Which One Of The Three Cintiq Models Is Suitable For You?

This comparison assume that you are looking for a Cintiq with a large drawing area, so it will be only about the big-sized Cintiqs. The smaller model, like Cintiq 13HD, or the other Cintiqs like the Companion models, are not included. But I may write a separate comparison for these in the future. This comparison will compare many of the various aspects that you want to consider before picking up the Cinitq model that suits you the best.

I will try to update this comparison to incorporate any future Cintiq model Wacom may present in the future.

Buying Options

Cintiq 22HD

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Cintiq 24HD

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Cintiq 27QHD

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eBay

See more Cintiq models in eBay

Display Resolution & Colors

I won’t state the obvious & compare the screen size of the 3, since this is easy to tell from the product names. It is worth to point out the deference between the Adobe RGB gamut in the 3 models. Cintiq 22HD has the lowest color gamut of 72% Adobe RGB, the Cintiq 24HD has 92% Adobe RGB, and the Cintiq 27QHD has 97% Adobe RGB. Making it the winner here and the best choice to have as one main monitor. If you have a second monitor to check out the color, then you won’t need to worry about that as much though. It is worth to now that the color gamut of Cintiq 24HD is not really that bad at all.

When it comes to the screen surface, Cintiq 22HD has anti-glare coating, which can be quite annoying for some people. The Cintiq 24HD has that coating as well, but it is not as bad as the one in the 22HD. The Cintiq 27QHD has as well, but it is far less noticeable than the 22HD.

As their name suggest, both Cintiq 22Hd & 24HD has HD resolution of 1920×1080 (or 1080P). As opposed to the 27QHD, which has a resolution of 2560x 1440 (The QHD in the 27 name stands for Quad HD, or 1440P).

Supported Display Ports

Out of the box, Cintiq 22HD supports DVI port only, making it the most limited Cintiq when it comes to ports support. To use it with any sort of display port, you will need to get an adapter for that.

Cintiq 24HD is a little better, it supports both DVI & displayport, but again, you will need an adapter to use it with everything else.

Cintiq 27QHD has the best ports support, it connect to your computer via HDMI or Displayport out of the box. Making it the ideal choice to use with modern computers. It also comes with two adapters, a DVI-D to HDMI adapter and a Mini Displayport to Displayport. So even if your computer uses a DVI-D or you have a Mac that only as a mini DisplayPort port, you won’t need to get any additional adapter or accessory. Only the users of VGA port will need that for the most part.

Pressure & Tilt Sensitivity

All the 3 models in this comparison support pressure sensitivity of 2048, and ±60 levels of tilt sensitivity. So there is nothing to really to compare here. All the 3 Cintiq models tie when it comes to this.

Express Keys

Express Keys are a good ways to speed up your workflow, and to completely get rid of the keyboard in some cases. Some artists don’t use them at all and prefers to use the keyboard, while some prefer to have many Express Keys.

The Cintiq 22HD has 16 Express Keys, 8 on each side, each of these 16 are customizable in a different ways, you can make each of them do a keyboard stroke or a mouse click for example. There are also two touch strips on the back of each side, those touch strips can be used to zoom-in & out or change the brush size (and many other things really).

The Cintiq 24HD is kinda similar to the 22HD when it comes to the Expresskeys, but it has only 10 of them, 5 on each side, and instead of touch strips, there are two touch rings on the sides, these touch rings work very similar to the touch strips.

There is something worth noting about the way the express keys are laid out in the Cintiq 22HD & 24HD, having the keys on each side means that you may end up using only half of them with your free hand. Unless there are artists who use the hand that holds the pen to press the express keys as well.

The Cintiq 27QHD has no Express Keys on it at all, so it didn’t need to have a large bezel like the other two models. Instead of that, it got the ExpressKey remote, rather than have them on the sides of the screen. Placing all the Express Keys on a remote is a clever idea. And in case you don’t like that, the remote can be attached on the Cintiq itself by magnet, which is another clever idea that came with that mode. The Express Key remote has 17 customizable buttons, as well as one touch ring with 3 modes. Making it the model with the most Express Keys among the 3 models in this comparison, though you only have one physical touch ring in it.

What is the best model here depends on your preferences, the Cintiq 24HD clearly has less Express Keys, but it has two touch rings, the Cintiq 22HD has it all with many keys & two physical touch strips. The Cintiq 27QHD’s remote seems the most comfortable to use among the 3, and it provides a sufficient amount of keys to customize to your heart content.

Weight

While the Cintiq 24HD is a great model overall, it is also the heaviest among them. It pretty much weights 63.8 lbs with the stand (28.6 kg), despite the smaller screen size. It requires two persons to carry it and place it on your desk. and its sizes means you will need a desk that can withstand it. It is worth noting that no matter which Cintiq model you end up with, you need a workspace that ensure you sit correctly while working on it, or you may get some neck pain after some time.

The Cintiq 22HD weights 18.8 lbs with stand (8.5 kg), making it the lightest model among the 3. Cintiq 27QHD is a bit heavier than 22HD, which is understandable, given the size difference. But it is quite lighter than 24HD, which mean Wacom has done some optimization to it.

