Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site uw-beaver Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!cbosgd!ulysses!mhuxr!ihnp4!houxm!vax135!cornell!uw-beaver!info-mac From: info-mac@uw-beaver Newsgroups: fa.info-mac Subject: Review/comments on Mac Digitizers Message-ID: <801@uw-beaver> Date: Thu, 7-Feb-85 09:19:19 EST Article-I.D.: uw-beave.801 Posted: Thu Feb 7 09:19:19 1985 Date-Received: Fri, 8-Feb-85 07:01:28 EST Sender: daemon@uw-beaver Organization: U of Washington Computer Science Lines: 344 From: roy@nlm-vax (Roy Standing) [ This file is archived indigitizer.rev -jma ] [ Please contact the author for distribution of the demonstration files -jma ] Last September I posted the results of my initial investigations into video digitizer systems for the Mac. I will incorporate those comments in this posting. At that time I had found six systems of which only one was a released product. Four of the systems have now been released and I have tested each of these. Of the remaining two systems, one will be released shortly and the other is a text scanner only and thus falls outside of my immediate interest. The following discriptions and impressions are exclusively my own and represent those of a novice to digitizers, cameras, and lighting. The posting is in two parts, part I, this document, contains my comments while part II, submitted to SUMEX and net.sources.mac, contains sample MacPaint files for each of the systems. There are up to three kinds of MacPaint files for each system: a) produced by manufacturer -- should represent optimal quality, b) produced by me -- straight black and white, and c) produced by me -- pseudo-gray scale. Where possible (read: when I had my act together), I captured the same image with multiple systems. 1) Micron Technology, Inc. Vision Systems Group 2805 E. Columbia Road Boise, ID 83706 (208) 383-4106 TWX: 910-970-5973 Product Name: MicronEye Price: $395.00 Availability: immediate Description: This is a complete system as delivered and connects to the Macintosh via the modem port. It uses an OpticRAM which is exposed by the light coming through the lens and then the contents of the OpticRAM are read into the Mac. The physical layout of the light sensitive elements is: 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 The 1s indicate the location of the sensors and the 0s indicate locations where there are no sensors. The Camera software provided offers a variety of ways of filling in these empty sensor locations; which works best is dependent on the picture and the desired image. Impression: I obtained the system to get some exposure (no pun intended) with video digitizing. In fairness, I did not expect this product to meet my requirements. It does not meet my requirements but was valuable as a training ground when no other systems were available. On the plus side, the software is easy to use and I have digitized a variety of images, including handwritten labels on a magtape. Being a complete novice I had a lot of difficulty focusing on anything more than a foot from the camera, but on frontlit materials placed about six inches from the lens I obtained reasonable results. High contrast materials produce the best results. The enhancement features are very easy to use and give some impressive results. I found the greatest success when I used the Gray Scale capture mode which takes four pictures at different exposures (based on your initial exposure setting), fills in the empty sensor locations using linear interpolation and creates a dithered image on the Mac. On the minus side, I couldn't place material more than a foot away from the lens although the instruction manual says the lens is designed for viewing at a distance of AT LEAST 18 inches. This could be my fault, but points up a difficulty in using the product. The biggest frustration was in using the enhancement features, simply because they seemed so useful. The enhancement features are: Fill> 2 for each empty sensor location, count the on sensors immediately above, below and adjacent; if all three are on turn the empty sensor location pixel on Fill> 1 for each empty...; if at least two are on turn the empty sensor location pixel on Fill Horizontal for each empty sensor location, look to the nearest data sensor in the same row and set the empty sensor location to the same value Invert reverse on and off Smooth Edges turns off a pixel if less than 4 of its nearest 8 neighbors are on Clear Interior turns off a pixel if the pixel above, below, to the right and to the left are on Set Interior changes off pixels to on if at least seven of its nearest neighbors are on The problem is that you can not use any option multiple times on an image. In addition, you can not save an image to a MacPaint file, edit it in MacPaint and reload it into the Camera system for further processing. Summary: It is a rather limited system based on a novel technology. I would not recommend it, it was a good training system at the time. MacPaint files: There is 1 file. a) label -- produced by me, pseudo-gray scale. The image is part of a handwritten label from a magtape. 