HOT NEWS:
Two U-Turns in One - the new Contex CIS-based SD Series
Contex have announced the new SD Series, their first generation of large format CIS scanners.
When speculating in a previous issue as to what a Contex-based CIS scanner might contain, Scanners4CAD underestimated Contex's ability to innovate and their desire to muscle in on the CIS market at the highest level. The new Contex SD Series is surprising and impressive.
With the new SD Series Contex are able to offer the technical drawing market a quantum leap in scanned image quality towards the excellence they have always claimed but never delivered with their previous entry-level AEC, CAD and GIS product, the awful low resolution, low quality CCD-based Hawk-Eye, the creator of many of the world's worst scanned CAD images. (For an example of the Hawk-Eye's quality vs other scanners, see our Resolution article). This under-powered, over-priced large format scanner has proven itself unsuitable for image critical CAD applications. The SD Series cannot replace the Hawk-Eye soon enough.
In defence of the Hawk-Eye and their other CCD scanners, Contex argued that optical resolution is not a good indicator of performance or of image quality. Putting all that behind them, the stylish new Contex SD Series comprises one monochrome and three colour large format scanners offering unrivalled 1200 dpi optical resolution across a 44" image width, wider than anything available in Colortrac and Graphtec CIS-based scanners at present. Quite clearly, the new Contex SD Series is designed to out-specify rival products in key areas and tick all the boxes in any comparison.
Two U-Turns
With the SD Series, Contex have made two fundamental U-Turns.
Contex have gone down the popular CIS route, once an anathema to them, and they have invested heavily in massive optical resolution as a means of mugging their more established CIS wide format rivals. The Contex SD Series now offers a 1000 dpi optical improvement against the Hawk-Eye's paltry and patently pathetic 200 dpi and a 600 dpi improvement over their own CCD-based HD Series and also any Colortrac or Graphtec large format CIS scanner. While this may seem awesome to the impressionable, we wonder how practical a benefit 1200 dpi optical resolution will be to CAD users?
What's in a name?
The Contex SD Series of CIS-based scanners are now stablemates to Contex's more traditional HD Series of CCD-based scanners announced in April 2008. According to Contex, HD stand for "High Definition". But what does SD stand for?
Typically, when describing plasma television systems, HD stands for High Definition and SD for Standard Definition. We expected Contex to confirm this when we asked but to our surprise they said it did not mean anything. Nothing! Our guess is that Contex, a company with a long and proud boast of superior quality, are reluctant to limit the prospects of their new product by attaching a "Standard Definition" tag to it, especially when the SD Series has twice the optical resolution of the top-of-the-range HD Series!
There is a contradiction in there somewhere! We wonder what long term impact the SD Series will have on Contex's product range.
HD versus SD Series
The technical drawing market is the largest there is for wide format scanners. Much of this market scan only monochrome (black and white) technical drawings. Many buyers purchase a monochrome scanner with some limited colour capability for those infrequent times when they need to scan colour technical drawings.
Four Contex SD scanners are pitched almost exclusively at the CAD, AEC, Manufacturing and Utilities markets, the ones where the majority of paper-based technical documents exist today.
Seven traditional CCD-based Contex HD Series scanners compete for the smaller full colour Graphics Arts, Photography, Publising and Sign markets. Contex also suggest that those in Mapping and GIS consider either a HD or a SD Series scanner.
In reality, the Mapping and GIS markets are well-served by SD CIS-based scanners, particularly maps which benefit from the greater sharpness of CIS technology. It already looks like Contex are trying to find a use for their HD Series scanners where none exists.
We expect to see the SD Series cannibalise much of the HD Series' technical drawing market. This will make some Contex HD Series scanners unviable. We eventually expect to see some rationalisation of the Contex HD Series product range.
The Contex SD Series - Models and Price
There are four models in the new Contex SD Series of CIS-based large format scanners.
SD4410 Mono
SD4430 Color
SD4450 Color
SD4490 Color
As with Contex's "new" CCD-based HD Series, the first two digits indicate the scan width - all are 44" wide scanners. The second two digits indicate colour scan speed, with 30 indicating a slower colour scan speed and 90 being the fastest.
Upgradeability
Contex SD scanners are not upgradeable from one model to the other. Buy the wrong Contex SD Series model and you're stuck with it!
This will disappoint those with budgetary considerations who want to buy a cheaper, less well specified scanner now and upgrade to a more expensive better specified one later, something which is possible in Contex's HD series and in rival systems.
