How does the HP Active Pen work?(Why wont it work with other touchscreen devices)

[RockSolid1106]

So I got this HP Active Pen G3 with an HP EliteBook Dragonfly and it works fine. But I want to use it other devices of mine. I thought it worked by just the way Human skin works, conducting electricity(I dont know how our skin works, I just know that it has got something to do with electricity). But it just wont work with other touchscreen devices of mine, like my iPad. So that got me thinking into how this Pen actually works. Does it use like optical technology(pretty vague guess)? 

Thanks!

[Eigenvektor]

Based on info I could find on HP's website this pen includes batteries, so it likely uses some active communication like Bluetooth and is not a pen that works through actual physically touching the screen (for inductive or capacitive touch screens). So in a sense it is like a pen from Wacom (though that doesn't require batteries) and needs a screen with explicit support. For Wacom pens, those are like antennas that you move through an electrical field used to sense where it is. So I guess this is similar.

[RockSolid1106]

11 minutes ago, Eigenvektor said:

it likely uses some active communication like Bluetooth

I dont even have BT enabled! The pen does have some buttons and they do work even though I have BT turned off. So its probably using some proprietary technology developed by HP?

EDIT: It also feels like it has got something to do with Touchscreens because I havent yet found a device that supports Pen/Stylus but does not have a touch screen. What do you guys think?

Edited May 17, 2021 by LTTfan2006

[Eigenvektor]

12 minutes ago, LTTfan2006 said:

I dont even have BT enabled! The pen does have some buttons and they do work even though I have BT turned off. So its probably using some proprietary technology developed by HP?

Would be my guess as well. Some near-field electrical field similar to what Wacom are doing.

 

12 minutes ago, LTTfan2006 said:

EDIT: It also feels like it has got something to do with Touchscreens because I havent yet found a device that supports Pen/Stylus but does not have a touch screen. What do you guys think?

Take a look at Wacom Cintiq Like I said, they use a near-field electrical field to "sense" the pen and touch input, and the pens don't even need active power, but their stuff is really expensive. I would imagine the HP stuff works similarly. The pen has to touch the screen to close a circuit which in turn is then reported back to the tablet. Though I might be wrong and HP does use a combination of touch detection on screen and the pen.