Graphics Tablet with Light Pen and Digitizer (1987)

Whenever there is a need to digitise a paper-based material, such as a hand-drawn diagram, the graphics tablet has been used in the 80’s and early 90’s. The tablet consists of a board where the paper with contents to be digitized can be placed. The tablet’s board contains a special grid hidden underneath covering the surface area of the tablet. The digitizer is like a modern-day mouse that connects to the graphics tablet through a cable. The digitizer has a special conductive coil at the front. When the digitizer is moved over the paper placed on the tablet board, the tablet can detect the exact position of the digitizer on the paper by measuring the magnetic effect. The user can move the digitizer over the paper along the points and lines printed in the paper to communicate their exact coordinates to the graphics tablet. In this way, the details of a paper-based material can be converted to the digital form and fed into a computer.