Colortrac's SmartLF scanners are instantly upgradable by internet download from one model to another. Graphtec's Base scanners are upgradable to Pro by a less immediate and more fiddly physical board replacement. Contex's HD Base series are upgradable to Pro by the provision of a physical card which is inserted into an external socket.
Contex's records show that very few users upgrade. Scanner users, they say, tend to stick with the scanner they buy. Well, from now on, buy a Contex SD Series scanner - and you are stuck with it!
This will disappoint some Contex large format scanner resellers who like to stock cheaper Base models and upgrade them on demand to Pro versions.
The solution, of course, favours Contex. You will have to buy a more expensive scanner now if you feel that at some future stage you will need some colour scanning capability. In our experience, most CAD users feel that at some time they will need to scan in colour. This being the case, most buy an affordable fast monochrome scanner with some slow colour capability. The new Contex SD Series offers three colour models whose only difference is scan speed. And price, of course. And there lies the catch!
Price
In the past, Contex have sold their large format scanners at reassuringly higher prices than their rivals. Little changes now despite the SD4410 entry-level monochrome scanner being their lowest priced product yet. The top-of-the-range SD4490 is very expensive in the UK but significantly more competitive and affordable in the USA.
Contex do not use list prices themselves. These are set by regional distributors whose prices may vary widely based on the added value they supply. The US prices we have shown are guesstimates based on advice from both Contex and industry insiders. Demanding buyers should expect to buy from resellers at "street prices" about 20% lower than these. The UK prices are the correct list prices from Art Systems.
We have included the scan speed with the prices as speed is the only distinguishing factor between SD Series scanners. Speed is rated at 400 dpi Turbo.
| Model | Scans | Speed | UK £ | Europe € | USA $ |
| SD4410 | Mono | 10ips | £4,495 | €5,550 | $8,250 |
| SD4430 | Colour | 5ips mono, 1ips colour | £5,995 | €7,400 | $8,950 |
| SD4450 | Colour | 10ips mono, 1.5ips colour | £7,850 | €9,725 | $10,450 |
| SD4490 | Colour | 10ips mono, 3ips colour | £9,350 | €11,575 | $12,450 |
| Product | UK £ | Europe € | USA $ |
| Nextimage SCAN software | £350 | €445 | $695 |
| Nextimage SCAN+COPY software | £750 | €895 | $1295 |
| Floorstand | £395 | €495 | $890 |
US Prices
The US prices do not include a floorstand and software. The US warranty is, we believe, 6 months on-site.
SD buyers need to to determine what the the extra cost will be of extending the warranty after six months?
UK Prices
The UK prices include Nextimage SCAN but not a floorstand. The UK warranty is a standard Two Year Return to Base (Nottingham). This is arguably better amd more cost-effective than the US's 6 month on-site warranty.
The entry-level SD4410 monochrome scanner is nicely priced and fast. However, the entry-level colour SD4430 is hobbled by its uncompetitive monochrome and colour speed. While the SD4410 is an attractively priced and apparently competent monochrome scanner, the SD4430 is a deliberate abberration, weak and unattractive. Contex's aim is clearly to push buyers away from the SD4430 towards the signifcant extra cost of the next scanner up, the SD4450 or even better, the SD4490.
Features and Benefits
There are seven main areas which we have identified as being of real interest to CAD users. They are interface, optical resolution, image width, speed, size and weight, scanning software and the price, already covered.
Scanned Image Quality
We deliberately omit scanned image quality, a vital feature in any image critical CAD application, because we have not yet tested an SD scanner and are reluctant to endorse Contex's claims at face value. However, we think it reasonable to expect that the combination of Contex's CIS technology and high optical resolution will introduce a practical, perhaps significant, improvement to the sharpness of the SD Series' technical drawing scanned image quality. Once this is shown to be true, we will print it here.
Interface
Face-up document feed is becoming more common in scanners. In keeping with the Image Access WideTEK and the Graphtec SK200 and CSX300, the new Contex CIS-based SD Series are face-up scanners. The document is fed through the scanner by an All-Wheel-Drive paper feed system exiting at the rear.
Six CIS optical sensors are held in the hood of the SD Series wide format scanner. Unusually, when opened the hood tilts forward towards the operator, not backward. This allows easy access to the CIS arrays and the single scanner glass for cleaning purposes.
The Contex SD Series are Energy Star compliant with a 44W power requirement that uses less than 3W when not in use. It is an "instant-on" scanner with no warm-up required. A simple "one-touch interface" on the right of the scanner allows scanning to the network and or copying to a printer. The SD Series uses the same WIDEsystem networking software as existing HD scanners.
