Thanks Dean for your comment, appreciated!
Actually I can´t complain about a lag. I used the 13HD before and the difference is zero. One advantage though to other models is that the precision of the cursor is accurate until the very edge of the display, unlike the 13HD where the discrepancy was up to 1cm (When you come to the edge of the display the cursor drifts further away) The driver works in Windows without crashing, although I have to complain about the pressure sensitivity fail, it occurs at least once a day and I hope it will be fixed with the next update. But I consider this a minor issue.

The Ergotron is good to go, but it is kind of wobbly because of the size (not the weight) and because the vesa mount would require 6 screws, the Ergotron arm has only space for 4 screws and is slightly off-center.
It does not matter if you use it like me - with the bottom on the desk for 90% of the time. In that regard the Ergotron arm is the less expensive route to go with even more flexibility ( you could tilt to portrait mode - but you won´t do that:). However I suspect the Cintiq stand to be more sturdy - which comes with a price and additional weight.

Hi Mario, thanks for your comment, glad you found it useful!

I also did not find any information about a hardware calibration, but I guess there has to be some kind of lookup table because there is an additional colorimeter available from X-rite specifically for the 27qhd have a look here: http://community.wacom.com/en/inspiration/blog/2015/january/introducing-the-wacom-color-manager-powered-by-x-rite/
I don´t know how accurate it is, but is definitely a leap forward into the right direction.

Actually the 27 tablet has also approximately 3 mm gap, however, the four point calibration seems to work for the first time around and that means I have experienced no offset until now. The offset was unbearable on the 13HD at times - especially on the edge as you described it, but that is definitely not the case anymore. This is for the Windows version, but I guess it might be the same on OSX.

It is possible to have the arm carry the Cintiq "in air", maybe for the use as display. When working with it, I want some sturdy surface and not a wobbling tablet. It is not the weight of the Cintiq but simply the size that makes it difficult to handle without having it touch the desk.

Thanks for the fast reply!
I am a current cintiq 24 user and i want more flexibility in my workflow.
I think 27 qhd will be a amazing upgrade.

Hi, glad you found the article useful and have decided for the rig!
If it is technically fine, like mine is, you´ll definitely enjoy working on it.
The thing with the arm is difficult as it is not a replacement if you want a sturdy -us-in-all-angle solution since the arm has only one connection to the back and thus struggles to keep it down on the bottom if you tip on the upper corner.
The one I use is the strongest arm of the line the Ergotron LX and even that one struggles because of the size, not the weight. With the bottom down on the table it is wonderful to work with, but in air I would not want to use it. Hope I could help,Cheers,
Oliver

Hi,
It is this one: http://www.amazon.com/LX-Desk-Mount-LCD-Arm/dp/B00358RIRC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1426188217&sr=8-2&keywords=ergotron+lx Actually the same you have found. The 27" works with it no question, for a more stable solution it would be better to have two arms in the dual option, that should work.

Hi,
I used the arm since I had it when used with the Cintiq 13HD a while ago, so I just tried and it worked for me. It is actually strong enough to carry the big Cintiq in the air for use as a monitor. For working the bottom should be on the desk then it is safe - that is the setup you see and that is what I use today. I think on the site they have to describe it for 24" only because it might not be possible to work without a desk on it, that´s what some people need.

There is no need for an adapter, at least I have none so I don´t know where to get one. The Cintiq comes with screws, these screws are mounted with the arm and you are done.

Thank you Jay! Since I had the Ergotron arm and the way I´m using it is fine, I would not change. Given the fact that I would not have the arm and I´d need a solution, I probably would go for the Wacom stand.

Hi, it is basically this one: http://goo.gl/jyqyoG minus the plate because I had one from another desk. But I could not find that particular offer right now. without plate it is cheaper. If you are in the US, you might need to find another vendor, this article might be helpful as well: http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-standing-desk/

Hi, glad you deccided to take the plunge into digital illustration. If money is not an issue, I´d always go for the Cintiq 27QD. You may check if the stand from wacom is for you (it is heavy but sturdy) or if you need more flexibility, say moving around the pen tablet often to the sides, then a Ergotron arm would make sense.
However, this recommendation makes only sense for a desktop workspace, if you are travelling often, the Cintiq Companion or Cintiq Hybrid may be a better solution because you ccan use it as tablet on a desktop computer but also as standalone tablets.

If you have the chance I´d always get a Cintiq not a regular tablet like Intuos. The reason is that with the Cintiq you draw on the display. On a regular tablet without display you have to adapt to the situattion of looking at a screen and draw on a totally different place - that alone takes a lot of time.

Hi und danke sehr!

I can only speak for experience with a glass-overlay, but since the surface of the Cintiq 27 is already glass, it is unnecessary to put anything on it. Found that out after some research. So far, after around 4 month of usage I found no scratches or anything on it, even with the hard plastic nibs. The 24HD and others such as the 13HD have plastic surfaces which makes display film or glass plate a must-have.
Hoffe ich konnte helfen,
cheers

Hi, danke für den link, dürfte in der tat interessant sein für den ein oder anderen.

