I hope I can be allowed to ask a slightly OT question here. Thank you.
I have about 30 of the CD sheet music CD's, which contain PDf files. Rather than printing the music, (there are over 20,000 pages of piano music, and that is just the piano music), I want to purchase a graphics tablet that is larger than an Ipad Pro, preferably almost up to an A3 size, so that I can import all the PDF files, catalogue them, and use the graphics tablet for display, playing, and study purposes.
I assume that such graphics tablets exist, but there is the rub. I have absolutely no idea of where to start searching.
The graphics tablet would most probably have Windows 10 on it, and of course I would need a very easily navigable PDF reader, that perhaps is orientated towards notating PDF's of sheet music.
I don't want to spend an arm and a leg, but could afford the equivalent cost approximately of an Ipad Pro.
So, over to the experts out there. That's you :)
What graphics tablets are available that suit my requirements?
A 'Graphics tablet with Windows on it' is normally called 'The screen of a computer'. Particularly if you want it big.
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FAQ www.laurencepayne.co.uk/sibelius.html If you want help with a score, attach the sib file!
Also, AutoSave doesn't do what you think. Press Ctrl-S often.
If you want a portable viewer, though, a tablet on a music stand or mic stand is very useful. I use an iPad Pro which is fairly close to 8.5x 11 size, but not quite. They tell you the size is "12.9" but that is a diagonal measurement. If I actually measure the screen it is about 7.75 x 10.35, which is about 90% of an 8.5 x 11 sheet.
I don't know anyone using significantly larger tablets and it is often hard to tell actually how big the screens are without physically looking at them. Googling for "large screen tablets" shows a few that are in the 17 - 18" range, with pretty much all the others around the 12" size, which as mentioned above is a diagonal measurement and really not quite big enough.
I have not played with a Surface Pro but I imagine it is also not quite as big as you want. There are some big Android tablets I have seen people use but I don't have any details on what they were.
The larger ones are pretty heavy as well. I used a smaller iPad for reading on, but the iPad pro is a bit awkward for that, though it is a great screen when you have it sitting on a table.
And using forScore on the iPad Pro on a music stand is pretty useful for things like lead sheets. Once you need to change pages a lot, it would be nice to have something that could display 2 full size pages at once.
Yes ... the Surface Pro is fantastic, but quite small, 12" which is nowhere near A3.
The large scale version of the Surface Pro is the Surface Studio, which is beautiful but $$$$, and technically portable but in reality it's a full blown computer.
If you are thinking of using it to perform as well, you might also take a look at Gvido - 13.3 inch dual screen, and it is definitely portable. $1600 without the footswitch or leather cover, but it may be what you're looking for.
And if you're just looking for a large screen, a regular computer with high resolution and a 34" wide screen might be a good option as well, at probably much less money.
And just in general. You can get Bluetooth page turning pedals even for a single screen like the iPad.
I know tons of jazz guys who used to haul around stacks of fakebooks who now have their sheet music on tablets - typically the smaller iPads. Being able to have a huge number of lead sheets available quickly and being able to find a tune quickly by searching seems to override the small screen size.
I actually remember not all that long ago people hovering around a tiny PDF on a smartphone. Amazing what people will put up with...
These things do exist, for example http://www.sightread.co.uk/sightpad24.html. But as Laurence says, basically it's "a computer" - it runs Windows 10 with a 24 inch (approx A3 size) monitor display, with specialized music display software and a purpose built gizmo for page turning.
I expect a standard computer and monitor would probably work out cheaper - but not so cool looking!
I've seen one of these used by a classical organist to display complex keyboard scores - most organ music is printed in landscape format and the stuff he plays is often written on 5 or 6 staves not 2 or 3. One slightly surreal feature using it for a concert performance was when part-way through the interval, the Windows screen saver kicked in!
He also had it linked to large-screen displays for the audience to view the score (and/or a video of the organist) - again, "it's really just a computer"...
> These things do exist, for example http://www.sightread.co.uk/sightpad24.html. But as Laurence says, basically it's "a computer" - it runs Windows 10 with a 24 inch (approx A3 size) monitor display, with specialized music display software and a purpose built gizmo for page turning.
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> I expect a standard computer and monitor would probably work out cheaper - but not so cool looking!
>
> I've seen one of these used by a classical organist to display complex keyboard scores - most organ music is printed in landscape format and the stuff he plays is often written on 5 or 6 staves not 2 or 3. One slightly surreal feature using it for a concert performance was when part-way through the interval, the Windows screen saver kicked in!
>
> He also had it linked to large-screen displays for the audience to view the score (and/or a video of the organist) - again, "it's really just a computer"...
>
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> Rob
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> Sib 4.1, Windows 10.
Wow -- that looks great. Any idea how much these cost? (I sent an email inquiry, will let you know if I hear anything)
A "do it yourself" option would be to get a PC that is small enough to mount directly on the back of a montor with a standard (VESA) mount - like this one. Only £300 for the entry-level spec, but you can upgrade it a long way if you need to. https://www.chillblast.com/chillblast-mini-system-g4500-windows-10-pro-pc.html
(My experience with this company is that they build rock-solid PCs - I don't know what their warranty service is like, because I've never had to use it in 10 years or so. If you want something that isn't exactly the same as the upgrade options on their website, in my experience they will build what YOU want, not what they want to sell you. You might be able to shave a bit off their prices going somewhere else, but in the end you get what you pay for.
I did a bit of research, checking the suggested links.
We have decided on an Ipad Pro, as it will be great in many different music areas, not just the visual side of displaying music PDF's, as well as allowing me to do tray out some artwork with the Apple Pencil.
On the iPad pro you may want the Forscore app to handle PDF's as music sheets and be able to make all kind of annotations with the Apple-pencil. The exact screen-size is 263x197 mm. An A4 PDF will appear slightly reduced, but filling the entire screen.
(I've just started to use it and I'm working to optimize the original Sibelius files for iPad reading)
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MacOS 10.9.5 Sibelius 8.5.1