The development of image input devices in the 21st

The development of image input devices in the 21st century

trying to predict the future is always a profound work, because without the ability of a prophet, I will use the past as a flash into the hazy future. In imagination, let's measure 20000 feet, identify what changes happened at that time, and try to capture the moment in front of us

about 40 years ago, the roller scanner was born as the first generation of digital image input device. Then, about 15 years ago, the first generation of platform scanners appeared. At first, due to quality problems, they were not a threat to roller scanners. However, about 6 to 7 years ago, they achieved satisfactory quality. With lower price, simplicity and flexibility, they began to challenge the dominance of roller scanners. Lingtian has become the dominant platform scanner, dominating the wave of higher performance and lower price parts. However, as I said, a new upstart called digital camera is just like a roller scanner in front of us

observing the trend of other aspects, we know that if it is impossible to measure the sensor, it has developed from capturing single pixels at a time for roller scanners to capturing one-line (or three line) and flat desktop scanners at a time to capturing pixels in one area at a time for digital cameras. Therefore, the trend is to capture a large amount of image information at the same time

we have also noticed that more pixels are not necessarily better, because it takes up a lot of capacity in the disk to meet smaller requirements, and the speed of the scanner is stifled by a competition! People don't want to wait for the machine, so the scanner gradually speeds up. Prices have fallen by 10 or more times, and "in addition, they will continue to decline. In the end, it is obviously not the minimum. They will be cheaper and easier to use. They do not need technicians who have been trained for many years, but only temporary operators

the source of these changes is that users need to improve speed, reduce costs, be easy to use, and be smaller. These requirements can be met

if the past was driven by new component technology and user needs, the same force will drive the future. Let's further explore the new technologies waiting for us to study around digital cameras and what we need in the future, And realize diversification "At present, the platform has invested nearly ten million yuan in projects.

the most important of a series of future components considered is sensors. They are included in the first two CCDs and CMOS. The faster and more sensitive three wire CCD with more components is as predictable as a fast microprocessor. Therefore, for the near future, they will continue to play a leading role. However, because of the increased sensitivity of CMOS, they will pose a great impact. This At the low end, scanners and digital cameras have already taken place, and attacks continue unapologetically from the bottom to the high end. Once their quality is good enough, they will play a dominant role with other advantages. 16 megapixel CMOS face sensors have been

here, and they will soon appear in digital cameras and scanners

although not miraculous, the lighting source is also changing. White LED, because of its improved stability, intensity and efficiency, light-emitting performance has been greatly improved. At the same time, the linear light source concentrator will make the existing fluorescent tubes emit more light. This will lead to faster and more sensitive scanners

electronic devices that support higher integration will contribute to lower cost and faster scanners. The chip of "scanner on chip" is already here. It can transfer data to the host faster, so that the scanner can obtain data quickly

new mechanical devices will appear or disappear. Due to the appearance of face sensors, sensors do not have to move completely, or they can move on mosaic or laminated patterns and in a so-called independent XY technology

colorimetry and IC standards have been applied to material color separation, and it has been demonstrated that a good color state has been obtained. But it also created some confusion. Because it is widely used by 1/O device manufacturers and application vendors, the complexity is reduced, and the whole color management process is hidden by users, which means that it has been used all the time. Seamless wsiwyg color will be the standard in the near future

also, a good color will be what the human eye looks at. Wsiwyg color is not enough. Allowing the user to specify his or her preferred tools, fuzzy logic emerges, which can satisfy anyone

there is also space defined for intelligent software. It has many megahertz processors and rich processing capabilities to carry out more complex algorithms, so that the whole scanning process only needs a very short time to process

it will be understood that the larger area of improvement is man-machine interface. It is solved by the combination of hardware and software. The clamping part of the jaw is hydraulic clamping. Now, it takes more time and is boring to install the original, which is an urgent problem to be solved

the pipeline leading to the host will be widened to adapt to the faster scanning speed, and there are several situations: wired, wireless and optical, dedicated or networked. If USB 2 is here, USB 3 will not be too far

the scanner is not an independent device. Although they are also changing, as long as it is connected to the host, it can benefit from it. The larger computing power and storage capacity of the host allow the scanner to reduce more processing tasks and directly hand them over to the computer for processing. This has many benefits for users. Cheaper scanners and multi-purpose. The main idea is to send brief images to the host in a complete state and store them, and then process the images as required many times. It can be used for several purposes, such as screens, photocds, printers, printing, web...