Ich neige auch dazu überall kratzer herinzubekommen, dauerte beim Cintiq 13HD nur 4 Wochen;)
Daher weiß ich das es beim 27"er glas ist.

Also was die touch funktion rechtfertigen soll weiß ich nicht wirklich, ich würde aus prinzip kein touch-tablet aus dem hause Wacom ordern, einfach weil sie es nicht hinbekommen.
Das review von Sam Nielson beschreibt die problematik wohl ziemlich gut: http://artsammich.blogspot.de/2015/03/cintiq-27-qhd-touch-review.html

Was den standfuß angeht (sorry habe ich vergessen drauf einzugehen) kann ich nur vom ergotron arm sprechen, habe es leider auch noch nicht ohne getestet. Da ich das tablet auch nicht sonderlich viel bewege würde ich sogar sagen das kein Standfuss oder arm extra gekauft werden muss. Es genügt wenn man sich etwas baut z.b. eine art tisch-staffelei die das tablet in der gewünschten position hält. Für jemand der mehr bewegung nach links und recht möchte sei der arm zu empfehlen und wenns nur hoch oder runter soll tut s auch der standfuß von wacom, der aber für seine fähigkeiten völlig überteuert ist. Meiner meinung nach.

Was den unterschied zwischen 24" und 27" ausmacht ist einfach alles, die größe, auflösung, EK-remote, magnetische ränder, edge-to-edge "glass" oberfläche und akurate empfindlichkeit des stifts. Da gab es immer mal probleme zum rand hin bis zu 5mm abweichung, das scheint es nicht mehr zu geben. Achja von der farbwiedergabe und der kalibrierbarkeit reden wir mal nicht;)
Also für mich gibts nach wie vor keinen grund einen gedanken an das 24" er zu verschwenden, nur wenn platz wirklich so knapp ist, aber selbst dann sollte das 22hd die bessere wahl sein.

Hoffe ich konnte helfen,
Viele Grüße von der Mosel

Thanks Benjamin!

The hack with the glass plate was due to the plastic surface and the scratch issues that came with the 13HD and also other tablets. When I got the 27" it was hard to get any info if it was glass or plastic. As for the feel, I believe it is more smooth than without but you can test that for yourself trying to do some lines over a glass frame with the stylus just for the sake of getting the feel.
I tend to believe it is a little bit like working on an ipad from the behavior, many artists don´t like that but I prefer that over a rough surface anytime. I never thought about if it makes the hand more loose but since you mentioned it, yes that may be a reason. I doubt the difference with the 24HD will be much but for a few $ it should make sense to try at least.
The brightnesss does not suffer at all, the only thing I can recommand is to tape the whole plate with isolationtape, otherwise dust will be collected under the plate over time and that is just annoying.

Sorry for the late reply. I also had to get the glass plate back because apparently, even with the 27" being a glass surface, it got some nasty scratches. And since the feeling of working with glass again is quite fresh, I can say that I definitely do prefer the extra glass layer as it is faster, feels smoother and yes, it may save on nibs, but I don´t think that would be a reason.

Thank you Michael,
I intended to use the Ergotron arm this way, but after the time now, I never even changed the position once. On one hand because it is not necessary because of the screen-real-estate and on the other hand because it was/is perfect as it is. I never needed to change anything. That is the reason why I detached the arm from the cintiq and plan to use it with the ipad pro instead ;)

Hi, glad you found it useful!
I simply use a regular frameless glass or image holder that you can get at an art material store. The measurementswork for a2 sized glass plates but it is very close to the display area. If you can get a custom glass plate, I´d go for it.

Hi, thanks for reading and for your time to comment.

I´have put together an article about workstations here: http://www.fantasio.info/2014/01/the-101-guide-to-digital-painting.html
it´s more like a general overview. It is hard to give a good suggestion as it always has to be based upon the individual needs. One thing I know is that you need a graphics card that supports DisplayPort. Otherwise you will only be able to use HDMI (if at all) and even a converter will only allow for a 1920x1080px output. DisplayPort or DP allows for the full resolution and the 1.03b colors that the Cintiq is capable to diaply.

If you are on the search for a powerful PC, that article might still suit you. But with the new 5k iMac´s there is a new kid on the block that can beat it all. I never considered Macs for a lot of reasons. But all of these reasons silently vanished for good with the new 27" version that came out late 2015. From 30-bit support (same as the Cintiq uses) to 100% sRGB support, PcieSSD/ extremely fast flash storage and up to 64GB of Ram that is upgradeable and a 5k display(!). The i7 iMac 27" has become a true contender for any workstation out there. And no; I´m not paid to say that, it is just something I observed closely as I need a new workstation soon myself.

Even if you say you don´t need a workhorse aka i7 processor, these powerhorses awill do their jobs well even in 5 years from now, where everything else might have to be replaced.
I can tell this from experience as my current PC is an older i7 920 with only 2.4GHz from 5 years ago. And it still beats many current i5 powered PC´s on the market.

