RUMOUR:
Contex CIS large format scanner to be announced
When Contex announced the replacement of their G600 Series large format scanners with the updated HD Series, they failed to announce updates for their under-powered Contex Hawk-Eye G36 and black-and-white-only Premier models.
Scanners4CAD believes that these models are to be discontinued and replaced by Contex's first generation of CIS (contact image sensor) large format scanners.
Many will find this hard to believe given how long and loudly Contex have dismissed CIS technology for anything more than fax machines while loudly trumpeting the superiority of CCD (charge couple device) technology. If it's true that Contex have developed a CIS scanner, their surprising U-Turn on CIS technology demands a lengthy explanation, please!
Such was the strength of feeling against CIS technology that only six months ago, Jon Jordan, the well-respected and long-serving Contex large format product manager at Art Systems Ltd, Contex's UK distributor, emphasised to Scanners4CAD that "Contex will NEVER produce a large format CIS scanner". We now believe that it will be announced at Contex's distributor conference in April 2008.
Contex will not comment or provide us with further information. Until they do, this story about any forthcoming Contex CIS large format scanner is speculation. However, their recent press release hides some clues. In announcing their "new" HD Series, they refer to them as "Contex's CCD-based scanners", probably the first time Contex have made such a reference. They have never needed to do so before!
The press release also refers to the HD Series as being suitable for copy shops and repro but fails to mention their suitability for AEC, CAD and GIS, a market Contex's CCD scanners have always targeted in the past. CIS technology best suits AEC, CAD and GIS, as evidenced by the ongoing success of Colortrac and Graphtec CIS scanners in the technical drawing market.
Contex CIS large format scanner versus Contex CCD wide format scanners
That Contex would be forced to develop a large format CIS scanner was not hard to predict. It was always inevitable given the growing success and competency of CIS technology and the compelling financial reasons for manufacturing CIS scanners.
Colortrac, the British wide format scanner manufacturer, have long maintained that Contex "absolutely have to bring out a CIS scanner" for reasons of production economies and entry-level pricing. Nevertheless, once this announcement proves to be true, it will come as a disappointment to Colortrac who are the only manufacturer to build large format scanners using both CIS and CCD technologies.
Right now, Colortrac is the only wide format scanner manufacturer able to offer objective advice on the issue of CIS versus CCD and the benefits that can be gained from one or the other of these technologies. Unlike Contex (CCD only) and Graphtec (CIS only), Colortrac are able to offer a more reasoned argument for the benefits of each, namely that CIS is best for scanning mono and colour technical drawings while CCD is better for capturing colour graphics artwork and or folded, crumpled drawings.
At present, both Contex and Graphtec must bang the drum and trumpet their respective beliefs that their imaging technology is exclusively the best. Once Contex has considered its new position and developed its argument for its CIS-based wide format scanner technology, Scanners4CAD expect it to follow suit and adopt much the same positioning statement as Colortrac.
We help Contex explain their convervison from CCD to CIS!
In the past, Contex have used a degree of spin to describe their new products. We see no reason for the Contex Leopard to change its spots now.
Clearly, the last thing Contex are going to tell us is that this is about making money - cutting production costs and providing a more profitable, more powerful, competitively priced entry-level alternative to the Hawk-Eye, the source of much of their woes in today's entry-level market, a product mockingly referred to by some of their gleeful competitors as the "Blind Budgie"!
On the basis of past announcements, we imagine that the Contex press release will possibly say something like:
"Contex perfect CIS scanning technology"
"After considerable investment in R&D, Contex, the world leader in wide-format imaging technologies, has resolved the well-known shortcomings of CIS technology and is proud to announce the first CIS scanner that works. Contex's industry-leading, entry-level large format CIS scanner is ideally suited to low-level monochrome and colour technical drawing scanning in the AEC, CAD and GIS market. Anyone requiring traditional Contex quality, specifically with colour reprographics images, should consider a Contex CCD scanner."
(Please note. Contex did not write this. This is all simply speculation by Scanners4CAD.)
Contex is spelled "CCD", not "CIS"!
Contex are long standing CCD large format scanner manufacturers. Their U-Turn on CIS technology is the company's biggest strategic change since they started scanner manufacturing in 1986.
