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3 second scanner...
Posted: Tue Oct 26, 2010 10:10 am
by Sabre
NY Times Article
After the launch of the unprinterlike Envy 100 e-All-in-One from Hewlett-Packard, Lexmark has engineered its own slick all-in-one printer. The coming Lexmark Genesis is unmistakably a printer, albeit a handsome one, but it has impressive new technology under the hood: a digital camera that can scan documents and photos in a whizzy three seconds.
Lexmark says its primary goal in designing the Genesis was to create an all-in-one inkjet (it prints, scans, copies and faxes) that can more quickly scan and copy documents. To do so, Lexmark replaced the traditional scanning mechanism with a 10-megapixel wide-angle digital camera.
This goes in the "why didn't I think of that" pile!
Re: 3 second scanner...
Posted: Tue Oct 26, 2010 10:17 am
by complacent
that's pretty damn cool!
i've got one of there current aiw devices and have been very pleased. the 100XL black cartridge is frigging amazing. we routinely get ~500 pages out of one tank,
at $5.00 per cartridge.
my current favorite home printer manufacturer.
Re: 3 second scanner...
Posted: Tue Oct 26, 2010 10:24 am
by Sabre
complacent wrote:i've got one of there current aiw devices and have been very pleased. the 100XL black cartridge is frigging amazing. we routinely get ~500 pages out of one tank, at $5.00 per cartridge.
Holy crap, that's amazing! I will definitely be keeping that one in mind!
Re: 3 second scanner...
Posted: Tue Oct 26, 2010 11:13 am
by scheherazade
I once had someone send me a document via iphone picture.
I was impressed with the quality. I can totally see how a 10mp camera can be used here.
I wonder about distortions, and if there's still a surface to press the document flat and to keep it at the right distance, etc.
-scheherazade
Re: 3 second scanner...
Posted: Tue Oct 26, 2010 1:15 pm
by Sabre
scheherazade wrote:I wonder about distortions, and if there's still a surface to press the document flat and to keep it at the right distance, etc.
Presumably, they have it pressed against a flat surface just like a normal scanner. The distortions can be taken care of by the use of a good lense.
Re: 3 second scanner...
Posted: Tue Oct 26, 2010 3:37 pm
by zaxrex
I think it would be much easier to compensate for the parallax distortion in post process.
Designing a a fixed focus lens that would do it could only be used in that application. That in itself makes it mcuh more expensive.
Re: 3 second scanner...
Posted: Tue Oct 26, 2010 5:02 pm
by scheherazade
Metric lenses are pretty common for fixed-zoom applications.
Which this would be.
So I would think that if you're gonna use a lens at all, it might as well be a metric lens...
-scheherazade