As a professional photographer, having the right gear is essential for a smooth workflow and creating stunning images. The Xencelabs Pen Display 24 4K is a great choice for anyone looking for a high-quality display for photo editing. With its sharp 4K resolution and large screen, it’s perfect for working on detailed images. In this review, we’ll dive into the features that make the Xencelabs Pen Display 24 stand out for photographers, including its display quality, pen responsiveness, and how it performs during photo editing.
Design and Build Quality
Materials and Build Quality: The Xencelabs Pen Display 24 4K feels solid and well-built. Its premium materials and strong construction give it a high-quality, durable feel. The display’s sleek design makes it an attractive addition to any workspace.
Size and Portability: While the Pen Display 24 offers a large, immersive screen, it’s designed more for stationary setups than on-the-go use. It’s perfect for photographers looking for a permanent workstation, but still manageable if you need to move it occasionally.
Ergonomics: The display comes with customizable, programmable buttons, allowing you to tailor your experience. The adjustable stand gives you flexibility in screen positioning, and the user-friendly design ensures comfort during long photo editing sessions.
Interactive LCD IPS Display
Resolution: The Xencelabs Pen Display 24 4K offers stunning 4K resolution, ensuring sharp, crisp images with vivid colors. It supports a wide color gamut, such as Adobe RGB and DCI-P3, making it ideal for professional photo editing where color accuracy is crucial.
Brightness and Anti-Glare: With adjustable brightness and an anti-glare coating, the display performs well in various lighting conditions. Whether you’re working in a bright room or a darker studio, you’ll have a clear and comfortable viewing experience. The display surface features Super AG etched glass significantly reducing annoying reflections and providing superior clarity even in brightly lit environments. Additionally, the surface is designed to offer the perfect level of friction, delivering an excellent drawing experience and precise pen control. This makes it an ideal choice for photographers and creatives seeking smooth and accurate interactions during photo editing and design work.
Accuracy: The Pen Display 24 features excellent responsiveness with quick response times and a high refresh rate, ensuring smooth editing and accurate results, especially for detailed photo adjustments.
Pen Performance
Pressure Sensitivity: The Xencelabs Pen Display 24 4K comes with 8,192 pressure levels, offering precise control and responsiveness, whether you’re sketching, drawing, or retouching photos. This high level of sensitivity ensures smooth transitions and fine details, which is especially valuable for photo editing.
Additional Features: The pen supports tilt recognition for more natural strokes and includes programmable buttonsfor quicker access to your favorite tools. You can also use multiple pens with the display, making it versatile for different tasks and preferences.
Daily Use Feedback: The pen feels comfortable in hand, and its ergonomic design reduces fatigue during long editing sessions. It accurately recognizes complex movements, allowing for seamless adjustments and enhancing the overall editing experience.
Included Accessories
What’s in the Box? The Xencelabs Pen Display 24 4K includes all the essential accessories you need for easy photo editing, ensuring a professional workflow and enhanced creative control right out of the box.
The Xencelabs Pen Display 24 4K comes equipped with a highly adjustable stand, allowing you to tilt the display at various angles. Whether you prefer working horizontally or vertically, the flexibility of the stand provides a comfortable setup, much like painting on a canvas or drawing on a vertical surface.
Two Battery-Free EMR Pens
Included with the display are two battery-free pens that utilize EMR technology. Each pen has a unique design and functionality:
- Slim Pen: Features two customizable buttons, offering a sleek and lightweight feel.
- Thicker Pen: Includes three customizable buttons, designed for a more substantial grip.
Both pens are elegantly crafted and comfortable to use. They come in a sturdy protective case that includes a nib removal tool and a selection of replacement nibs, ensuring you’re ready for any creative task.
Quick Keys with OLED Display
The Quick Keys remote is a game-changer, featuring an OLED display that offers 360-degree customization of buttons, commands, and shortcuts. This compact and efficient tool helps optimize and speed up your workflow, making it an essential addition for photo editing.
Additional Accessories
The package also includes a drawing glove and all the necessary cables for connecting the display to power and your computer.
How to Set Up the Xencelabs Pen Display 24?