Graphtec introduced their wide format CIS scanners in 2002. Colortrac introduced their large format CIS SmartLFs in 2004 but can trace their origins back to the ANA Tech Eagle 3840 SLI released in 1995, the world's first wide format CIS scanner.
The complexity and sensitivity of the components used in CCD wide format scanners makes them the most expensive scanners to manufacture. Contex have refused to acknowledge the benefits of CIS and have steadfastly promoted their belief in CCD's superior image quality over the less expensive CIS technology, an argument which Contex has never decisively won. Despite this, Contex's marketing has convinced thousands of buyers that the "Contex" brand is synonymous with "image quality".
In pushing the superiority of CCD scanners, Contex have claimed that CIS was only good for low-to-medium quality office documents with a low level of detail. Everything else, from CAD and or technical drawings to full colour artwork, required Contex CCD quality. Thousands of CAD users chose to doubt Contex's marketing hype and disagree, buying CIS scanners from Colortrac and Graphtec instead. CIS technology is now proving to be as suitable, if not more suitable for scanning technical drawings than CCD.
The AEC, CAD and GIS technical drawing market is the biggest market for large format scanners, estimated to be 75% of the total market. It is in this huge market for wide format technical drawing scanners that Colortrac's and Graphtec's CIS technology has established itself most. Unsurprisingly, it is in this market that Contex has struggled most in the last year, being forced to make dramatic cuts to its CCD scanner prices in order to compete with the growing success of CIS.
Why is Contex believed to be bringing out a CIS scanner?
CIS scanners make a compelling commercial argument. They are less expensive to produce. Being cheaper to manufacture, their lower prices appeal to the volume market yet they are still profitable to sell.
Without a CIS-based scanner Contex are in danger of losing the huge AEC, CAD and GIS wide format technical drawing market to their rivals. It cannot be denied that Contex are an aggressive marketing company who have excelled in sales. Whatever they've said about CIS in the past, they have their finger on the market's pulse. They know better than most that what the market wants. As marketers Contex now know that CIS scanners represent the future of entry-level scanning.
A compelling reason for Contex to invest in CIS is their need for a more cost-effective scanner engine to OEM. In the past Contex have manufactured scanners, painted them another colour and shipped them out to HP, Oce, Vidar, Calcomp, etc. The new OEM market needs scanner engines that can be built into MFP solutions, as Graphtec do for KIP. Contex cannot afford to lose their OEM market to Graphtec who are enjoying success with the sexy, superbly compact SK200, an A0, 36" wide, 600 dpi optical CIS scanner.
Despite what Contex have said in the past and what they might say in future on the possible release of a new Contex CIS large format scanner, CIS is now a proven technology capable of excellent results for AEC, CAD and GIS. Proof of how CIS technology has hurt Contex at the low-end of the market - and the depths to which its distributors descend to sell Contex CCD devices - are the price cuts and misleading claims that are made in order to sell an entry-level Hawk-Eye scanner to CAD users.
The question is "how did this happen while they were the market leaders?"
How Contex lost their way and slipped up - From Hawk-Eye to Blind Budgie!
Contex's problems have been a long time in the making. Scanners4CAD believes that the root cause of Contex's troubles was the ill-conceived Hawk-Eye Cx 36 which was released in July 2004.
The Contex Hawk-Eye G36
Contex has been increasingly marginalised in the entry-level wide format scanning market because it does not have a low-cost scanner capable of competing against Colortrac and Graphtec CIS scanners, either in terms of real scanning power or on paper. For scanning technical drawings, anything that Contex's entry-level Hawk-Eye could do, the CIS scanners did better - for less!
When comparing like-for-like, Contex's Hawk-Eye G36, is as useful as a popgun against a panzer. This has led to misleading claims for the Hawk-Eye, such as it being suitable for AEC, CAD and GIS, an application area it is particularly poor in.
The Hawk-Eye Cx 36 was an improved copy of the Colortrac Series 4e 3640 large format colour scanner. When released in mid-2000, the 3640 had 200 dpi optical resolution, 36" image width and cost £9000. The Colortrac Series 4e 3640 had a single CCD camera design which meant it had no image stitching issues. The Colortrac 3640 was not designed nor intended for CAD work. Its market was specifically service bureaus needing fast low resolution, low quality scans for archiving and print.
