Contex Introduces HD Ultra Wide Format Scanner

By DE Editors

Contex A/S has introduced the HD Ultra, a 36- and 42-inch wide format scanner with CCD technology, offers improved image quality and speed. The HD Ultra is designed for reprographics and copy shops, engineering, GIS professionals, architecture and construction companies, and other users that archive and preserve various types of documents, images, and drawings. SnapSize, Contex's new automatic size-detection software, registers any standard-size document as it is fed into the scanner, then automatically optimizes the scanner's setup for that particular document.

The scanner provides true 1200 dpi optical resolution and comes with five cameras featuring the Toshiba high-resolution four-channel CCD. The new camera design uses glass-filled polycarbonate to ensure high precision and temperature stability. The HD Ultra camera design also has improved focal distance, which has been reduced by 50% with fewer mirrors. It also includes new high-speed all-digital LVDS camera interface. HD Ultra supports full RGB color.

The HD Ultra scans 12 inches per second in grayscale and 6 inches per second in color. In real-time performance, the scanner turns out 597 color or 901 mono scans per hour (A1 landscape). This speed is facilitated by the optimized Gigabit Ethernet technology, which triples data transfer compared to USB 2, capable of transferring 80MB of data per second per second.

The scanner comes with ATAC Technology (Automatic Thickness Adjustment Control) for thick, rigid documents. It can scan up to 0.6-inch (15 mm)-thick originals, such as posters mounted on foam boards or gator boards. Additionally, the scanner's "All Wheel Drive" (AWD) design for fragile and old media provides a perfectly straight scanning path with an optimal hold across the whole width of large documents, which prevents image distortion and damage to fragile originals.  

For more information, visit Contex.

Sources: Press materials received from the company and additional information gleaned from the company's website.