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Smart, Intelligent, Flatbed-like Scanners?
MessageDrivenBean asks: "In a Windows-based terminal client environment, I'm looking for a smart flatbed-like scanner. It is okay to connect a scanner to a local USB-port and tunnel that scanner to the remote application on the terminal server. But actually scanning a page produces a lot of data and with a small bandwidth connection it takes like 10 minutes to get all the data in the application. Besides, I only need 2 specific small parts of the page in 300dpi, and JPEG is just fine, no need the get raw data. Does Slashdot know of an intelligent scanner that exposes some sort of API to be efficient in a low-bandwidth terminal client environment?"
I guess it would just depend on how incredibly thin your thin client is- why not just write a client side program that handles the scanning, then pushes to the server-side parent application?
I don't know of a single scanner-only that could do what you are asking- most are TWAIN sources. OTOH, you might look into the latest round of Epson Stylus Photoprinters- they might be able to do what you are asking for (as they do it all- scanner, printer, and flash card reader all in one.
SJW: a person who perceives an injustice, and while correcting it, commits a greater injustice.
I mean, you have to *physically* put the document into the scanner anyway, so why not:
1) hook up the scanner to a dedicated machine
2) set up the scanner such that all scans are saved to that machine
3) compress to your liking
4) pull that data via a simple network-drive type setup
Or is there something really out-of-the-ordinary that I'm missing?
We have a client that uses thin clients themselves and have been considering a similar setup for them. Which thin clients were you using that you got that far? I would love to aquire one to test with.
Thanks
JC
On Arrakis: early worm gets the bird. Magister mundi sum!
some automatic stuff?
attach a camera very carefully to a stand.
*bam* insta scan. if you don't need high quality scan of the thing this should be ok
world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
Most USB scanners are USB-1. Some newer models are USB2.0.
USB-1 is 11Mbps. Ethernet is 10 or 100Mbps (probably 100 in this environment...)
Even on USB1, If it's taking that long for the scan to get to the server, something else must be wrong. Could you somehow have the scanner in low-speed USB mode - same bus as a mouse or something?
Nearly every scanner program I've ever used first does some sort of low-res preview pass, usually at something that looks to be decidedly under 72dpi (20 r 30dpi perhaps? I don't know). You then select the the section of the page to scan and do the high-res scan.
It looks like existing scanners already do what you want.
Axis (makers of network printer servers, web cameras, etc) also make 'network document servers' - essentially, a small dedicated computer to which you attach the scanner, and then it scans the document and emails the result or makes it available through a small web server: http://www.axis.com/products/axis_70u/index.htm
See subject. Use google.
I'm do a few things in this industry but have not seen anything hardware wise yet that fits exactly what you're wanting.
Some more information would help though, like-
Do the scans need to be in color, greyscale or bitonal?
What quality? 150dpi in color is often very readable and printable. I know you're using 300 but I'm not totally sure you need to.
What exactly are you capturing? text? barcodes? Photos?
Is the Region of Interest (ROI) consistant throughout the documents or does it change position from image to image?
Is any of this being OCR'd?
Are you wanting to use cheap usb scanners or is something more office grade ok? Lots of cheaper scanners don't get faster with lower dpi and some (a low grade agfa comes to mind) don't change speed for region of interest. It varies though.
Small visioneer paperport products do have an api you can buy. They aren't flatbed, just the tiny sheetfed ones. Most scanners do not have available api or controls, only the garbage that comes with them.
If you can avoid color, do so. Scan to TIFF group IV for b+w, most pages will be in the 20-100kb range at 200-300dpi and print out great for text.
The preview mode is usually 72 dpi or less but often the interface won't let you directly save the preview, some require preview and then scan (suck!)
As others suggested, a dedicated station is hard to avoid with scanners, and another option may be a networked copier if you're trying to keep everything thin client style.
Firefox &
Hmm, sounds like a dream girlfriend.
I have some experience with an Epson Perfection scanner. The overall Epson program handles both scanning and a printer (Epson of course) so that you can use the two like a copy machine. But relevant to your Question is this: The program presents you with a preview (low resolution) of everything on the scanner bed, and you can select a region for high-res scan. So, if the bandwidth of the low-res preview is OK for your needs, then this might be a way to go.
If they still make them. Scans to PDF.
Hey Slashdot, I need a Bluetooth-equipped eggbeater which can distinguish barcodes from Mandarin Chinese, in the dark, but it should run a Posix-compliant OS and not cost more than $74.92 (Australian) - and here's the hard part: because I'm using it in a preschool, it has to be phlegm-proof. Is anything like this shipping now, or soon? (compliance with the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht is optional but would be nice)
Perfectly Normal Industries
Get an HP All-in-One. The higher end versions support ethernet and wireless connections, so you can just connect them to the net and go. Easy enough to use from a terminal then. They support USB 2.0, so speed should be decent too (probably scanner limited, not IO limited).