Development in technology especially hardware is set to be bound more and more by hardware restrictions. That means if you buy an Intel i5, you can upgrade ram as much as you want, it will never be faster as the processor controls it all. So actually this means it becomes more and more like buying a new car; the i3 is like the neat little smart fourfour that is fast and handy but you wouldn´t want to ride it 1000 miles. The i5 is like a limousine, comfortable to move even 4 persons, but if you have to overtake it falls short. The i7 seems like a truck, but it has it all, its fast like the fourfour, can fit many more persons and has enough power to overtake when it is necessary.

It might not make sense if you have a very expensive monitor already, but I need to replace my loved NEC pretty soon, and the new iMac has become the first Mac ever that I would even contemplate to buy.

I hope I could help.

All the best,
Oliver

Hi Oliver,

Thank you so much for your detailed reply. You gave me a lot of good information, and I will definitely take it all into consideration. I greatly appreciate it.

All the best, and Merry Christmas!

Derek

Hi, thanks for reading and your comment.

I also thought about protectors for a while but the only one I would use is made of tempered glass and I never came across a product that explicitly says it´s made of it. I use one on the iPad Pro and it is around 1-2mm thick and adhesive. Still on the hunt for it. If I ever come across one, I´ll post it here.

Until that time, I keep using the glass plate solution as it is the safest and cheapest way to make it indestructible;)

The paper texture can never be achieve, except if you lay a sheet of paper over the Cintiq, however working on the glassplate is different but it feels naturally after a while. It sure has a sliding feel, but it never feels out of control. Maybe I´m too used to it right now, but I never felt that the sliding factor would be an issue. The opposite is true, once I got used to it, it feels like less pressure is necessary and as a result less wrist pain.

As for the glass plate; Now I use a plate that is a little bigger (around 50x70cm) perfect would be something around 50x75cm) because that would cover the entire surface area. The reason for the larger plate is that with the smaller one it is easier for dust to be collected in gaps.
What I also found is that it is important to have the plate lay directly on the screen, nothing inbetween, otherwise dust can move under the plate and you have to clean it every few weeks.

It is probably not the perfect solution, but cheap and durable.

The other option that is more costly (but perfect) if you have the exact measurements and have a glazier cut it for you even with the round corners. I´m saving for that right now;)

To prevent dust to come in from the sides it has to be mounted with a transparent adhesive film. It does not look that nice but after a while you don´t recognize it anymore, so it may be OK. For me it does the trick well.

Cheers and let me know if you decide for a foil, how your expereince is. Maybe it is useful for someone else as well.

Hi Raj,

thanks for your comment. I try to answer as best as I know below:

#1 the 2560x1600px resolution is only possible with Diesplayport. HDMI only supports HD up to 1920x1080px. My bet would be to get a new graphics card or an external one, something like this: http://www.startech.com/AV/USB-Video-Adapters/usb-3-4k-displayport-adapter~USB32DP4K

#2 A lag can be anything from software to hardware as also settings in pgotoshop. Turning the Tilecache from 1024 to 128k works in most cases. Memory assigned to phooshop up to 100% can help too. If that does not do the trick, it can be a lack of Ram memory (8gb or less) or processor to slow or Harddisk to slow.

3. If the tablet supports touch, it should work. I don´t have the touch version, so I can´t say much about it. the wacom forums http://forum.wacom.eu/viewforum.php?f=3 are a good alternative to the Wacom service that most likely sucks.

#4 I never use the touch keys on top, didn´t knew there was an onscreen keyboard assignable. But I can imagine that you can assign buttons in the wacom driver/configuration. I did so for some shortcuts and it works quite well but you have to go into the driver settings and do it from there.
Can´t recall how I did it - but with the newest drivers it is easy.

Hope I could help.
Cheers

Hi, not much tricks on that front. I use it everyday with my most used shortkeys but it is merely like the usual keyboard but shortcuts like ALT+SHIFT+i are much easier to press because the ways are shorter. I found this to be working very nicely. If you set the stick to zoom aka ALT+SPACEBAR you can zoom in with the pen or cursor moving to the left/right. If then on the right side the stick has just the spacebar assigned to it, it becomes natural to move the canvas around when moving the stick to the right side. Left side is assigned to rotation (R) which brings all the canvas viewing option to the stick. I believe that is what you are looking for. It is not natively supported to zoom interactively just using the stick out of the box, but assigning these shortcuts is a good compromise.

Hello Yasemin, thanks for your comment!
Actually, the only reason I see personally that a purchase of the 22HD makes more sense than the 27QHD is either money or desk space;)

A friend of mine got a 22HD and is super happy along with an ergotron arm it is a super device.

Since there are 4k tablets in the making by Wacom, it makes sense to wait a bit and see if there is a 20" or 22" model with 3k or 4k resolution and the newer pens with 8000+ levels of pressure sensitivity. Not that one is going to need the latter, but 4k resolution is the way to go when working up close on a screen. If you can´t wait, why not looking into the 16" pro cintiq? That already has close to 4k resolution and the pro pen, which even more suggests that there will be bigger tablets with better resolutions this year.
http://www.cgchannel.com/2016/11/wacom-unveils-cintiq-pro-13-and-16-pen-displays/