Resolution
Optical Resolution: 1200 dpi
Interpolated Resolution: 9600 dpi
Contex are the first large format scanner manufacturer to offer true 1200 dpi optical resolution. However, we have to ask what CAD users will do with 1200 dpi optical and 9600 dpi interpolated resolution. The answer is very little and nothing. While 1200 dpi optical may have some benefits to CAD users, 9600 dpi interpolated resolution is useless across the board.
The current optical resolution offered by Colortrac, Graphtec, Image Access and others is 600 dpi. This is suitable for all technical documents which are typically scanned at between 200 and 400 dpi. As a result, Contex's 1200 dpi is overkill. Scan an A0 / E-size colour drawing at 1200 dpi and you get the equivalent of a hippo in a bathtub. It is a near impossible scenario. Similarly, its 9600 dpi interpolated resolution, the current industry standard, is worthless to all but impressionable fools and unscrupulous salesmen.
So, if you can't use Contex's 1200 dpi optical resolution, how will buyers benefit from it? The answer is "only indirectly".
Contex claim that scans made at 600 dpi on a 1200 dpi optical resolution SD Series wide format scanner will be sharper than 600 dpi scans made on a 600 dpi optical resolution scanner. We tend to believe Contex's claim. We saw this effect when we compared the 600 dpi Puma G600 large format scanner scanning at 200 dpi to the 200 dpi Hawk-Eye G36 scanning at 200 dpi. The results clearly showed sharper lower resolution images by the higher resolution Puma.
However, 600 dpi scanners are already capable of differentiating between lines that are so close together that the human eye cannot see that they are separate lines. In the context of CAD, is there any point differentiating between lines that are spaced even closer together? Until we can see and test an SD scanner we cannot comment on the benefits of 1200 dpi for CAD.
Image Width
Maximum Scan Width: 44" (1118 mm)
Maximum Media Width: 47" (1194 mm)
The 44" image width with 47" media width gives SD Series users the benefit of several extra inches when scanning large technical drawings. Colortrac and Graphtec wide format scanners have image widths of 40" and 36" / 42" respectively.
The most common sizes of large format drawing sizes are:
ANSI E-size: 34" x 44" (864 × 1118mm)
DIN A0-size: 33.1" x 46.8" (841 x 1189mm)
ARCH E-size: 36" x 48" (914 x 1219mm)
The SD Series' 44" image width allows it to scan ANSI E-size drawings in landscape mode i.e. the widest (44") side through the scanner first but not A0 or ARCH E sizes. While users with A0 drawings may just be able to scan them in landscape mode, the ability to capture the image fully will depend on the amount of space between the drawing detail and the media edge.
A brief examination of the A0 technical drawings in our office shows possibly half having drawing detail to within a half inch of the edge of the sheet. In scanning them landscape we would lose part of the drawing. In such a case, users with A0 drawings will have to do what they have always done, indeed do what all users of 36", 40" and 42" scanners do - scan A0 in portrait mode.
Generally, it is recommended that large format scanner operators scan in landscape, if possible. By feeding a drawing's longest side into the scanner first, the rollers of the paper feed mechanism have more to grip on, thus making paper skewing less likely. Drawings which are fed in in landscape will not have to be rotated after the scan. (In modern scanning software, this is an irrelevance as rotation can be done automatically and almost instantly.) As landscape mode has less inches to scan than the deeper portrait mode, the job will be completed faster. The ability to scan 44" wide will be a boon to US users accustomed to working with E-size drawings but it will have less impact in countries where A0 is the standard size.
The SD Series achieves its 44" image width by using six CIS arrays across the scanner, not five as found in Colortrac and Graphtec devices. In terms of media thickness, the SD Series accepts 0.04" (1mm) media, slightly less than most Graphtec scanners (0.06" / 1.5mm) and the Colortrac SmartLF Cx40 (0.08" / 2mm).
Speed
Contex stress that the SD Series is surprisingly fast. It includes xDTR, (Extended Data Transfer Rate), a feature taken from the "new" Contex HD Series of CCD scanners that uses the latest USB 2.0 technology to transfer data from the scanner to the PC faster.
Speed (at 400 dpi Turbo)
SD4410 10 ips Monochrome only
SD4430 05 ips monochrome 1 ips colour
SD4450 10 ips monochrome 1.5 ips colour
SD4490 10 ips monochrome 3 ips colour
Contex's quoted speeds shown here are not faster than those advertised by other manufacturers. However, we have learned that manufacturers' quoted speeds mean very little. Until we can do our own speed tests to determine exactly how long it takes from the moment you press the Scan button to the time when the scanned image becomes freely available on your PC, we cannot confirm or deny if the SD Series is as fast as Contex say. We will report our findings later.
