High speed flatbed scanners, what's the absolute fastest?

[redrumloa]

I'm on the market for a flatbed scanner, speed is the critical concern not color depth or resolution. Bundled software that allows automated publishing to web would be a BIG plus. XP or Linux drivers.

Suggestions? I want something that is capable of scanning a single 8.5x11 sheet in a couple seconds. The image would be for web usage, so a finished size of 800x600 would probably be the max resolution needed, probably less.

[JimS]

I don't think you're going to find a flatbed scanner that fast. You're not going to be able to move the scan head fast enough. When I was at EDS we had a HP sheet-fed scanner that was that fast, in B&W only.

[redrumloa]

Well couple of seconds is exagerating a bit. Color maybe 150dpi, 10-15 seconds should be possible. No?

[Waccoon]

EPSON Perfection series is the fastest damn USB scanner I've ever seen, since it has a very good internal buffer and does all optical conversions in hardware.  The quality is terrific, and they are all good with dust, too.

I have the 1640su, and it can do full-sized, 24-bit color, 300DPI in about 10 seconds.  Just make sure you plug it into a USB root.  From a hub, it tends to lock-up, like many other "high-speed" USB 1.1 devices, like cameras and printers.

Of course, my scanner is 3+ years old.  The new ones are based on USB 2.0.  The evolutionary model of mine is the 3170, found here.

I only use TWAIN for scanning, but EPSON is known for good software bundles, which includes Photoshop Elements, which supposedly comes with good direct-to-web and thumbnail gallery capabilites.

As for resolution and 48-bit, those are just marketting terms and software gimicks that mean nothing, so every scanner has them.  Draft quality alone on the Perfection is pretty damn good, IMO.  I swear by it.

[yogisumo]

My Epson 2450 Perfection scans in about 12 seconds for full page color.  USB 2.0 though so probably doesn't work with Amiga.  That's at 300dpi.  Don't have it plugged in right now so can't verify that.  This scanner is already a couple of years old so it shouldn't be a problem finding one that does the same or better.  2400 dpi on the other hand takes about 20 minutes...  You'll likely need USB 2.0, Firewire, or SCSI.  I'll be unpacking it and using it in the next week or so if you want accurate numbers...

[Matt_H]

I don't know anything about specifics, but if it's Letter-sized pages you need scanned, you might want to look into a scanner module for a printer...

[patrik]

@redrumloa:

If you want a fast and good scanner, the a few years old scsi scanners that originally came with a rather high price tag are usually very fast and gives a _very_ good quality. If needed they tend to sport some optical resolution to, for high detail scans. This in contrast to the regular consumer scanners and their seemingly high resolution numbers, which actually just is a low optical resolution that is interpolated to a much higher one - totally useless - it works just like digital zoom on a camera - you get the same result as when scaling the image to a higher resolution in a graphics package.


/Patrik

[Lemmink]

I don`t know, but I have heard that scanners are slowed down on purpose for GEMA reasons, just to prevent that you could copy the next megaseller and set it online.
photocopiers are a lot faster and it is basically the same hardware, but their price includes a special GEMA fee that adds hugely to the endprice.
But there are some megakiller Scanners available, like one from HP with a 50 Page documetfeeder, but it cost something like 850 $ (nope no typo here). 450 $ without the documentfeeder.

[X-ray]

I have an Epson Perfection 4870 Photo. Using an A4 colour picture, I timed the scanner:

Preview: 12 seconds
Scan: 14 seconds

Settings: 24 bit colour, 150 dpi, 800 x 600 target resolution. No dust removal filter, no sharpening, no contrast/brightness parameters, no descreening filter.

That is running on a PC through USB2. The scanner also has Firewire ports but there is no difference in speed that I can detect. This is all on an XP box.

Some more figures:

Same scan, but 300dpi (2412 x 3400): 19s.
Same as above but with sharpening filter: 20s
Same as above but with descreening filter (magazine print): 27s
If you put on a dust removal filter (Digital Ice) then the scan time shoots up to 6 minutes!!

If you want me to run more tests, just let me know. By the way it does transparencies too (but smaller than A4) and comes with negative holders, but no document feeder. Some flat objects can be scanned directly from the glass (such as an A4000T bezel door for example, or a remote control or a computer PCB).
The quality is amazing.

[redrumloa]

Great stuff guys, thanks! Exactly the answers I was looking for.

@X-Ray
Does the 4870 come with bundled software? Does it use TWAIn driver? If it does include software, do you know if it will publish direct to web?

[JimS]

Yeah, that ought to be doable, as the others have said. My ancient Umax S12 using the doc feeder might come close. It's been a while since I timed it.

[delshay]

umax 2400s ( SCSI ) is pretty fast...time it later..

[X-ray]

@ Red

It comes with EpsonScan software and is twain compliant. It also comes with Silverfast SE and Abby Finereader. The scanner might be overkill if you don't ever want to scan transparencies, but who knows what else you might scan.
Publishing to web...I dunno. I will have to find out. I haven't seen that option in my software.

Nice reviews of scanners (including mine) on this site

I can't link directly to the review section, but you can choose reviews from the left. On the page that opens the 4870 is right there at the top.

Edit: also realise that my tests were done in professional mode: you can scan in easy mode with no preview, and it will auto-straighten and recognise picture edges (even if multiple) with one click.