we discuss the changes of components, which will affect the design of image input devices in the future. However, we have to discuss what users need in terms of the future equipment for obtaining images

the user used to care about the quality of the image. Now he is satisfied with it. Maybe he expects higher? I believe that users are 95% satisfied with the current work of a large number of professional scanners. The dynamic range is about 3.8, and the resolution is as high as 4o00dpi, which is within the limits of most film originals, because it is no longer sensitive to higher values. If you exceed this value, you can no longer manufacture image scanners, but scientific instruments

on the other hand, higher speed is always good. This is not only a problem of productivity. What we face is that people hate waiting for machines. Another method is OK. If I input 10 words a minute, it is OK. However, when I press a key, it is annoying to delay the character display slightly. What is the ideal speed? What is the flash speed. I said that scanning and image display on the screen have completed color matching, including personalized color performance

competition will continue to promote the decline of price and the improvement of performance. This is a trend. Like other electronic devices, it will continue to foresee the future

scanners are still difficult to use, and most users are eager to use scanners. The era of professional scanner operators is over. It is expected that even accidental users can scan well, and they will become as simple to use as copies, so that the first scan can achieve acceptable results

some people like to copy them with other sensitive elements. They don't need to be connected to the computer, but through a dedicated line. They are connected or completely independent, more like a device

it is usually a scanner in a closed-loop environment. This scanner is specially used for a special output device. Today or tomorrow, the final purpose of scanning does not need to know the scanning time, and the final output is to printers, printers, web, CDs. In this way, the ability to scan for multiple purposes will be more valuable and make life simpler

the expected development of components and changing user needs mentioned above, various types of professional image capture devices: today's existing and emerging new devices, how will they develop

drum scanners have not changed much, and people need the highest quality and high resolution. They still focus on these, but they occupy a small bottleneck, and a few still maintain their high prices

the platform scanner will still be greatly improved in the next five years. They will have all the advantages improved by the previously mentioned components, such as faster and more sensitive sensors, better light sources, better and cheaper electronic devices. Their biggest advantages are speed, improved performance/price ratio, simple use and reliability

face type sensors will appear soon, because the resolution of these components is improved and the price is reduced

the basis is that the platform scanner will continue to be the dominant image capture device and will be used by professionals in the next 5 to 10 years

however, what is faintly visible on the horizon is a digital camera. They have been used for consumer and online publishing. Due to the appearance of face sensors with high resolution, high dynamic range and high sensitivity, they also began to attract the attention of professionals, first in the studio, and then in real life. The 16 megapixel sensor is already here

digital cameras do not simply pose a threat to printing scanners, because they are a competitive image capture device. However, because they remove the film input to the scanner, unlike paper, film is not the medium people use to change information. It is just a storage device for analog images, which can be read by film scanner. Long term use will reduce the use of film, so high-end film scanners will be required

it is important to emphasize this point: unlike film, paper is more long-term (no matter it is predicted that it will disappear). As long as it is, the reflection scanner will also exist, because the need to convert one media to another is always here. In the future, the reflector scanner will use face sensors, which will make the scanner faster, easier to use and more reliable

is there a new type of image acquisition equipment in the process of development

because digital printing has become more popular, there is no obvious boundary between it and ordinary printing. It will be made into what we call a hybrid scanner, a scanner that will be suitable for the combination of document scanning and image scanning. It is a scanner with fast scanning speed and the ability to control documents and paper, and it can also process high-quality and high-resolution colors

the content of the network is becoming richer and richer, which increases the demand for 3D scanners. People in the e age hope to provide real objects and interact as much as possible, and provide more information to consumers who have purchase intention

the last hybrid scanner is to let users hold a scanner equivalent to a mobile camera - it can be used as a traditional scanner or a portable digital camera