By Ian Burley
31st October - 2001
 |  |
Our man in Tokyo, Hiroyuki Kamijou, reports that Canon Japan has announced two new A4 flat bed scanners that support USB 2.0 connectivity. USB 1.x, which is almost universally implemented in new PCs and relevant peripherals, has a theoretical maximum throughput capacity of 12 megabits per second. USB 2.0 increases this by 40 times to 480Mbits/sec.
However, these figures are only theoretical and, unlike IEEE1394 (Firewire), which offers 100, 200 or 400MBits/second data rates, USB bandwidth is not guaranteed. Typical USB 1.x data rates can range between 6 and 10Mbits/second, for example.
This might explain why, even though USB 2.0 is 40 times faster, Canon only claims up to a 4x performance improvement, on average, with its new scanners (see right). Other issues include system bottlenecks outside the USB data interface. Nevertheless, a 400% improvement is not to be sniffed at! Canon states it has tested its new scanners with USB 2.0 interface cards made by Adaptec only (AUA-3100LP and AUA-5100).
Canon’s new USB 2.0 models are the D1250U2 (Y19,800yen - around £120) and the D1250U2F (26,800yen - about £160). OS support is Windows 98 (USB 1.1 only) and Windows Me, 2000, and XP.
Both models feature a 6-line colour image sensor CCD, and optical resolution is 1200x2400dpi. Sample depth is 48bit (in) and 24bit (out). The more expensive D1250U2F has built-in film adapter unit.
The new scanners will ship from early November in Japan.
DPN note: Epson already has a shipping USB 2.0 (and Firewire too) scanner in the UK in the form of the Perfection 2450 Photo, though this exotic model won’t leave you much change from £300.
www.canon.co.jp (Japanese site mainly)
www.canon.co.uk (UK site)
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
DPN News service
www.dp-now.com
