Published: October 27, 2016

Yesterday Microsoft Corp. unveiled Surface Studio, a new device of the Surface family designed to put the user at the center of the creative process. The device is able to be transformed from a desktop PC into a digital canvas: an ultra High Definition touchscreen presented by Microsoft as the thinnest LCD monitor ever built. Designs in this canvas can be made with the Surface Pen, by touch, or with a new device known as the Surface Dial.

The transformation from Desktop mode into Studio mode is made by manipulating what Microsoft calls the Zero Gravity Hinge, a mechanism that allows the user to effortlessly adjust the place and position of the screen. In the Studio Mode the screen sits at a 20-degree angle, the same as a standard drafting board. This way users can easily sketch, write, and design.

The new peripheral known as Surface Dial enables ways of manipulating programs that are exclusive to Surface Studio. When the Dial is placed over the monitor, the screen complements it with a set of digital tools specific to the app being used, allowing users to move through their workflow and make things such as changing the color or the size of their brush tip. All this can be done by users while they paint, without having to move the pen away from the screen.

The following two videos by Microsoft are a good way to meet the new product: