Scanners for Use with WYNN and TestTalker

The following information is intended to help you choose an appropriate scanner for use with WYNN and TestTalker.

Please realize that there are too many scanners available for any company to track. Freedom Scientific currently monitors eight scanner manufacturers. Each company releases a new model about every month. Since we cannot test all of these, we rely on our customers and friends to share their experiences with us.

Information at a glance

If a scanner is TWAIN compliant, it will almost certainly work with WYNN and TestTalker. Therefore, our scanner information usually tells not if, but how well a scanner works with our products. A specific scanner may take a long time to scan, or may have desirable optional features, but if it is TWAIN compliant, it should work. Since most consumer scanners are TWAIN compliant, it's easy to find a scanner to work with WYNN and TestTalker.

What are the common types of scanners?

The type of scanner to use with WYNN or TestTalker is usually called a flatbed scanner (because the scanning surface is flat). This is the most common type of scanner, the one you will find in your local computer and office supply stores, as well as online. These scanners are easy to use and versatile enough for most tasks. They can cost anywhere from $75 to $2,000, although most range between $100 and $300.

Flatbed scanner

Some flatbed scanners have an ADF, or Automatic Document Feeder. An ADF allows you to place stacks of paper in the scanner so they get fed through automatically. This is the same method you use to feed multiple pages at a time into a copy machine. ADFs reduce the amount of time you spend scanning because they can process stacks of pages without your intervention. They are also a great way to handle legal-sized pages.

Scanner with Automatic Document Feeder (ADF)

Scanners range from very basic to very sophisticated. Some scanners are referred to as "high-speed scanners." They have extra capabilities and are much more expensive. WYNN and TestTalker work with almost all flatbed scanners, including high-speed scanners.

Some scanners are part of what is known as an "all-in-one" product, which typically includes a scanner, copier, fax machine, and printer. These products are convenient because they take up much less space than all the individual components would. WYNN has worked with all these scanners we have tested so far.

All-in-one scanner

Which specs are important to WYNN and TestTalker?

Resolution: As long as the scanner is capable of at least 300 dpi (dots per inch) resolution, it will work with WYNN and TestTalker. Since scanners these days are capable of much higher resolution, this is not an issue with recent scanners.

Interface: WYNN and TestTalker support both USB and the older parallel interface types. All scanners built these days have at least a USB interface.

TWAIN-compliant: TWAIN is the interface standard that enables a computer program (like WYNN) to communicate with your scanner. WYNN uses TWAIN to communicate with scanners, so WYNN needs a TWAIN-compliant scanner. Nearly all scanners are TWAIN compliant, which means the software you install with them includes a TWAIN driver. (By the way, some people say that TWAIN stands for Technology Without An Interesting Name.)

Preferred scanners

To determine if a specific scanner has been tested by Freedom Scientific for compatibility with WYNN and TestTalker, please refer to the Scanner Performance Page. Note that the page refers to OpenBook, which is another Freedom Scientific product, similar to WYNN. If a scanner works with OpenBook, it will work with WYNN.

Click here to go to the Scanner Performance Page: http://www.freedomscientific.com/fs_support/OPENBookSL5.asp

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