Default Stand (With Videos)

The stand is what will support your Cintiq during its lifetime, and the better the stand, the more if can be adjusted to suit the way you sit down, or the way you draw (portrait vs landscape).

The Cintiq 22HD has an okay stand, with the ability to rotate the screen, which is quite nice for drawing, it can also be tilted forward & backward as well, and you can lay it down almost flat

The Cintiq 24HD & 27QHD have similar stands, which allows you to rotate it forward & bring it the front of your desk for easy access when you are drawing, and backward when you are using it as a screen, or in case you changed your sitting position. The stand allows you to tilt it forward & backward as well. It is worth noting here that the stand for the Cintiq 27QHD is sold separately. The stand it comes out with out of the box is much simpler than that, and it only allows you to lay it down semi-flat.

Here are a video demonstration videos of the Stands between the Cintiq 22HD, Cintiq 24HD and Cintiq 13HD, which is not included in this comparison:-

Ergotron Arm Support

While the default stands that comes with the various Cintiq models are nice & all. They don’t provide the most flexibility as an Ergotron arm can. For one, while the Cintiq 22HD’s stand allows you to rotate it, you can’t do that with the other Cintiqs stands. And being able to pull your Cintiq close by when you need it, and away when you don’t, as well as being able to work while standing up in some cases are huge bonuses the default stands don’t provide.

In case of the Cintiq 27QHD, whose stand is sold separately, getting an Ergotron arm is pretty much chapter than getting the official Ergo stand from Wacom. The Cintiq 27QHD supports the following Ergotron arm, which you can find in the following Amazon Links:-

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LX Sit-Stand Desk Mount LCD Arm (45-360-026) – Amazon
LX Sit-Stand Desk Mount LCD Arm (45-360-026) – Amazon.co.uk
LX Sit-Stand Desk Mount LCD Arm (45-360-026) – Amazon.ca

For an Ergotron arm that supports Cintiq 22HD, the following arms supports it officially, according to Ergotron’s website. You can check the arms out in the following Amazon links:-

#CommissionsEarned
LX Desk Mount LCD Monitor Arm, Tall Pole (45-295-026) – Amazon
LX Desk Mount LCD Monitor Arm, Tall Pole (45-295-026) – Amazon.ca
LX Desk Mount LCD Monitor Arm, Tall Pole (45-295-026) – Amazon.co.uk
#CommissionsEarned
LX Desk Mount LCD Monitor Arm, Tall Pole (45-295-026) – Amazon
LX Desk Mount LCD Monitor Arm, Tall Pole (45-295-026) – Amazon.ca
LX Desk Mount LCD Monitor Arm, Tall Pole (45-295-026) – Amazon.co.uk

While there are many Ergotron mounting choice for the Cintiq 24HD, there is no arm that officially supports it. It is too heavy for any of these arms to withstand it. This a thread on Ergotron forum discusses this issue, but I don’t know if the solution suggested in it is covered by warranty from Ergotron itself.

Operating System Support

Knowing which versions of operating systems work for each Cintiq is important, or there is no point to spend a fortune on a drawing device & not being able to use it on your computer (though there are workarounds for this).

Windows Support

The Cintiq 22HD & Cintiq 24HD works from all recent versions of Windows, from Windows XP (with the correct service pack installed) to Windows 10. It is worth mentioning that Wacom’s website doesn’t mention Windows 10 as a supported operating system, but its drivers download page has drivers for it.

The Cintiq 27QHD works with Windows 7 and above, and this includes Windows 10. Which again, was not mentioned in the product page, but has available drivers for it. Not supporting the older versions of Windows means you will have to upgrade to a newer version of Windows to be able to use it. But if you are one of those who prefer stick with Windows XP, then it is not a choice for you.

Mac OS X Support

The support of Mac OS X for the 3 models in this comparison is similar to what we saw in Windows. Both Cintiq 22HD & 24HD supports an older version of the system (Mac OS X 10.5.8 or above). While the Cintiq 27QHD requires a newer version (Mac OS X 10.8 or above). It is nice to see there are still art creation tools that supports the good old Snow Leopard until today.

Available in all Kindle Stores:-US–UK–DE–FR–ES–IT–NL–JP–BR–CA–MX–AU–IN

Comparison Table

To make the comparison easier for you, the following comparison table contains all the information I mentioned above, along with additional thing you may find interesting. Most of these specifications here were taken from Wacom’s website.

And Finally

Picking the right Cintiq for you can be a little confusing, but it is fun to compare all the features of the three models & make a clear choice of the model that suits your needs. I hope this comparison has helped you achieve that, and I wish you have a lot of fun drawing with your Cintiq of choice. :)

Buying Options

Cintiq 22HD

#CommissionsEarned

Cintiq 24HD

#CommissionsEarned

Cintiq 27QHD

#CommissionsEarned

eBay

See more Cintiq models in eBay

See Also:-

• Buying a refurbished Cintiq, a good way to get Wacom Cintiq for cheap
• Wacom Cintiq Companion 2 Review – With a comparison table for the Value (DTHW1310T), Standard (DTHW1310L), Premium (DTHW1310M) & Enhanced (DTHW1310H) models
• Learn Photoshop CC With Pictures