Scanner
Performance Page
OpenBook 4 (Ruby Edition)
The information pertaining to the scanners
listed on this page are in reference to how they performed with OpenBook
4 (Ruby Edition).
Scanners recently
added:
HP ScanJet 4670 - added
5/24/04
Visioneer OneTouch 9320
- added 5/24/04
Scanner Selection List:
Acer Scanners
Canon Scanners
Epson Scanners
HP Scanners
Lexmark Scanners
Microtek Scanners
Plustek Scanners
Umax Scanners
Visioneer Scanners
Acer Scanners:
- The Acer 1240UT does not scan very well
in OpenBook 4. It leaves off the right margin, speech during background scanning is choppy,
and scanning with the Exact View turned on still fails to keep the exact
view.
back to manufacturers list
Canon Scanners:
- The Canon CanoScan N650U, N656U, N670U,
N676U, N1220 and N1240 all work well with OpenBook 4. However,
the Canon's recalibration utility will automatically launch after every
80 pages scanned. This will cause OpenBook 4 to lose focus.
Also, the contrast cannot be changed manually through OpenBook 4.
- The
Canon CanoScan LiDE 30 and the LiDE 80 also work well with OpenBook
4. However, manual contrast adjustments cannot be made through
OpenBook 4. Please note that these scanners cause OpenBook 6 to
lose focus after every scan.
- The Canon CanoScan D646U has a few
drawbacks. Priodic
warm-up and calibration dialogs occur while the scanner is in use.
Also, the user cannot perform legal-sized
scanning or manually change contrast.
In addition, the user can cancel
a scan, but not before the scanning head finishes the entire process.
Sometimes canceling too soon will cause the scanning head to remain
out of position.
- The
Canon CanoScan D1250U2F is a fairly slow scanner that displays a 'lamp
adjustment' dialog on every single scan. This interferes with
Background scanning and canceling a scan. However, under Windows
XP, users may choose to install the optional WIA drivers. When
using these drivers, the lamp adjustment dialog does not display, allowing
background scanning or scan canceling. However, even if a scan is canceled,
the scanner must still complete the scanning process before you can
scan again. Also, the user cannot change the contrast manually.
- The FB 630Ui is a fast, compact USB scanner.
Manual contrast adjustment is not currently supported in OpenBook 4
with this scanner. Scanned documents will be out of focus unless
they are pressed firmly against the glass, so some books may present
a problem for this scanner.
back to manufacturers
list
Epson Scanners:
- The Perfection 1650, 1660, 2450, and 3200
work well with OpenBook 4. However, when you cancel a scan, these
scanners may still try to complete the physical scanning process, but
no pages are scanned or recognized. Also, legal sized scanning
cannot be performed. When using the 1660, contrast cannot be changed
through OpenBook.
- The Perfection 1250 and 1670 also work
well with OpenBook 4, but are very slow when scanning, taking approximately
50-60 seconds to scan a page. In Windows 2000, these scanners will
not work if the user account does not have administrative privileges.
This has nothing to do with OpenBook, but rather the scanner itself.
Finally, when you cancel a scan, these scanners may attempt to complete
the physical scanning routine, but no pages will be scanned or recognized.
- The Epson Perfection 1240U and 1640SU
work well with OpenBook 4, as does the older Perfection 636U, and 1200U.
These scanners are also fairly fast. One thing to keep in mind
is that the Perfection 1640's optional ADF will not work with OpenBook
4.
- In all cases, the 'normal' and 'automatic'
contrast settings work well, but these scanners do not permit manual
contrast adjustment.
back to manufacturers
list
HP Scanners:
- The ScanJet 3570C, 4400C, 4470C, 4670,
5400C, 5470C, 5490C, 5550C, 5500C, 7400C, 7450C, and 7490C work with
OpenBook 4. However, if
a screen reader is currently active, it will detect the HP interface
even though it is not visible on the screen. If the user has a
ScanJet 3570C, 5500C, 5550C, or 7490C an actual HP dialog will also
be displayed on the screen. This should only occur on the first
scan. Any subsequent scans should not experience this behavior.
Also,
focus is frequently lost when using these scanners, which forces the
user to manually return the focus to OpenBook. This can interrupt reading
while scanning in the
background. Also,
when the user cancels scanning within OpenBook 4, this
does not stop the scanning head from completing the process. No
pages will be recognized, but this will take a few extra seconds.
Finally, manual contrast adjustments cannot be made within OpenBook
4. The 7490C, 7450C, 5470C, 5550C, also allow legal sized scanning.
- The ScanJet 6300 and 6350 work especially
well with OpenBook 4.
