading a task force working on the problem of electromagnetic noise between the displays and EMR sensors. He reflects on the starting point: “Movink is Wacom's first ever attempt at using an OLED display. Working with an unfamiliar technology brought with it an unknown challenge.”

“The problem had to do with interference between the EMR sensors and OLED displays – this was clear. But exactly how they interfered with each other could not be detected with the naked eye. This was a mystery to us. This is why we used a high-speed camera to analyze the phenomena between the display and the pen, and to capture the very moment that the signal was disrupted. Using the analysis results, Wacom’s in-house display development engineers narrowed down the possible causes through joint discussions, and finally identified a problem caused by EMR."

In search of displays that meet creators' expectations

At the same time, Hidemasa Yamaguchi, the lead engineer for designing and developing Wacom’s Movink display, came across another incompatibility between OLED displays and EMR. The working principle of driving OLED displays is different from that of conventional LCDs, which also affects the image quality of the displays. Clear and vivid colors are not enough for Wacom users in the creative industry. They are aiming for a much higher standard of color fidelity and line precision. Colors and lines should look exactly how they want them to look. This kind of faithful rendering of the artist’s vision is easy to say, but certainly not to be taken for granted. Engineers made this possible through painstaking work.

Yamaguchi explains, “The problems with the picture quality were difficult to describe in words. To better understand the issues, we held workshops with overseas display vendors to determine how the various elements were interacting. After gaining technical understanding of these interactions, we began working on troubleshooting measures. Having workshops like this for product development was almost unheard of in the past. Indeed, they helped bring us closer to what we were looking for – the display with the best quality and a balance that unlocks the highest performance of the EMR technology.”

Trial and error in order to deliver the best pen experience

The use of OLED displays was something new to Wacom, as was the work of adjusting the EMR technology for this purpose. Naoko Kawamata, a firmware engineer responsible for the software programing of the pen detection and EMR drive sectors, remembered the days of trial and error with a rather satisfied look.

She says, “The problem of mutual interference between the displays and pens was evident. All conceivable options were tested in search of a solution for the irregular performance of the displays. To what extent does this interference affect EMR’s overall performance? What can we change on the EMR side? A new driving method? Lower output? We worked closely with the display team when doing all the fine tuning. In the end, we were able to fix the problem after making adjustments to one pen after another to suit all use cases.”

Each time the display was adjusted, the EMR needed to be tuned. And each time the EMR was tuned, the display needed to be adjusted again. This cycle of trial and error seemed endless at times. Yet, we made it to the end because we always had the ultimate goal in mind – the best pen experience with which users can draw any line they want, in any given setup, and with the utmost accuracy.

The quest for the best balance without compromise brought us to the optimal solution

The Wacom Movink 13 not only provides a digital pen input experience, but also incorporates touch technology, allowing for intuitive navigation by zooming, scrolling, and rotating images by touch. The touch technology was also incorporated into the OLED display of Movink. There too, we faced a series of challenges.

More specifically, all the problems associated with displays, EMR, and touch functions. All three elements interfered with each other. To reduce such electromagnetic noise to almost nothing while bringing out the best performance was a daunting task. In a way, it was a bit like a stage on which all of our development professionals had to come together and perform their best. The ideal display, the ideal pen and the ideal touch function - all of these parts had to be perfectly coordinated. The development of the Wacom Movink 13 came with unknown challenges that could not be solved solely by Wacom's standard expertise and experience. Knowing this, the development team kept in closer communication with each other than in any previous product development project. Team members exchanged their findings almost on a daily basis.

“Challenges are something that true engineers love. Frankly, every vendor can easily fix display problems simply by lowering the pen performance. However, that’s not Wacom’s way. 'The best pen experience for professional creatives’ is Wacom’s claim and there is no compromising. Users trust Wacom for this and my work is to help Wacom keep this trust," says Kotani.

An endless journey by engineers in search of the ideal balance

The Wacom Movink 13 has achieved near-zero parallax by reducing its display thickness to the absolute minimum. “The thinner the display and the narrower the bezel, the lower the EMR performance tends to be. Despite its sleek design, Movink features pinpoint accuracy with pen movements. Users can draw lines exactly as they want. You should really try it,” says Kawamata. Yamaguchi adds, “You’ll never want to be without this super slim, ultra-light device. With Movink by your side, you can enjoy creating work anywhere.” His words reflect his absolute confidence in the product. What are these engineers aiming for as a next step?

“The Wacom Movink 13 has a pretty narrow bezel. Similarly, tablets on the market are also moving towards narrower bezels. How much more can be cut back in our product’s bezel without compromising on pen performance? I want to challenge myself to the limit. When an OLED display becomes larger with a higher resolution and frequency, it inevitably produces more noise due to its technical characteristics. The increased noise makes tuning the EMR sensors even more difficult. We know EMR inside and out, and therefore we should take advantage of this knowledge to achieve the best possible display performance, regardless of which type of display we are using. Here, Wacom is and always will be second to none,” says Kotani.

“I was thrilled to join the Wacom Movink 13 development team, as creating a lightweight and thin product using an OLED display was one of my long-cherished desires. Movink 13 has been well-received by professional creatives for its lightweight, slim design. But, there is still room for further improvement, including image quality, drawing haptics, and surface treatment. Our ambition is to enhance the display’s performance even further while maintaining the best of Wacom’s flagship pen technology,” says Yamaguchi.

"We always want to deliver the best pen experience to our users. I love creating a pen with such a natural feel that it makes users almost forget that they are working digitally – a pen as the ultimate companion for creatives,” says Kawamata.
The Wacom Movink 13 supports the creativity of professionals. Wacom’s journey to provide creatives with the best pen experience will never end.

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