Setup and Configuration for First-Time Use
Setting up and connecting the Xencelabs Pen Display 24 4K for the first time is incredibly simple, quick, and intuitive. All you need to do is plug the display into a power outlet using one of the included cables and connect it to your computer. I connected it via USB-C to my MacBook Pro 16 with the M1 Max chip and can confirm full compatibility with Apple’s latest Silicon processors. Alternatively, you can use the DisplayPort or HDMI cables provided.
Next, you’ll need to download the drivers based on your operating system. The drivers can be found here: Download Drivers – Xencelabs.
Once the drivers are installed, use the Xencelabs software to add the programs you plan to use. For example, I added Photoshop, Lightroom, etc.
At this point, your Xencelabs Pen Display 24 4K is fully functional, and you can start exploring the extensive customization options it offers, from button layouts to color settings.
Color Calibration on the Xencelabs Pen Display 24
The Xencelabs Pen Display 24 4K comes with pre-configured color profiles, but for professional photographers, accurate color calibration is a must. Personally, I calibrated the display using Calibrite Profiler software and the i1 Display X-Rite sensor. The process was straightforward and precise, resulting in a color profile perfectly matching my other professional photography monitors.
First Month Review: Impressions and Photo Editing Results
Over the years, I’ve primarily worked on my photo edits using a mouse and a standard tablet. Editing a photo on the Xencelabs Pen Display 24, with the ability to draw directly onto the image, is an entirely different experience, and an incredibly satisfying one. It feels like painting on a canvas. The precision of edits and the tactile sensation while working are on another level. I feel like I have significantly more control over my workflow, making it both faster and more accurate. The feeling of drawing with the pen on the matte display surface is outstanding, offering excellent precision and responsiveness in every movement. The customizable buttons and features have significantly improved my photo editing process from start to finish, making it not only quicker but also far more enjoyable.
If you’re used to working exclusively with a mouse, it might take some time to adapt to the interactive Xencelabs Pen Display 24. It’s a different way of working, more like using a graphics tablet but with a stronger feeling of being connected to the image you’re editing.
I personally preferred the 24-inch display over the 16-inch model, mainly with the idea of using it in my photography studio. I don’t regret this choice. Editing my 360-degree night panoramas featuring the Milky Way and Northern Lights, while directly interacting with them on this large display, is something I truly enjoy and find incredibly satisfying.
Photos Fully Edited Using the Xencelabs Pen Display 24 4K: From Start to Finish
Pros and Cons of the Xencelabs Pen Display 24 4K
Pros
1. Exceptional Drawing Experience: The pen-to-surface interaction mimics the feel of drawing on paper, making photo editing more intuitive and enjoyable.
2. Precision and Workflow Speed: Outstanding accuracy for edits, boosting both precision and efficiency in your workflow.
3. 4K Resolution and Vibrant Color Range: The display delivers stunning visuals with 99% Adobe RGB and 94% DCI-P3 color accuracy, perfect for professional photographers and digital artists.
4. Excellent Brightness: The high brightness level allows you to work comfortably even in brightly lit rooms.
5. Customizable Buttons and Shortcuts: A wide range of customizable options to optimize and speed up your editing process.
Cons
1. Size: The 24-inch model is not designed for portability, making it less ideal for traveling professionals. For on-the-go use, the 16-inch version is a better fit.
2. Complex Initial Setup: The extensive customization options can feel overwhelming at first, requiring some time to configure and tailor to your needs.
Conclusion
Overall, I found the Xencelabs Pen Display 24 4K to be an exciting and highly effective tool for photo editing. The ability to directly interact with my photos on the display’s interactive surface is a game-changer, and the feeling and precision are outstanding.
If you’re used to working with a mouse, transitioning to the Pen Display 24 might feel a little unusual at first, and your workflow might slow down. However, once you get the hang of customizing the settings to fit your style and become comfortable drawing on the display with the pen, you’ll notice a major improvement in both speed and precision.
This device takes your photo editing workflow to the next level, enhancing both the quality and efficiency of your creative process. Whether you’re a professional photographer or an enthusiast, the Xencelabs Pen Display 24 4K is definitely worth considering for your creative toolkit.
