GEI presents a new range of large format technical document scanners – Smart LF

January 14, 2005 (North Canton, OH) Graphic Enterprises Inc., a Visual Edge Technology Company, is introducing North America to an all-new scanner designed to provide sharp, fast large format document scans for professional and corporate users in any size of enterprise - at a very affordable price and without compromise in performance.

SmartLF uses the latest digital imaging technology – contact image sensors (CIS) – as found normally in small format flatbed desktop scanners. Colortrac has successfully combined several ‘deep focus’ CIS devices to create a digital scanner capable of high speed, 2400 dpi input of very sharp, fine image details from originals up to 40” wide, in 24-bit color or black & white.

Unlike CCD scanners, SmartLF provides instant, high quality scans from power-on and lower cost of ownership with its fully automatic color calibration, no sensor alignment and low power consumption – (this makes it friendly on the environment too). Simple, compact, lightweight and easy to install and use, SmartLF is ideally suited for office or mobile scanning applications in the CAD, AEC, GIS and other technical imaging markets.

The scanner is available in 3 models, upgradeable in situ from monochrome to color and in color scan speed, with a range of standard and optional scan/copy software. Archiving, copying or e-distribution of maps, AEC & CAD drawings, line art or text is simple, quick and easy.

Colortrac SmartLF scanners are manufactured at Colortrac’s factory near Cambridge in the UK.


CIS Technical Overview

SmartLF has 5, close-spaced, 400 dpi ‘deep focus’ contact image sensors (CIS). Each CIS is approximately 8.5” long and contains 3,400 image sensors. The diagram is a cross section provided for illustration purposes only and is not an accurate representation or to scale of the actual devices used.

CIS technology uses a single line monochrome sensor with a simple lens dedicated to each pixel and captures colour images by measuring, in sequence, the intensity of red, green & blue light reflected off the original. This differs from CCD devices that typically have 3 line sensors each with a red, a green or a blue filter, an expensive lens requiring complex mechanical alignment and a white light to illuminate the original being scanned. SmartLF scans monochrome images simply by using all 3 light sources simultaneously to create white light. This is similar to CCD scanners that have 4 line sensors - R, G, B + monochrome with white fluorescent illumination. The benefit is perfectly registered monochrome pixels with sharper transitions between black & white image details. The proximity of the CIS (as its name suggests) to the original image helps to minimize optical distortion and chromatic aberration unavoidable in CCD camera lens design. CIS scanners are characterized by their ability to capture fine image details very sharp and crisply defined. It is not all win though, for full color photographic and graphic art documents with a wider color gamut and dynamic range, CCD scanners are capable of capturing more shadow and highlight detail. Happily for SmartLF / CIS, this requirement represents a relatively small volume of the large format documents that require archive or copying.

About Colortrac LTD.

Colortrac is a British based company with facilities in Cambridgeshire UK, Beijing P.R. China and Denver, CO. As the manufacturer of SmartLF, Series4enhanced, Flatbed and Eagle scanners and software, they are dedicated to the development of digital image capture and image processing solutions for both color and monochrome applications including Geographical Information Systems (GIS), Engineering (CAD), Electronic Document Management, Facilities Management, graphic arts reproduction, architecture and construction. They are winners of the Queen’s Award for Export Achievement in1999. For more information visit www.colortrac.com

About Visual Edge Technology and its subsidiaries:
Visual Edge Technology, Inc. (VisualEdge), headquartered in North Canton, Ohio, was formed in California in 1986 as a developmental startup and repositioned in 1999 as a national marketer in the wide format solutions segment. Through strategic acquisitions including K&E Engineering Systems, which formed the core of VisualEdge’s business, the company grew to become one of the largest, wide format, value-added resellers in the market. VisualEdge acquired and integrated Graphic Enterprises of Ohio in February, 2004, creating Graphic Enterprises, Inc. (GEI), a wholly-owned subsidiary of VisualEdge.
Graphic Enterprises Inc., (GEI), a Visual Edge Technology Company, based in North Canton, Ohio, was founded in 1970 has two product solutions divisions. The Office Solutions Division is a leading, Northeastern Ohio, value-added solutions provider that consists of over 70 dedicated sales and support personnel. The Office Solutions Division products include digital connected copiers, color copiers, printers, wide format copier/printers, and multifunctional systems sourced from Konica Minolta, Muratec, Kyocera-Mita, and Okidata. The Wide Format Solutions Division markets wide format solutions through a 100+ dealer network in North America. The Wide Format Division’s products include scanners, printers, analog & digital copiers, poster printing solutions, and networked controllers sourced from Kyocera-Mita, Epson, Hewlett-Packard, Ricoh, Ratio GmbH, Colortrac, and its own product development team.
GEI CalGraph, a Visual Edge Technology Company, based in North Canton, Ohio is a leading North American 3rd party service provider on behalf of leading solutions companies. Technologies serviced include scanners; thermal transfer, dye sublimation, inkjet and solvent printers; xerographic copier/printers; kiosks; and related network technology. GEI CalGraph North American operations include over 80 field technicians with on-site support, customer call center, depot center, worldwide parts distribution, installation, and training services.
More information about these companies can be found on www.visualedgetechnology.com , www.geiworldwide.com and www.geicalgraph.com

   
Copyright 1999-2004 | Visual Edge Technology, Inc. | All Rights Reserved
Portions of this website may contain material subject to third party copyrights