DISCUSSION:

Do A1 / D-size large format scanners present a viable CAD solution?

A new generation of CIS-based A1 / D-size scanners is becoming available from the major manufacturers. Contex, the biggest name in large format scanning, has just announced the XD2490, a 24" wide large format scanner.

Contex has gone to great lengths to define a new market for the XD2490. Their market research has identified a need among AEC professionals working on-site with A1 or D-size drawings to communicate marked-up design changes with head office. Contex is making an engaging case for the XD2490 to be used as a sort-of modern day fax machine where marked-up revisions are scanned to PDF and emailed with "one touch" back to base.

Contex's XD2490 can only be useful if you use A1 / D-size drawings - or smaller. We wonder just how suitable A1 / D-size large format scanners are in AEC, CAD and GIS, historically the biggest market by far for wide format scanners. It is a market in which many CAD users work with A0 / E-size drawings and sometimes even bigger than that. Our experience shows that the take-up on A1 / D-size scanners is small.

Products in the under-28" A1 / D-size scanning market

Prior to Contex's release of the XD2490, the main A1 / D-size large format scanners were two CCD-based devices, Contex's 25" wide HD2530 and Colortrac's 28" wide SmartLF Gx+ 28, and Graphtec's CIS-based CS510-6, a 24" wide device first announced on Scanners4CAD in April 2008 but mysteriously absent from the market ever since.

NOTE: The new XD2490 effectively replaces the HD2530.

See our Large Format Scanner Comparison Chart ...

When we sold scanners (we no longer sell scanners and have not done so for several years!) we never once sold an A1 / D-size scanner. There just wasn't the demand. All the scanners we sold were ones capable of scanning A0 / E-size documents.

Nonetheless, Colortrac included a new 28" model as part of its impressivly updated range of CCD-based SmartLF Gx+ wide format scanners and Contex has just introduced the XD2490 besides selling the HD2530. Clearly, both companies feel the need for A1 / D-size large format scanning devices within their ranges. Both Contex's and Colortrac's distributors promote these smaller scanners.

Graphtec's 24" CS510-06 large format scanner must not to be confused with its A0 / E-size large format scanners, the 42" CS510 and CS6160. (We have moaned about this before - why can't Graphtec give its scanners unconfusing names?) One reason for the high price, as well as its weight, is that the CS510-06 is based on Graphtec's mainstream 42" model, specifically the CS510, rather than on its the newer, more affordable and lighter 36" CSX300.

Graphtec's distributors have little enthusiasm for this exceptionally high priced A1 / D-size device. Graphtec GB does not carry the CS510-06 and, while it is listed on Paradigm's Scantopia web site, there is no link to any information about it. One good reason for this indifference is the fact that the Graphtec CS510-06 has the same price as the 36" CSX300! Would you buy a 24" scanner when for the same price a 36" color scanner is available?

The Graphtec CS510-06 remains a mystery, announced but largely unavailable!

We get the strong feeling that Graphtec's UK and US distibutors both feel that this 24" wide scanner is not saleable or represents such a small section of the market as to not be worth marketing them in these countries. This mirrors our experience when we sold large format scanners.

So why did Graphtec build a 24" scanner if few want to sell it?

The answer is possibly "cultural differences". Graphtec is a Japanese company. It has the largest share of Asia's large format scanning market. In Japan, A1 / D-Size technical documents are more widely used than in the West. One industry expert has told us that in Japan A1 / D-size documents represent about "80% of all technical documents". As a result, the demand for 24" scanners in Japan is bigger than in Europe and America.

Low price is key in the A1 / D-size scanner market

For most North American and European CAD professionals a scanner would be a "nice" addition to their drawing office but it is not a critical purchase, like a CAD printer which usually sees daily use. Because many CAD users do not have a weekly or sometimes even a monthly need for a large format scanner, the cost of buying one often requires considerable justification given that the entry-level cost of large format scanning is relatively high.

