Major Microsoft Surface Pro 2 Flaw with Pen Tracking

[Jazmac]

I wish Watcom had a pen for Windows RT. I don't think the back of a pencil eraser sized tip is comparable.

 

[minhthanhvn]

i just came home from Microsoft Store. They said I should do some calibrations with my pen in order to make the pen better. They did not have any other surface pro 2 256 to swap. I don't know. I had to accept their suggestion.

 

[voluptuary xda]

I made that thread on XDA and when I get my SP2 next week (MS Store botched my 256GB pre-order and they had to go to great lengths to make it right even if still a week late) I'll see what I need to do to adapt that calibration to the SP2 if it's possible.

 

[SwimSwim]

I've noticed the same, it's very peculiar. I hope it's only a software issue, and not a hardware one. It's really annoying, as it ruins an otherwise solid and very usable pen.

 

[Sleeping Sentries]

There might be some variation between units. My unit is actually ok, there is some inaccuracy at the edges but not too much. Calibration definitely made it worse, so I just used default settings.

 

[Bo]

There is a similar problem on the SP1 I have but its only on the lower right corner. All of the other corners track perfectly.

 

[minhthanhvn]

After I did voluptuary xda's trick, my surface was a little bit better. You must be very careful to do that. I think we have to live with it, or wait for Microsoft.

 

[DalekSnare]

I tried several Samsung slates a couple years back because of this issue, and they all were inaccurate in the corners. That's normal for Wacom.

 

[zain_faiz]

Just an update on this issue. Even with the taskbar on top working in a program like Manga Studio 5 I am not able to close the program clicking on the 'x'. I am noticing this to be an issue with other programs that have custom GUI. You can use your mouse or touch to close it.

 

[AccentAE86]

I have similar issues on my Lenovo X220 Tablet. I've seen this behaviour on countless wacom digitizer screens. Even Wacom's own Cintiq line, which is a screen with built-in digitizer made by Wacom, exhibit the same behaviour. I use a standalone Wacom Intuos for photo editing, and they make the digitizer surface oversized to avoid this problem. But oversizing the digitizer layer is a lot harder (or impractical) to do when attached to a LCD screen. I'd venture to say that this is not a Surface problem, it is a characteristic of the Wacom digitizers. What I've done is increased the system-wide size of text and menus so everything has a much larger landing area, so it is easier to hit. Makes it a lot nicer for using your fingers too. I'm at 125% on my 12.5" screen at 1366x768. I'd probably go a lot higher on a 10.5" screen at 1920x1080.

 

[SwimSwim]

I have similar issues on my Lenovo X220 Tablet. I've seen this behaviour on countless wacom digitizer screens. Even Wacom's own Cintiq line, which is a screen with built-in digitizer made by Wacom, exhibit the same behaviour. I use a standalone Wacom Intuos for photo editing, and they make the digitizer surface oversized to avoid this problem. But oversizing the digitizer layer is a lot harder (or impractical) to do when attached to a LCD screen. I'd venture to say that this is not a Surface problem, it is a characteristic of the Wacom digitizers. What I've done is increased the system-wide size of text and menus so everything has a much larger landing area, so it is easier to hit. Makes it a lot nicer for using your fingers too. I'm at 125% on my 12.5" screen at 1366x768. I'd probably go a lot higher on a 10.5" screen at 1920x1080.

Pity, but I can live with it. Now that I'm aware of the issue, I've been able to be a little more careful when using the pen near the corners. It's bothersome that I need to think about it, but once you get in the habit of adapting to the issue, it's not that big a deal. Bit odd though that seemingly all Wacom digitizers experience this, why does the accuracy drop so drastically near the corners, I wonder?

 

[FearL0rd]

maybe it is a defective unit that need to be replaced

 

[SwimSwim]

UPDATE: Are you guys sure calibrating doesn't work? I just calibrated mine, and I was extremely meticulous and careful about it. It can still be a little finicky around the corners, but it's a great deal more accurate and precise than before.

 

[chezm]

Mine is doing the same thing, but it doesnt bother me as much...i actually prefer this "bug" as it avoids me from having to go directly to the corner when trying to Menu file or other options. But i could see how this would cause problems for an artist.

 

[zain_faiz]

Important Update:

I just got a call back from Microsoft. They confirmed there is a problem with the pen tracking system and it has been brought to the attention of the Surface Pro engineering team. They have no idea when this issue is going to fixed.

I hope this is not a hardware issue.

 

[minhthanhvn]

News?

 

[eallan]

News?

Been like this since day one on the sp1 id wager there is no fix. Holding the pen vertical helps.

 

[minhthanhvn]

I tried. Calibrate with 175 points did help. It made the pen more accurate. However, installing wacom driver clear the calibration's effect. Moreover, calibration also makes the pen can't move to the right edge of the surface's screen, where the pen is supposed to open charm bar.

 

[MBytes]

Well at worst, I think we should close it from the task bar, or drag the window out of position from maximize, which will make restore to non-maximized state, and then you can close it.
I mean if this is Wacom issue in general, there isn't much to do. If you have 125% or 150% DPI scaling, then it should not be much issue in that regard as you can just use your finger... maybe with 100% DPI as well.. I don't know I don't have my SP2 yet.

 

[chezm]

OK, so I re-calibrated the pen input and now its all working perfectly... the corners are working as expected, originally I had the issue with top left corner but after calibration its dead on. Me a happy camper