2) New Image Technology, Inc. Suite 104, 10300 Greenbelt Road Seabrook, MD 20706 (301) 621-9336 Product Name: MAGIC Price: $549.00 ($399.00 without camera) Availability: immediate Demonstration Disk: $9.95 Description: This is a complete system as delivered and connects to the modem port. The system allows you to capture black and white (two tone) images or pseudo-gray scale images. Images can be either of two sizes, a small window which allows you to see the software control panel (see MacPaint file smokey) or full screen (see MacPaint file carolyn). Black and white scans take about 5 seconds, pseudo-gray scale scans seem dependent on the number of patterns used but takes about 25 seconds. The camera supplied with this system is a closed circuit TV camera similar to what you find in security installations. The lens aperture is fixed, you manually adjust the focus. The software controls are independent for black and white vs. pseudo-gray scale. A horizontal bar extends across the bottom of the screen and represents light level. It is black and you locate a single region of white in the bar selecting the width of the white region (see MacPaint file smokey). In this mode the white region specifies that pixels will be on if the light level in that part of the scaned image is in this range, otherwise the pixel will be off (black). The pseudo-gray scale controls are similar. You use patterns read in from a MacPaint file (note: the first 512 bytes of a MacPaint files hold the paint patterns). You insert as many patterns as you wish, independently selecting the width for each. The same pattern may be repeated in different places in the control bar, this is entirely up to you. A pseudo-gray scale scan builds the image by displaying these patterns according to the light level, as you have chosen. Note that this means no dithering, if you choose patterns with observable structure you risk clarity. Impressions: I was frankly impressed when I first saw this system. Since this was at a computer show it was not possible to get the developers to stop taking pictures of attendees and printing the images off on an imagewritter long enough to really learn about the image manipulation capabilities provided. Since trying the system, I think it is relatively easy to use. The chief complaint I have is that I can't save the pseudo-gray scale settings. I spent a fair amount of time creating patterns and storing them in the specially named MacPaint file so I could use them, that worked fine. I then spent a fair amount of time experimenting and optimizing the pseudo-gray scale bar settings only to find out that I could not save them. I ending up storing an image which included the Magic control panel so I would have a record of the settings. Of course I can only approximate them in my next session, but that only takes a few seconds (grumble, grumble, grumble). Since this system uses a camera with a standard RS170 output I should be able to connect ANY RS170 signal (videodisc, VCR, etc.) I have not tried this yet but plan to very soon. Summary: A good system. The price is not unreasonable. The user controls could be improved. In my humble opinion, it is not the best system but I still like it. MacPaint files: There are 3 files. a) Stop Watch -- produced by the manufacturer b) Smokey -- produced by me, black and white. The subject is my dog, Smokey. She actually stood still long enough! c) Carolyn -- produced by me, pseudo-gray scale. The subject is my wife. She actually was still long enough! (Yes, she is sleeping on our couch with her right hand tucked under her chin. How else could I expect her to pose while I tried various settings, etc. etc.) 3) Servidyne Systems, Inc. 1735 Defoor Place, N.W. P.O. Box 93846 Atlanta, Georgia 30377 (404) 255-3629 Product Name: Micro-IMAGER Price: $495.00 Availability: SOON Demonstration disk: $5.00 Description: This system does not include a camera. Any camera with an NTSC output can be used. A color camera can be used but for best results a black and white camera is advised. At the top end they have used a Ikegama camera with an 800 lines per ?scan? resolution. They expect people to use VCR cameras and have thus been developing the product using a Panasonic PK557 camera (300 lines per ?scan? resolution). The system requires approximately 30 seconds to scan and capture the image. Impression: The disk of sample images were very good, I have not seen the demonstration disk they are now selling. They have told me that a future MacWorld article will review Mac digitizers (MacWorld told me this also, when I offered to write one) and theirs got top billing. Summary: It looks good but I can't tell till I see it. A price reduction would make it more attractive (when I suggested this I was not