Any decision to buy a A1 / D-size large format scanner needs to be juggled with the unpalatable fact that it will never be able to scan and capture professional-size A0 / E-size technical drawings. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why CAD users expect to get a very good, often unrealistic, price on an A1 / D-size large format scanner.

Our market research among raster to vector conversion software users indicated that a surprisingly high number of them (40%) would buy an A1 / D-size scanner IF the price was right. All agreed that $5000 is too high. A price of under $3000 would see some open their wallets but the majority wanted an impossibly low entry-level price of no more than about $1000. This is unrealistic at present.

Many take the cost of an A4 / legal size desktop scanner, say $80, as a starting point and extrapolate their ideal price for an A1 / D-size scanner from there up through the different drawing sizes, reaching the conclusion that large format scanners are over-priced. They ignore the differences in design between flatbed and roller scanners and the increased cost of building the latter. Price is everything.

Since the advent of CIS technology in large format scanners, prices have fallen a lot. Right now, the market is very competitive. With the current economic turmoil some manufacturers, probably all, are feeling the heat from the kitchen. As a result, it is unsurprising that Contex has introduced its XD2490 with the lowest price yet seen in an A1 / D-size large format color scanner - just US $3970.

This is not as low as our market research respondents want but it sure is getting close. So, from the ridiculous to the sublime, here are some current A1 / D-size large format scanner prices.

SCANNER	TECHNOLOGY	SIZE	UK PRICE	US PRICE
Contex HD2530 Plus	CCD	25"	£4871	$10900
Graphtec CS510-06	CIS	24"	N/A	$9995
Colortrac SmartLF Gx+ 28e	CCD	28"	£5495	$8495
Contex XD2490	CIS	24"	£2775	$3970

NOTE:

1]. CCD (charge coupled device) technology provides better quality color images suitable for top-end graphics artwork. CIS (contact image sensor) technology is well suited to technical drawings and maps.

2]. The Contex XD2490 has fast monochrome, fast color scanning. We therefore compare it to products with the most similar specification: The Contex HD2530 Plus, the highest specified HD2530 model and the Colortrac SmartLF Gx+ 28e, the highest specified Gx+ 28 model.

3]. The Contex XD2490 does not have a floorstand. The other two devices have a floorstand option which is not included in the prices above.

4]. Currently, the lowest manufacturer's list price on a CIS-based large format scanner capable of scanning an A0 / E-size technical document in monochrome is $6195 (Colortrac SmartLF Ci 40m). In color it is $7095 (Colortrac SmartLF Ci 40c). The equivalent Contex entry-level prices for 44" devices are $8250 and $8950. For Graphtec, it is $9995 for the 36" color CSX300, exactly the same as 24" CS510-06!!

5]. The new XD2490 effectively replaces the HD2530.

Some considerations

Technical Support

With a low price, the level of supplied technical support is sometimes reduced. The Colortrac SmartLF Ci 40 and the Contex XD 2490 are both examples of this.

While the more expensive Colortrac SmartLF Gx+ Series and Cx 40 enjoy a two year on-site warranty from GEI in the USA, the lower-priced SmartLF Ci 40 has a Two Year Return to Base (RTB) warranty. Similarly, while Contex in the USA offer two year on-site warranties on its more expensive, 44" SD Series, the XD2490 has only a Two Year RTB warranty. (Individual large format scanner resellers may or may not include their own on-site support agreements.)

The situation is different in the UK. The new Contex XD2490 has a Two Year RTB Warranty in the UK, the first year being a swap-out where ArtSystems, the UK Contex distributor, will replace a faulty XD2490.

These products may never need to be packed up in a box and sent off for repair at your expense but if they do, it is always a hassle. As a result, some users prefer to pay more for on-site support. However, in offering on-site support, these products, especially Graphtec's, run the risk of appearing comparatively more expensive.

Imaging Technology

The cost of Contex's HD2530 and Colortrac's SmartLF Gx+ 28 is a world away from the low price that a majority of our market research respondents specified as their ideal scanner starting price. This is largely because they are CCD-based large format scanners.

