[gui-talk] new scanner and OCR alert (fwd)

[Erik Heil]

Ok guys.  Sorry for the off-topic message, but I thought that this might 
be interesting to the rest of the list.  Keep in mind that all of the 
software mentioned in this article runs on Winblows, but I'm confident 
that their may be a driver for such a scanner for Linux.  I haven't 
checked out the Web site of the vendor, but perhaps some of you can report 
back on this fact?  If so, I'd be interested in this product, because like 
many of you, scanning published material, notably books is not ideal, 
having to break the spine and everything.  Well, enjoy anyways.

-- 
Erik Heil <eheil at va3duk.serveftp.com>
Phone: (865) 673-0542


---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 31 Aug 2004 21:05:08 -0500
From: David Andrews <dandrews at visi.com>
Reply-To: NFBnet GUI Talk Mailing List <gui-talk at nfbnet.org>
To: nabs-l at nfbnet.org, blindtlk at nfbnet.org, nfb-announce at nfbnet.org,
     dtb-talk at nfbnet.org, gui-talk at nfbnet.org, nfbcs at nfbnet.org,
     promotion-technology at nfbnet.org
Subject: [gui-talk] new scanner and OCR alert


> New Scanner Eliminates Spine Shadow
>
>> By Mike Berman
>
>> Frustration is trying to scan pages from a book on a flatbed scanner.
>> The solution: the new OpticBook 3600 ($249) from Plustek.
>
>> It's happened to all of us _- we try to scan or copy pages from a book
>> or other publication only to discover that some of the type is distorted
>> or the type
>> near the spine is lost in what has become known as "spine shadow."
>
>> So, we end up either breaking the spine of the book to get it to lie
>> flat or cut the pages out of the book, neither of which is a desirable
>> solution.
>
>> Enter, stage left, the OpticBook 3600.
>
>> Plustek has developed what they call SEE (Shadow Elimination Element)
>> Technology, which allows book pages to lie flat on the bed of the
>> scanner and uses
>> a lamp with curved ends to scan type close to the book's spine. The
>> result is a readable, undistorted copy in eight-to-10 seconds.
>
>> Of course the scanner has all of the features we've come to expect from
>> a flatbed including the ability to email, copy, and scan images at the
>> touch of
>> a button. But the additional "book action buttons" allow us to preview,
>> color scan, grayscale scan or text scan those pesky book pages.
>
>> In addition, the scanner comes with Book Pilot software, which:
>
>> _ It automatically rotates images as consecutive pages are scanned.
>
>> _ It gives you an image preview in 3.5 seconds.
>
>> _ It allows you to save images in JPG, BMP or PDF formats.
>
>> _ You can convert images to Microsoft Word or PDF documents.
>
>> _ You can adjust the scan frame size to fit the book size.
>
>> _ You can save all the images of a particular job into one file.
>
>> Plus you can scan to OCR, view images in "real time" to make adjustments
>> in contrast, brightness and gamma, and categorize your images.
>
>> The scanner comes with the standard software bundle (except for Book
>> Pilot): NewSoft Presto Page Manager, ULead Photo Impact XL SE, ULead
>> Photo Explorer
>> SE and ABBYY FineReader 5.0 Sprint.
>
>> Specs on the scanner, for those that are addicted to such things, are
>> pretty much what we've come to expect from the new generation of
>> flatbeds:
>
>> _ A high-speed USB 2.0 interface.
>
>> _ Hardware resolution of 1200 dpi with software interpolated resolution
>> of 2400 dpi.
>
>> _ 48-bit input and 24/48-bit output scanning mode for color, 16-bit
>> input and 8/16-bit output for grayscale.
>
>> _ Single-pass scanning mode.
>
>> _ A cold cathode lamp.
>
>> For more information, check out the company's web site at
>> www.plustek.com.
>

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