Slate digital audio interface series#
The clicks were then triangulated by a series of microphones to locate the pen in space. The acoustic tablet, or spark tablet, used a stylus that generated clicks with a spark plug. The stylus received the signal by capacitive coupling, which could then be decoded back as coordinate information. The RAND Tablet employed a grid of wires under the surface of the pad that encoded horizontal and vertical coordinates in a small electrostatic signal. Better known (and often misstated as the first digitizer tablet) is the RAND Tablet also known as the Grafacon (for Graphic Converter), introduced in 1964. The first graphic tablet resembling contemporary tablets and used for handwriting recognition by a computer was the Stylator in 1957. The first electronic handwriting device was the Telautograph, patented by Elisha Gray in 1888. Some tablets are intended as a replacement for the computer mouse as the primary pointing and navigation device for desktop computers.
The image is shown on the computer monitor, though some graphic tablets now also incorporate an LCD screen for more realistic or natural experience and usability. The device consists of a rough surface upon which the user may "draw" or trace an image using the attached stylus, a pen-like drawing apparatus. Capturing data in this way, by tracing or entering the corners of linear polylines or shapes, is called digitizing. It can also be used to trace an image from a piece of paper that is taped or otherwise secured to the tablet surface. These tablets may also be used to capture data or handwritten signatures. A graphics tablet (also known as a digitizer, digital graphic tablet, pen tablet, drawing tablet, external drawing pad or digital art board) is a computer input device that enables a user to hand-draw images, animations and graphics, with a special pen-like stylus, similar to the way a person draws images with a pencil and paper.