Xencelabs has announced the Pen Display 16 Lite, an ultraportable 4K OLED pen display designed for digital artists who need accuracy, mobility, and reliable performance across different creative environments. With a price of $799, the new device brings a combination of portability and professional-grade visuals, making it suitable for creators working in studios, home setups, or frequently traveling between workspaces. Accompanying the launch is packaging that features artwork from an international creative collaboration built around the animated character Ted Paul, blending artistic expression with modern rendering technology.
The artwork on the packaging highlights the journey of Ted Paul, a frog character first developed by fantasy illustrator Jesper Ejsing. Known for his lively and expressive designs, Ejsing created Ted Paul from a simple sketch. His vision was later expanded into a detailed 3D character through the combined efforts of Xencelabs, Pixar’s RenderMan team, and DAMN! Visdev Studio and Dell workstation technology. The team used RenderMan 27’s XPU rendering system to recreate Ejsing’s stylized approach, aiming to retain the qualities of the original drawing while enhancing it with depth and motion.
This partnership grew after RenderMan’s Dylan Sisson connected with Ejsing at an industry event and saw potential in translating the artist’s style using new rendering tools. From there, DAMN! Visdev Studio’s founders, Fabio Sciedlarczyk and Nicolas De Aquino, began shaping Ted Paul’s 3D identity using a combination of Xencelabs Pen Displays, ZBrush, Maya, Substance Painter, and Dell RTX A6000 workstations. Their focus throughout the workflow was to maintain artistic intent and keep the character’s distinctive feel intact.
The upcoming animated short Ted’s World, planned for release in 2026, will feature Ted Paul in his natural pond environment, showing RenderMan’s new stylized rendering capabilities such as real-time brush stroke simulation and watercolor textures. The project aims to highlight how creative teams can merge traditional illustration techniques with modern visualization tools. It also shows how hardware like Xencelabs Pen Displays can support artists from early sketching to final animation workflows.
As for the Pen Display 16 Lite itself, the device reflects direct feedback from professional creators. It features a 4K OLED display (3840 x 2160) with support for a wide color range—Adobe RGB (98%), P3-D65 (98%), sRGB (99%), and Rec. 709 (99%). The panel is optically bonded with an anti-glare surface, helping reduce reflections while offering a pen-to-paper feel. The finely tuned pressure curve, developed from input from more than 100 artists, ensures smooth and precise strokes.
The display includes two v2 pens, each with an eraser, offering different grip styles to match user preference. Additional accessories include 10 extra nibs, a glove, a pen case, an adapter, and a Bluetooth dongle. With its slim 12 mm frame and lightweight build of 2.67 lbs (1.2 kg), the device is designed to be easy to carry while maintaining durability. USB-C single cable support makes setup simple, with optional connectivity through the Xencelabs Hub for systems that rely on HDMI or DisplayPort.
The Pen Display 16 Lite is now available through Xencelabs’ official stores.
