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Surface Studio 2: I'm having to deal with the obnoxious pen stabilization that's built into the system and it is making photoshop difficult to use for painting

Anonymous
2020-01-29T06:52:49+00:00

Hello,

     I recently purchased  the Surface Studio 2 and am having issues with the native pen stabilization. When I make marks on the screen there is a noticeable delay in the stroke where the actual mark on the screen lags behind the tip of my pen. The faster I move the pen the more noticeable the delay. This I believe is due to the pen stabilizer built into windows, I would like to know how to disable it because the benefits this might offer elsewhere are a detriment when trying to digitally paint. It is especially annoying because photoshop has it's on built-in stabilizer which has a slider that lets me toggle it off or adjust the effectiveness of the stabilizer on my stroke.

Surface | Surface Studio | Display and screen

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  1. Anonymous
    2020-01-29T21:42:54+00:00

    Hi ObsidianPlume,

    Thank you for reaching out Microsoft Community. We apologize for the inconvenience this may have caused. 

    By  the way, is it only doing like this in Photoshop? Have you tried using the pen in different apps?  What's the brand of the pen you're using? 

    We have your concern escalated if Windows has its own pen stabilizer and our internal team confirmed that it doesn't have a built-in stabilizer. Pen stabilizer is an application feature only and depends on application you're using.  This means that there's no option on the device itself to disable pen stabilizer within Windows because it is not existing.

    In your case, what we can do instead is to refresh the pen driver from Device Manager.

    Go to Device Manager

    Expand Bluetooth

    Look for the pen driver under Bluetooth and right-click on it and select, " Uninstall Device". 

    Then Restart your Surface to reinstall the driver.

    After restarting, we want you to unpair the pen from Device Settings and pair it back and see if this works right this time.

    If this answers your question, please let our Community know by marking this post as an answer. Otherwise, don't hesitate to respond to this thread for assistance.

    Kind Regards,

    Crest_Z

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  2. Anonymous
    2020-02-02T00:42:26+00:00

    Pen calibration doesn't work. The specific kind of smoothing being applied is stroke catch-up. The brush stoke lagging behind the tip of the pen eventually catches up when I stop moving my hand. This happens in all software I am able to use the pen in, it's beyond upsetting getting told that this isn't part of the OS even when all evidence points towards that being the case.

    I would appreciate you pointing me in the right direction for sending feedback to Microsoft or reaching someone who can help me.

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  3. Anonymous
    2020-02-02T00:21:57+00:00

    Hi ObsidianPlume,

    Sorry for the delayed response. 

    I actually checked that video before replying to your post and have your concern escalated to our internal team if the Surface device has a built-in pen stabilizer driver but they confirmed that it doesn't have one and pen stabilization is basically an app feature. So in this case, it would be best if you'll send a feedback to Microsoft to have this concern escalated to our software engineers. 

    You can try calibrating  the Surface pen on your Surface Studio by:

    Going to Control Panel

    Select Hardware and Sound

    Choose Tablet PC Settings

    Click Calibrate

    Select Pen Input (Click Yes)

    Then, start the calibration.

    If this helps, please let us know. If not, then we highly recommend to send a feedback to Microsoft.

    Kind Regards,

    Crest_Z

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  4. Anonymous
    2020-01-31T15:47:56+00:00
    • I just tried the prescribed solution, it didn't work.
    • I am using the surface pen that comes with the Surface Studio 2.
    • The issue is not localized to Photoshop as a software. Here is a Youtube video in photoshop that explains pen stabilization and smoothing as a concept. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUlkxjUYY9I
    • See the way the brush stroke lags behind the cursor in the video. that is exactly what is happening to me. Except I have smoothing set to 0% in photoshop and the issue persists in other software. Take note that for me there is no pink string tethering the brush stroke to the cursor like the video, I am fairly sure this has nothing to do with photoshop.
    • I tried my pen in the default paint program that comes with Windows and the same smoothing occurs happens
    • So again I am sure it isn't being caused by photoshop and think it is being caused by computer. This kind of technology is usually applied to make writing with a pen less wobbly, which I'm sure Microsoft is utilizing
    • Lastly I found another thread of someone with the same issue plaguing them with a different application. Their issue was never solved.           https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/surface/forum/all/any-way-to-disable-the-pen-motion-smoothness/8cabc122-2a5d-4090-b30d-b9ceda7e273e
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