Latest scanners+printers from Canon
By Ian Burley
1st August - 2001
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Canon has unveiled its autumn collection of of printer and scanner goodies. Click here to jump to the printer round-up. For information about Canon’s impressive looking new film scanner, click here. On this page, we look at the Canon’s latest batch of flat bed scanners.
Top of the range are the 2400 pixels per inch (ppi) maximum resolution CanoScan D2400U (£279 inc.VAT) and D2400UF (£329 inc.VAT) models. The extra ‘F’ means film scanning capability is built in, though the standard model can be upgraded via a £59 inc.VAT FAU-13 film scanner kit.
The 2400-series employs a special 6-element ‘Galileo’ lens, mated to a 6 line ‘Hyper CCD’ sensor. However, when you consider that even a humble 6x4 inch photo, when scanned at 2400ppi, can generate nearly 400MB of 24-bit data, let alone 48-bit data the scanner is capable of, it’s not surprising that Canon thought hard about shifting all this information from scanner to computer as quickly as possible.
The solution is a hardware- powered lossless compression system that
processes the data before it is sent down the USB port to the host computer, so speeding up scanning times.
The FAU-13 film scanner kit is interesting because it uses an infra red dust and scratch detector. Also featured in the new FS4000US dedicated film scanner (click here) This locates the physical image flaws and maps them out of the scanned image data via software. The importance of this system is that adjacent detail is not adversely affected by the process.
1200ppi will do?
If you don’t need 2400ppi scanning resolution, there are new 1200ppi D-series models too. As with the D2400 series, there are U and UF versions and the optional film scanner for the ‘U’ model is designated the FAU-12.
Stylish new CIS models
If space is at a premium or you simply want something looking a bit more stylish, Canon’s popular CIS (contact image sensor) scanner range is extended with the addition of three new models, the CanoScan N670U, N676U and N1240U.
Unlike conventional scanners that use a lens to see the scanned surface, CIS scanners use a page-wide array of sensors without the need for a lens. This arrangement has the advantage of being very compact, but it’s only suitable for scanning completely flat subjects. It’s also generally accepted that conventional scanners produce better photographic reproduction than CIS scanners, though many might have difficulty noticing the difference these days.
The three new CIS models from Canon offer 1200x2400ppi maximum resolution scans (N1240U) or 600x1200ppi (N670U and N676U). All offer the novelty of upright scanning. A stand is supplied that enables the scanner to be turned on its side, saving even more desk space.
Another common feature is the inclusion of ‘EZ’ scan buttons for one-touch scanning operations that are user-programmable. Canon’s QARE (Quality Automatic Retouching and Enhancement) technology is included too. This cleans up photos and all the scanners can automatically adjust tone and, colour and exposure settings. All models have no need for a mains power supply as they can obtain all the power they need from the host PC’s USB connection.
Prices of the new CanoScan models released today are:
- D2400U - £279 inc.VAT
- D2400UF - £329 inc.VAT
- D1230U - £179 inc.VAT
- D1230UF - £229 inc.VAT
- FA-12/FA-13 film adapters - £59 inc.VAT
- N670U - £69 inc.VAT (N-series models available from September)
- N676U - £89 inc.VAT (Same spec. as N670U but with metallic silver finish)
- N1240U - £149 inc.VAT
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