Top-of-the-desk stuff

DESKTOP flatbed scanners are widely used for making layout preview scans and other tasks too. Previously, a drum scanner was needed to achieve true print quality image. Design studies and other firms with moderate volumes of scanning had to commission production scans from outside companies.

Dainippon Screen Manufacturing Ltd of Japan is now offering a low- priced image input system - the FTS700 - that uses a charge-couple The introduction of CCD scanners will revolutionise the desk top publishing industry device (CCD) scanner which can be incorporated in desktop publishing (DTP) systems which use a computer for editing and printing (Science and Technology in Japan, Vol 14, No 54).

The new FT-s700 flatbed colour scanner retains the compact design, easy operations and low cost commonly associated with desktop systems, but achieves colour quality comparable to drum scanners. With the advanced CCD elements, the FT-s700 can detect tone when the density usage is as high as 3.6, allowing the scanner to capture details in photographs. This nears the performance of expensive repro scanners using photo -multipliers.

The 6,000-clement CCD on the FT-s700 provides an optical resolution of 1,150 dots per inch (DPI) with effective output resolutions ranging from 50 to 6,000 DPI. Magnifications can be as high as 1,700 per cent at 175 lines per inch with excellent results.

The FT-s700 employs a triple linear CCD array that allows Red, Green and Blue (RGB) data to be read in a single pass. This allows a colour photo (12-1 mm X 127 mm) to be scanned at 350 DPI in just 88 seconds. Standard format transparencies are mounted onto special holders designed without glass layers for eas' handling and to eliminate the need for clearing. Special acrylic holders are also available for non- standard and reflective originals. The scanner automatically selects the appropriate size, orientation and original type based on information encoded in the holder.

The FT-S700 is operated from an Adobe photoshop plug-in module or from Screen's colour scope pro image processing programme. It also supports the TWAIN standard. allowing future interfacing with other compliant applications. TWAIN is a cross-platform interface for acquiring images captured by certain scanners and frame grabbers.

The functions are comparable to those of high- performance systems using a drum scanner for image processing, but the price tag is one-half that of conventional systems. The company is now aiming at designing and planning studios, DTP Service centres printers and plate manufacturing facilities.

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