- The discontinued HP ScanJet 5200C, 6200C
and 6250C work especially well with OpenBook 4.
- Older ScanJet models, such as the IIp,
IIc, IIcx, 3c, 3p, 4c, 4p, 5p, 5100c, 5200c and 6100c work well with
OpenBook 4. These scanners may have interface cards that are not
compatible with Windows 98 or Windows 2000 Pro.
- The ScanJet 3200C, 3300C, 3400C, 4100C,
4200C, 4300C, and 5300C do not work well with OpenBook 4.
- HP single sheet scanners, such as the
4S and 5S, as well as combination machines which incorporate sheet-fed
scanners, do not work well with OpenBook 4.
back to manufacturers
list
Lexmark Scanners:
- The Lexmark X3150, X215, X125, and X73
work fairly well with OpenBook, but there are a few details to keep
in mind.
- There is always a
dialog
box that displays in the foreground. On some models, you can activate
the Appearance button (if available) on the Lexmark scanning dialog
box to hide this dialog box. In either case, pressing ALT+TAB
to move back to OpenBook allows background scanning to work
properly, even if the Lexmark dialog box still appears on the screen.
- The built-in
automatic document feeder (ADF) permits legal-sized scanning.
The flatbed, however, is only 11.7" long.
-
Contrast cannot be manually changed through OpenBook.
- To cancel scanning, you must choose Cancel
in the external Lexmark dialog box before choosing Cancel in the OpenBook
scanning dialog box, otherwise the system could become unresponsive.
- Background scanning may result in an endless
scanning loop.
- The average scan times for these scanners
shortens significantly after switching the contrast to Normal.
back
to manufacturers list
Microtek Scanners:
- Microtek scanners do not support manual
contrast adjustment in OpenBook 4.
- The ScanMaker 3800 and 3740 also work
well with OpenBook 4. As stated above, contrast adjustments cannot
be made through OpenBook 4.
- The ScanMaker 4700, 4800, 4900 and 5700
work well with OpenBook 4. Without an automatic document feeder
(ADF) and only a 11.7 inch scanning area, legal-sized scanning is not
possible. The ScanMaker 4700 uses the exact same drivers
as the 5700. This was confirmed by Microtek and, although we did
not test this scanner specifically at Freedom Scientific, the scanning
results will be the same as the 5700.
- The ScanMaker X12USL will work with OpenBook
4, but there are a few details to keep in mind. The optional ADF
will work with OpenBook 4, but paper jams are frequent, if loaded with
multiple pages. Other times, multiple pages will feed through
on a single scan, resulting in loss of pages. Under Windows 2000,
during the first scan after OpenBook 4 is launched, a TWAIN dialog will
display, prompting you to select between drivers. This same dialog
will also appear during the first scan after adjusting and applying
contrast settings.
- The ScanMaker X6EL, V6USL and V6UPL are
noteworthy because they each have a long, 14 inch scanning surface.
back to manufacturers
list
Mustek Scanners:
Plustek Scanners:
- The Plustek U12B will work with OpenBook
4 but is a slow scanner, and background scanning may not function properly.
A driver download from the Plustek
website is recommended to enable manual contrast adjustments.
back to manufacturers
list
Umax Scanners:
Visioneer Scanners:
- The Visioneer OneTouch 5300, 8100, 8600,
8650, and 8800 work very well. To ensure scanning does not display
any external dialogs, install OneTouch v2.0 drivers when using the 8600
or the 8650 models.
- The Visioneer 9650USB scan well with OpenBook
4. However, this scanner did not seem very durable. After
extensive scanning, this scanner periodically needed its power reset
in order to continue scanning. Also, you cannot adjust this scanner's
contrast manually. In addition, when you cancel a scan, the scanner
head may continue the process.
- The Visioneer OneTouch 9320, 9000, 8920
and 8700 will scan in OpenBook 4, but an external TWAIN dialog displays
during each scan. This dialog causes OpenBook 4 to lose focus,
but closes on its own after each scan is completed. OpenBook then
regains focus and continues functioning properly. This dialog
also affects reading when scanning in the background or when canceling
a scan. In addition, you cannot manually adjust the contrast for this
scanner through OpenBook 4. If WIA drivers are available (usually for
Windows XP), they will keep the external dialog from appearing.
back to manufacturers
list
|
|
 Hardware
Software
Training
Tutorials
Accessories
Documentation
|