All CCD scanners are aimed at the top-end of the CAD and professional graphics color quality market. Like all CCD-based large format scanners, the HD2530 and SmartLF Gx+ 28 are capable of producing better color quality than more affordable CIS rivals.

Unfortunately, CCD technology limits these and similar devices from being cost-effective solutions for scanning technical documents and maps. Affordability only comes with CIS-based large format scanners. In return for a much more attractive price, CIS technology offers adequate but not superb color.

Who will buy an A1 / D-size scanner?

Despite the very attractive, indeed groundbreaking, price of the Contex XD2490, we think that many questionnaire respondents who expressed an interest in buying a low-cost A1 / D-size scanner will still feel that it costs too much. So, who will buy it?

AEC users
There is no doubt that some professional AEC users will buy them. Contex has made a strong case for the XD2490 as a slick on-site communications solution. It is also true that some people working on site prefer not to use large A0 or E-size documents. As a result, Contex will sell its 24" scanning solution to some of these AEC users whom they have identified as needing to communicate revisions from site to office.

CAD users
Among the buyers will be CAD users who never work with A0 or E-size or larger drawings. They will have to justify their A1 / D-size scanner purchase on the basis that their A0 or E-size scanning need is so infrequent they can use a scanning bureau service when the need arises. For many CAD users, such a compromise is unacceptable. Most feel that the relatively high costs of a 24" large format scanner outweigh the benefits.

CNC users
The Contex COPYmate G18 iJET is an A2 / C-size (18" x 24") flatbed scanner. It once included CAD users in its target market which is now exclusively book-scanning. Some CAD / CNC users who wanted a bigger than A3 / B-size scanner saw the COPYmate as a solution but its price proved exorbitant. (A2 / C-size scanners are as rare as hen's teeth.) The new XD2490 now offers this market a more attractive solution.

General office users
Large format scanners of 36" and less were always assumed to provide a good solution in the general office environment. The new generation of affordable CIS-based 24" devices will continue to be presented to this market as useful tools to those working with A1 or D-size graphics, artwork, advertising and marketing materials. The prospect of a 24" MFP (multi function peripheral) color scan-to copy solution looms.

Oil exploration
There has always been a need for A1 / D-size scanners to capture well log data. The XD2490 gives these wealthy industries many good reasons to buy a cost-effective large format scanning solution for use on site or in head offices worldwide.

EDC / EDM software users
EDC (electronic document capture) and EDM (electronic document management) applications are used in financial services, government, healthcare, insurance, legal and service bureau markets to capture data for remote electronic retrieval. Some need for A1 / D-size document capture exists. Most EDC / EDM applications support both ISIS and TWAIN interfaces. Colortrac has a unique ISIS large format driver which is certified by Pixel Translations. It shares a common interface with all other ISIS products. Contex's Nextimage software has the best TWAIN driver we've seen.

The Japanese and Asian markets
Graphtec is traditionally strong in Japan and Asia, markets where both Colortrac and Contex are looking for growth. Contex has had a presence in for Japan for some time while Colortrac only recently opened an office there. We assume both will want to move into this market with an appropriately sized and priced CIS-based product. Contex now has that product with the XD2490. We will have to wait and see what Colortrac's response is. Colortrac has always lead the market in aggressive pricing.

The above shows that there are many theoretical and practical uses for A1 / D-size scanners. With lower prices, more CAD and other users will be able to justify buying them. Price is the key. With the XD2490, Contex has seized the initiative in this market.

We look forward to seeing a new generation of A1 and D-size CIS scanners emerge. Those people who still worry about the high price of A1 / D-size scanners should have patience. With new releases and unrelenting competition, prices will be lower again the year after next, assuming everyone is still in business, of course.

For further information, please contact:

Colortrac Ltd:
www.colortrac.com

Contex A/S:
www.contex.com

Paradigm Imaging (Graphtec):
www.paradigmimaging.com
 

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