encouraged). MacPaint files: There are 2 files. a) 2 level tiger -- produced by the manufacturer, black and white two tone b) tiger -- produced by the manufacturer, pseudo-gray scale 4) Koala Technologies 3100 Patrick Henry Drive Santa Clara, CA 95052-8100 (408) 986-8866 Product Name: MacVision Price: $399.95 Availability: immediate Description: This systems takes an RS 170 signal. This means that you can capture an image directly off a video camera, videodisc player, VCR etc. The video frame is digitized into either a small window (for review) or a full screen display (512X342 matrix). The scan time is approximately 5 seconds for the small window and 30 seconds for the full screen. You can print directly or save the scan in a MacPaint file. If you save the file it is named screen0 etc. so you can only save up to ten images before exiting MacVision to rename the files. The system hardware is well designed and very easy to use. It consists of a single box with a cable for the Mac modem or printer port (port selection is a menu item), an RS170 input jack (RCA female), a switch to select 75 ohm or "high" impedance, and two control wheels marked brightness and contrast. The software (by Bill Atkinson) is a desk accessory!!! You setup the unit with an incoming signal and "focus". This requires you to first rotate the brightness control and then the contrast according to a clear and easy procedure. Then you select scan window or scan screen. A very good dithering algorithm is used and the results speak for themselves. (Have you figured out that I REALLY like this unit yet?) Impression: Wow! I knew it could be this easy, and the price is quite reasonable. Incidently, Koala Systems is offering dealers a setup which includes a camera for something like $250.00 so lots of dealers will probably get it. Summary: To be honest, there are some faults such as the filenaming limitations but I am impressed with this system. MacPaint files: There are 4 files. a) Koala -- produced by the manufacturer b) Videodisc -- produced by me from a videodisc produced here a couple of years ago. The subject is a young lady sitting in a dentist's chair. c) Keeshond -- produced by me by pointing a video camera at a 5X7 inch picture of my dog (if you want to get a dog, get a Keeshond -- you can't go wrong) d) vision train -- produced by me by pointing a video camera at a picture of a train (the same train digitized by Thunderscan below) 5) Thunderware, Inc. 19-G Orinda Way Orinda, CA 94563 (415) 254-6581 Product Name: ThunderScan Price: $229.00 Availability: immediate Description: This system is complete as delivered. A sensor is provided which is attached to the printhead of a Imagewriter printer (you take the ribbon cartridge out). A switch box is placed between the Mac and the printer cable, the switch allows you to choose whether you want the Imagewriter to function as a printer or as a high resolution digitizer. Anything you can feed through the printer will be scanned with a resolution of 300 pixels per inch in 256 levels of gray. Scanning did take a long time, the train took approximately 8 minutes (see MacPaint file "train"). The scanner contains its own light source so the user does not have to worry about lighting. The software (developed by Andy Hertzfeld) allows you to scan the image once and then adjust the brightness and contrast and redisplay the image. You can store the image, or a selected portion of it, as a scan file or a MacPaint file. The scan file can be quite large and contains the information necessary to allow you to play with the brightness and contrast. I did have some trouble with the software. I was following the manual and selecting a portion of the scanned image and applying various manipulations. When I saved the image it turned out that only the selected area was saved! I won't get caught by that one again but I didn't expect it. I have not experimented with the ability to scale the image as it is scanned. Impression: This is quite a system, as soon as I get comfortable with the software. I spent quite a bit of time trying to get a good balance of brightness and contrast. There is an on-screen display but it didn't help as much as I'd hoped. Its clearly a powerful system, the question is how skilled do I have to become to use it well??? Summary: The jury is still out. The verdict will probably be positive but the software could be more helpful to beginners such as myself. MacPaint files: There are 2 files. a) train -- produced by me using the test picture provided with the system. b) dog -- produced by me using an 8x10 inch picture of my dog ----- I hope this has been useful. I have no financial association or interest in the companies or products mentioned. My opinions are strictly my own and do not represent the views of the National Library of Medicine. To be honest, I'm so early in the evaluation and testing process that these may not represent my views in a few weeks.