Disclaimer: I develop scan firmware for HP All-in-Ones.
I still have more fans than freaks. WTF is wrong with you people?
Flatbed-like Scanners? Why not Waterbed-like Scanners! It reminds me of a strange prank couple of my students made few years ago. They essentially combined flatbed scanners with a waterbed mattress. The scanners were under the transparent mattress filled with water and their lights were supposed to have a good influence on the skin and blood circulation. And now the best part: they have actually managed to get a test group of students to test its effectiveness. What those poor girls and boys didn't know, was the fact that during the test their naked bodies were scanned and posted on usenet. Sick idea if you ask me. They have been expelled in no time. Too bad, those were some of the best students I've ever had. The moral of the story is that I cannot look at a flatbed scanner with no suspicion since then. Fortunately, in the era of digital cammeras, scanners are less needed than they were back then. Answering the question of MessageDrivenBean. You would be surprised how many interesting things I have found pasting random parts of your question in Google and Froogle. You should really try it sometimes, it's much faster than Ask Slashdot.
Sincerely,
Pan Tarhei Hosé, PhD.
"Homo sum et cogito ergo odi profanum vulgus et libido."
From the page:
Axis' network document servers enable users to send scanned documents (e.g. sketches and contracts) instantly over the network to e-mail addresses, file servers, printers, URLs and the Web. Easy to install and use, the network document servers provide a faster, cheaper and safer method of distributing documents than by fax, traditional mail or courier.
link
The PC at the remote location is already "full blown", perhaps modulo a hard disk. Run rdesktop on Linux (does RDP5 including sound if you want) full-screen for your TS session(s), then overlay it with a purpose-built SANE client to do the actual scanning and ship the required data home to Mama.
Amortising the pain of writing the client across 500 stations should be snap, and once you've done it you can publish the code for extra fame and employability.
Positive advantages include easily sharing scanners between adjacent workstations and hardware flexibility (you can use all manner of workstations and scanners, no worries, as long as the WS can boot into Linux).
If the WS can boot from flash, you don't even have net-boot overhead to worry about. If you're getting to specify the WS hardware yourself, specify a dual-head video chipset plus 6 USB ports (lots of the fanless baby Vias come like this) and you can halve the number of network connections, reduce the required power points by 33% and reduce your maintenance as well.
Got time? Spend some of it coding or testing
"I managed to get myself hired as an applications architect, and rapidly discovered I was in over my head."
This is painfully easy to do.
You clearly have some control over the machine where the scanning is taking place, so the answer is to simply manage the scanning operation at that machine, not from the remote terminal. The appropriate task for the remote terminal is viewing the results, not controlling the scan.
If the remote terminal simply MUST control the scanning operation, then you're just faced with another relatively simple task -- making a preview available from the scanning computer, permitting the remote operator to indicate which areas need to be scanned with some degree of quality.
Actually finding scanner-control software should take you about five seconds on Google. I did this years ago, and there are literally hundreds of products available.
You simply didn't provide enough information for a better answer than this.
Slashdot quality declines as the number of hot grits posts decreases. - Provolt's Law, Apr-09-2005
Have you looked to find a scanner/Fax solution?
If a colour fax can meet your needs I think your problem is half-way to being solved.
Certainly Windows frontends like SaneTwain will work with any sort of SANE supported scanner if it is on a Linux or other *NIX backend.
I once worked on a pilot for a project to deploy HP Digital Senders to remote locations for scanning documents and uploading them to a central european document archive onto WORM media. They have some useful remote configuration software that makes it easy to manage a "fleet" of them in one go, and they have several different options for user management. They're not cheap however. Might be worth investigating - though I don't know if they're customisable enough for your needs.
Try NetBSD... safe,straightforward,useful.
Hey, you sound like you know what you're talking about! Can I ask your opinion?
Are you wanting to use cheap usb scanners or is something more office grade ok?
Could you give me some examples of office-grade scanners under, say, $1000 US? The application is insurance card scans for a busy pediatrics clinic. (A specialized card-scanner won't work because my state Medicaid program has 8.5x11 insurance "cards". Sigh.) I don't need ADF or OCR or even color, but speed and reliability at 300 DPI or less would be nice. USB is ideal, but I'll try anything at this point.
I have tried several models, and the only one that's held up under use is a $4000 Fujitsu 4097... and that's way more scanner than we really need at the front desk. (Besides, I'll eventually need four.)
Any suggestions are appreciated.
With reasonable men I will reason; with humane men I will plead; but to tyrants I will give no quarter. -- William Lloyd
Bill was right!!
This may not quite fit the bill, but it may get you thinking in different ways.
Epson has a scanner that I think only does film & 6x4 photos, but it scans directly to memory card. Does that make things easier for you?
How about using a digital camera instead of a scanner?