Peripherals Sparkle at Seybold SF
By
Mike Pasini, The Imaging Resource
(Wednesday, September 11, 2002 - 16:06 EDT)
The unusually small Expo floor held a number of interesting new hardware peripherals....
SAN FRANCISCO -- Hardware seems to have stolen the spotlight for the digital imaging audience on the Expo floor here. Innovative displays and output devices joined some new scanners to make news.
Among the highlights:
DISPLAYS
Torque Systems introduced a 22-inch, 9-megapixel LCD with four times the resolution of Apple's Cinema display. The $8,995 unit sports a resolution of 200-dpi, a native 1.8 gamma and 5000 Kelvin backlighting.
And Sony is showing a combination of their most popular flat-screen monitor with a hardware calibrator for $1,800. The calibration software will expire the monitor profile after a user-determined number of days.
Scanners
Microtek introduced the 1800f, an intriguing flatbed scanner with a density range of 4.8 (but reaching 5.0 in their internal tests). The intriguing feature is a drawer much like that on the Agfa DuoScan (whose technology was licensed from Microtek) for loading large-format film. The drawer accepts film holders for 4x5, individual 35mm slides and 35mm filmstrips. The FireWire/USB 2.0 48-bit scanner features user-selectable multi-sampling to reduce noise and 1800x2600-dpi resolution for $1,499.
They're also showing their ArtixScan 4000tf 35mm film scanner featuring 4000-dpi resolution, a 5300 element Sony trilinear CCD and 4.3 density range for $1199 (or $999 at the show).
Meanwhile Applied Science Fiction is showing the Microtek ScanMaker 6800, which includes ASF's Digital ICE to remove dust and correct scratches in damaged prints during scanning. That makes the 6800 "the world's first one-step print restoration scanner," according to ASF.
DVD
Hewlett-Packard forgot to bring their new DVD writer, the dvd200e. The FireWire/USB 2.0 device writes DVD+RW and is bundled with a number of authoring products for $549.
PHOTO PRINTERS
We took a look at Epson's 2200 and Hewlett-Packard's new suite of photo printers featuring six-ink printing.
But the hit of the show for the home office seems to be HP's all-in-one devices. Featuring combined printer, scanner and fax services in one table-top unit -- and priced as low as $299 -- they generated a lot of interest.
A $399 version of the smaller six-ink all-in-one device includes a memory card reader. Pop your card in the device, press the Photo Index button and an 8.5x11 proof sheet is printed. Mark the proof sheet to indicate the images you want to print, scan it and -- presto -- you'll get ganged 4x6-inch prints.
We'll have complete details in our illustrated show report later and in the Sept. 20 issue of our newsletter.
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