New technology raises the bar on scanners

By Zatni Arbi

JAKARTA (JP): Flatbed scanners are definitely one of the computing products that are catching on very fast. While the number of scanner makers keeps growing -- Acer, Agfa, Epson, HP and Umax just to name some of them -- the scanning capabilities, features and ease of use also get better and better.

The past month witnessed the arrival of new flatbed scanners from Canon. Two weeks ago, Epson launched its new Perfection series scanners, and I am expecting Hewlett-Packard to unveil new scanners as it introduces a slew of new products on Tuesday.

Epson has changed the name of its scanner lineup from the simple "GT" plus a number to Perfection as it intends to provide full-scale printing solutions. Four Perfection series scanners were introduced: the Perfection 610, 1200U, 1200S and 1200P.

You can easily guess the optical resolution capability of each by the digits. The Perfection 610 can scan at 600 x 1200 DPI, while the others can scan to 1200 x 2400 DPI. The term "optical resolution" refers to the actual number of photosensitive dots in the Charge Coupled Device (CCD).

With the help of software, the number of pixels can be increased to gain more details of the scanned image. Thus, the Perfection 1200 series can virtually create a scanned image file with a 9600 DPI resolution. Just remember that higher resolutions, however, also mean that you will have very large image files, which will also require a lot of storage space.

Another thing that you can immediately guess is the meaning of the letter at the end of each scanner's name. The 1200 models use the USB or the SCSI interface. Hence the U and the S.

Midrange and up

Unlike other scanner makers that cater to the needs of home users on very limited budgets, Epson does not have a truly low- end scanner. The Perfection 610 requires a PC with a USB port and Windows 98, a Power Macintosh G3 or an iMac with System 8.5 or later (or System 8.1 with iMac Update 1.0). Epson positions it against the HP ScanJet 5200, which costs a little higher as it is already next to HP's top end, the ScanJet 6300.

Professional graphics workers will want the Perfection 1200 series. The US$340 Perfection 1200Photo comes bundled with a film adapter that enables us to scan positive as well as negative film. The software will automatically detect which of these is on the scanner. The film adapter is optional for the other Perfection1200 series. If the PC or Mac is connected to a photo printer, the scanner can easily duplicate a photo using the bundled Epson Instant Photo Print. An Automatic Document Feeder (ADF) is optional for all 1200 models.

One touch scanning is as common today as the street rallies for cash just a few weeks ago. Therefore it's not surprising that these scanners also have a button that can be programmed to automatically run any of the bundled program -- Imaging, Presto! PageManager, PhotoDeluxe -- or any other program that we can add ourselves.

These scanners have their own processor that handles tasks such as CCD line distance correction, gamma correction, shading correction, zoom, color correction and digital halftoning. The best feature, in my opinion, is the ability to eliminate background color that usually impairs character recognition.

So, for example, when we scan a color brochure, a new feature called Text Enhancement Technology (TET) will grab the text but not the background, resulting in cleaner text that allows for more precise recognition.

Other new technology

To be able to scan at a high resolution, the scanner head should move at a precise pace. Epson touts its Micro Step Drive technology that ensures that the scanner head moves forward at the right pace so that no detail is missed. This also means that the scanner head should be able to accelerate and decelerate at the right time.

Using the software, we can adjust the resolution level that we want. The good thing about these new scanners is that the activity of the scanning head is adjusted to the level of resolution that we want. So, for example, when we tell it to scan at 72 DPI, only 12 percent of the CDD is active, and therefore the scanning can take much shorter time to complete.

Epson calls this new technology "On demand pixel optimizer". Other scanners will normally scan at a constant resolution and drop the pixels as the data is imported into the scanning software. To ensure that the result will be uniform across the entire width of the scanning head, Epson has also paid close attention to the construction of the lens.

Simple design

While other scanners on the market tend to adopt more rounded, "aerodynamic" looks, these Perfection series scanners still look boxy as the Kijang van of the early 1980s. The gray color is accentuated only by the violet button face on the left corner at the top. It has no external power adapter, which I consider a plus. There is no power button, either.

The device will shut down automatically if it does not receive any signal from the PC or the Mac after 10 minutes. The housing itself feels sturdy. The lock, which will protect the sensitive scanner mechanism during transport is on the left side and can be turned using a coin. The cover can be detached easily so you can easily place a thick book on it.

While the Perfection 1200 series come with TextBridge Classic, a reputable Optical Character Recognition software, the Perfection 610 does not come with any OCR software. An OmniPage LE would be a welcome extra.

Another limitation of these letter-sized scanners is that they come only with USB and SCSI connection. The 1200 S, which is more expensive (US$305), comes with a SCSI card. If you have an older PC that has no USB port, you will have to buy a USB adapter (Rp 175,000 at Mangga Dua Mall) before you can use the 1200 U ($279) or the 610 ($170). Then again, this card is a PCI board. If you still have a 386 machine, even Perfection 610 is not for you.

But if you want a high-quality and fast scanner that is easy to use, and especially if you work with text with colored backgrounds, the Perfection series is worth a serious look.