Size and Weight
Weight: 30kg (66lbs)
Size: 60" x 19" x 6.3" (142 x 480 x 161mm)
Contex's publicity photos show the SD Series with elegant lines quite unlike other devices available today.
Contex claim that the SD Series is "lightweight" with a "sleek and modern design making transport and setup an easy task". Contex have correctly identified that many users want an easily transported device. For a scanner to be easily carried around it needs to be light and compact. Equally, many of the new cost-conscious scanner buyers do not have huge offices. For them, a compact wide format scanner is more desirable. Unfortunately, you cannot have 44" image width and be compact at the same time.
Contex's modern design sacrifices compactness in favour of its 44" image width. So, just as we grow accustomed to smaller, more compact large format scanners, Contex have bucked the trend and bought out the biggest CIS scanner yet! The SD Series is 7" (178mm) longer than all Contex HD Series 36" / 42" CCD scanners.
Despite their length, the SD series scanners are the lightest 40"+ large format CIS scanners currently available.
Software
Contex have taken the opportunity presented by the SD Series to update their previously long-in-the-tooth software. A 30-Day Trial of the Nextimage SCAN+COPY, Contex's new wide format scanning and copying software, is supplied, along with scanner maintenance software and WIDEsystem.net.
Contex allow buyers the opportunity to test Nextimage or buy something else. If, at the end of the trial period, you conclude that you do not like Nextimage for whatever reason, you can then spend your money purchasing alternative scanning software from one of Contex's third party software partners, like Caldera, SCP or Ratio, etc. You won't be stuck with scanning software you do not like.
The bottom line is that unlike Graphtec and Colortrac Contex do NOT bundle basic scan-to-file, copy or email software with their scanner. You will have to buy something after 30 days. If you do not purchase Nextimage or something else from Caldera, SCP or Ratio, etc., once the trial expires you will have a scanner with no usable software.
TWAIN support is unavailable but is expected to be supported by October 2008.
Nextimage SCAN is for scan-to-file projects. CAD users will need it to scan, preview and automatically clean up technical drawings before saving them as JPG, JPG2000, PDF and TIFF, etc. However, it has NO copying capability. If you need to scan and print out copies, you will need to pay the extra for Nextimage SCAN+COPY. This adds the printing capability that Colortrac and Graphtec scanner users take for granted in their supplied software. Offering integrated scanning, copying and filing, Nextimage SCAN+COPY has built-in support for Windows printer drivers and includes comprehensive, professional colour tools, colour matching and ICC colour management.
In their Nextimage scanning software Contex have implemented a feature like the "scan once, edit many" system found in Colortrac's ScanWorks software. (Contex deny the influence of Colortrac.) This is a significant productivity improvement. You can now see a detailed preview and do a real-time image correction without rescanning the entire original.
WIDEsystem.net allows SD Series users to configure networking, allowing scanning to specific PCs on a local area network or turning any workstation into a scanning server accessible to any other network PCs. This ability to network will be really useful in CAD drawing offices.
Conclusion
Believing that Contex would not want to undermine their HD Series sales, Scanners4CAD under-estimated Contex's determination to dominate the CIS market with their first generation of large format CIS scanners. Our speculation proved to be quite wrong. The SD Series is impressively specified.
Contex's hostility to CIS technology and their subsequent U-Turn on the road to corporate survival means they have come late to the CIS party. Nevertheless, they have arrived with a very impressive-looking, high resolution product. It will be interesting to read Contex's explanation for their conversion to CIS optical imaging, a technology that is now the undisputed technical document scanning standard.
No-one should underestimate the selling power of optical resolution. Contex once made that mistake and learned their lesson. They have now brought out the most aggressively specified CIS scanner ever. CIS technology and a high optical resolution are exactly what CAD users want even if they will never use 1200 dpi optical. Add 44" image width in a lightweight and sleek-looking scanner and you have a potential winner, especially if the prices are attractive enough to appeal to the new market of cost conscious users.
Scanners4CAD welcomes a Contex CIS-based large format scanner. Its advent end the debate about what image sensing technology is best for scanning technical drawings. CIS technology is great for CAD users because has the potential to make more powerful wide format scanners available at more affordable prices. Having said that, the top-end SD4490 scanner is not cheap. Contex's prices are not that competitive but they are reassuringly more expensive for those who like to believe that "you get what you pay for".
Scanners4CAD expects to review an SD Series colour scanner with Nextimage software shortly. We will post it here as soon as we do.
Contex A/S:
www.contex.com
Art Systems Ltd:
www.artsystems.co.uk
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