Kodak Takes on Departmental Scanning

by Adam Throne

Kodak is well known for its high-speed production scanners, but now it's taking on the low end of the departmental range with simplex and duplex color flatbed models.

Kodak's just-released i50 is an $1,800 simplex (single-side scanning) model, while the i60 is a $3,200 duplex model with slightly faster speeds. Both scanners share the same basic platform, so we brought a pre-production unit of the i50 into our lab to take a look.

The i50 delivers bitonal, 8-bit grayscale, 8-bit color or 24-bit color images of everything from business cards to 8.5- by 14-inch legal documents. The flatbed makes it easy to capture book pages, magazine articles and delicate documents. The unit's 50- to 75-page automatic document feeder (ADF) and transport are designed for 14- to 20-pound stock, with scanning speeds rated at 20 pages per minute (ppm) for bitonal at 200 dpi and 10 ppm for 24-bit color at 150 dpi.

The i50 scans at up to 600 dpi optically using a 36-bit CCD array, but the scanner interpolates images back to 24-bit. Kodak also uses this approach in its 3500 series, and says the result is better visible image clarity.

In our tests, the i50's ADF fed intermixed document weights and sizes without jamming, although we did experience some skewing - mostly when scanning onionskin paper and light invoices under the stated 14-pound minimum. Kodak says skewing has been eliminated in production models with adjustments to the transport.

The results of our speed tests were mixed. Bitonal scanning was consistently 21 pages per minute, one page faster than the rated speed. Color speeds, on the other hand, topped out at only 8 ppm. Kodak acknowledged the color shortfall and said that bundled capture software set for release late this year will bring color performance up to the full rated speed.

Image quality was solid, overall. Color images offered clear text with smooth edges and fine detail. Bitonal text was also very readable, though a glitch in the Version 1.0 interface prevented us from adjusting the contrast setting for maximum quality.

The i50 is bundled with ScanSoft's Paperport desktop scanning application and ISIS and Twain drivers. The scanning interface was easy to understand and operate. In addition to the usual settings, it offered sharpening, electronic color dropout and a handy Descreen button with settings for newspapers, magazines and catalogs.

The i50 rivals the 620C from Fujitsu, San Jose, CA. The specs and pricing are pretty much dead even, although Kodak points out that the i50's duty cycle is 1,000 pages per day vs. 500 pages per day for the Fujitsu. We would counter that the 620C met its rated color speed in our May 2000 review (search "620C" at www.transformmag.com), while the i50 fell 20 percent short of the mark.

Kodak's i60, which is to be introduced next month, is rated somewhat faster at 25 ppm simplex/50 images per minute (ipm) duplex scanning bitonally at 200 dpi. The color ratings are 10 ppm/20 ipm at 150 dpi. There are really no direct competitors to this model. Fujitsu's 3093 DE/DG is a duplex flatbed, but is bitonal/grayscale only. The Aficio IS330DC (search "IS330DC" at www.transformmag.com) from Ricoh, West Caldwell, NJ , scans in color, but has only one camera and, thus, much slower duplex speeds.

The i50 fills a niche, particularly for owners of other Kodak scanners who want to stay in the same family for service and support, but the interface and speed issues marred our experience with what looks like a promissing platform. Assuming the i60 meets its faster ratings, it will stand out in its class for its combination of speed, price and color support.