New Scanners Show Off Functionality
By Greg Scoblete -- TWICE, 4/10/2006
New York— While stand-alone scanners have been besieged by the advent of digital cameras and the ascendancy of all-in-ones, Epson and Plustek have introduced new models that pack more functionality for office or high-end photography applications than anything on offer in an all-in-one.
Epson added an Office version to its Perfection 4490 scanner line. The model offers an automatic document feeder that holds up to 30 sheets (17 lb. paper, legal, letter, A4 or smaller), and film holders that allow for batch scanning of 35mm slides, negatives and 2 ¼-inch film.
The 4490 features a hardware resolution of 4800 by 9600 dpi and a 3.4 Dmax. It can scan three black-and-white pages per minute (ppm) at 300 dpi, or two color ppm at 300 dpi.
When scanning photos, the unit offers Epson Easy Photo Fix color restoration technology alongside built-in Digital ICE for removing scratches and dust from negatives and slides.
The Epson Scan driver supports four user modes — full auto, home, office and professional — and can automatically detects whether the document feeder or transparency unit is installed on the scanner. Once detected, the software switches to the appropriate scanning mode and feature set.
The scanner will ship this month for an estimated $349 and bundle Adobe Photoshop Elements, ABBYY FineReader Sprint Plus, NewSoft Presto! BizCard, Epson Scan and the Epson creativity suite of applications.
Plustek announced a new film and negative scanner targeted toward advanced amateurs and professionals. The $399 OpticFilm 7200i is a successor the company's OpticFilm 7200 and incorporates SilverFast's new Infrared Smart Removal of Defects (iSRD) technology, which provides an additional infrared scanning channel, on top of the standard scan channels, to digitally remove defects from scanned images caused by minute cracks or deformities on the surface of the film.
The scanner features a resolution of 7200 by 7200 dpi for generating 200MB files (the equivalent of 75-megapixel resolution camera).
The company also added a new OpticSlim scanner to its line, the OpticSlim M12 Plus. The M12 Plus builds off the existing M12 and adds scanning for full-sized legal documents and PDF creation with a single button. It also bundles image editing software.
The slim-line model uses a USB interface for power and connectivity and offers 600 dpi resolution with 48-bit color. It can scan documents at roughly three ppm.
