Image Access WideTEK CIS scanner Contex large format scanners

NO BULL: Scan Speed Part 2

Contex define large format scanner productivity in "drawings per hour"

February 2009, updated April 2009

Introduction

Contex SD CIS-based large format scanner
The Contex SD Series -
First generation CIS technology
now redefining "productivity"
 

Contex, the leading large format scanner manufacturer, has introduced a new measure for rating productivity which is available for its SD4400, HD3600, HD4200 and HD5400 series.

Contex rate "Productivity" as the number of D-size and A1 drawings which can be scanned at 200 dpi in one hour.

  • Remember, you first read about Contex's new "drawings per hour" measurement on ScannersCAD, the Number One News Site for Large Format Scanning!

Scanners4CAD and almost everyone within the wide format scanner industry agree that one unambiguous measure of scan speed which can be applied equally to all scanners needs to be adopted for the sake of clarity.

Following a discussion with Contex, we thought it was going to provide a new scan speed measure. We were surprised when instead Contex added a new specification of "productivity" to the traditional scan speed rating in its SD Series product brochure (February 2009). It has now announced its new productivity specification in a press release (Contex Sets New Standard for Scanner Productivity, April 2009).

This is the first time that anyone in the large format scanner industry has attempted to specify a measure of productivity, a difficult thing to do given the many convergent factors involved in achieving useful scanned image quality. However, with this specification Contex is suggesting that it sees productivity more in terms of brute, raw speed rather than image quality. This is a worrying development, if true.

We welcome Contex's initiative but question the validity of its new specification.

In writing this article, we took advice from several large format specialists who agree that one clear measure for rating large format scanning speed is desirable and overdue. However, they worry that Contex's attempt to present the hardware's raw scan speed as a measure of productivity is both misleading and confusing. Wide format scanner productivity, they argue, is more complex than Contex would have you believe.

Contex's suggestion that it is low resolution speed, not quality, that provides productivity has ignited a debate which will burn bright for months to come!

Scanners4CAD investigates.

Why a new measure of large format scan speed is needed
What Contex is claiming
How this test was conducted
Why is Contex making this claim for productivity?
What is large format scanner productivity?
Towards a new measure of wide format productivity
What the large format scanning industry think
A cautionary tale from China
Conclusion

Your views on this matter are welcome. Please make them known to us.

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