The Colortrac
Series 4e 3640
Four years after the 3640 came out, Contex introduced the Hawk-Eye Cx 36 large format scanner. Contex will deny the influence of the Colortrac 3640 but the similarity in specs was remarkable. The Hawk-Eye Cx 36 had the same basic specifications as the 3640 - a 36" image width, 200 dpi maximum optical resolution and a single CCD camera.
The Hawk-Eye Cx 36 therefore had all the strengths of the Colortrac 3640 but critically shared its major weakness, specfically the very low 200 dpi maximum optical resolution out-of-step with what was then already available in other scanners. A few months after the introduction of the Hawk-Eye Cx 36, an event took place which showed just how far off the mark Contex's product vision was.
New technology at lower and lower prices
In October 2004 Colortrac introduced the aggressively priced SmartLF 4080 series of 40", 400 dpi optical resolution large format colour CIS scanners for under £5000. The SmartLF represented Colortrac's alternative vision of what an affordable, entry-level wide format scanner should be. Unlike the Contex Hawk-Eye Cx 36, the SmartLF 4080 gave CAD users the radical price and performance benefits they expected from new, more affordable and ever more powerful technology roll-outs.
The SmartLF 4080's price redefined entry-level large format scanning in the UK and elsewhere. It immediately created a new market for scanning wide format technical drawings among cost-conscious CAD users unable to justify Contex's twice as expensive entry-level Hawk-Eye Cx36, then £12,000+. A few months later Colortrac discontinued the 3640 altogether. They knew what the mass AEC and CAD market wanted. It was not the Colortrac 3640 nor the Hawk-Eye Cx 36. The market wanted more... and more for less!
The only way to give the wide format scanner market more at an affordable price is CIS technology!
Today the Colortrac SmartLF 4080 has been replaced by the 600 dpi optical resolution SmartLF Cx 40, still at the same price. Over time the Contex Hawk-Eye has seen its price cut again and again. Almost 50% has now been cut off its original introductory price.
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Over time Colortrac SmartLF and Graphtec CIS scanners have demonstrated their worth as affordably priced monochrome and colour technical drawing scanners. With 600 dpi optical resolution they appeal to CAD users wanting higher resolution and higher quality - basically a more modern spec - than the Hawk-Eye can offer.
The Hawk-Eye's failure lay first in its high price and second, its low optical resolution, just 200 dpi optical compared to 600 dpi from its CIS rivals. Paying a higher price for 200 dpi optical resolution, even if Contex quality, did not make sense to the majority of CAD users!
With the release of Colortrac SmartLF Gx 42 series of affordably priced CCD scanners the alarm bells began to jangle in Contex's head office. The result was a discounting of the Crystal G600. It does not take a rocket scientist to see that the failure of the Hawk-Eye to compete in the entry-level scanning market had undermined Contex's entire large format product pricing strategy.
Speculation on Contex's large format CIS scanner Specifications and Price
We DO NOT know what specs and prices the new Contex wide format CIS scanner will have - but here are a few clues!
The most important consideration Contex have in introducing an effective and attractive entry-level large format CIS scanner is to lessen its impact on sales of their more expensive wide format CCD scanners. At the same time, Contex must make its CIS technical specifications match or better those of rival scanners so that anyone comparing them can easily see which is best or similar on paper.
Another consideration is that having decided that CIS is best suited to the needs of the AEC, CAD and GIS technical drawing market, the biggest market there is, Contex must now find some accommodation for their many CCD scanners within this market. They cannot afford to confine their more expensive CCD scanners exclusively to "full-service copyshops and reprographic companies".
Glueing this together is the history of Contex as a conservative manufacturer. For the last 10 years, Contex have offered good quality scanners at a higher price than others. We do not expect them to be different now. It is most unlikely that Contex will become the most innovative, aggressively priced CIS scanner supplier overnight. They will offer a solid product at a comfortably higher price.
Scanners4CAD's guess at the specifications of the new Contex CIS scanner:
Name
We do not know. Let us call it the Contex TD (Technical Drafting) Series. We thought of calling it the LD (Low Definition) Series (as in their CCD HD (High Definition) Series), but Contex are too astute to use anything so negative.
Application
The Contex TD will be pitched at the office document and technical drawing scanning market exclusively.
Optical resolution
The CIS products that hurt Contex are all 600 dpi optical resolution wide format scanners. It is reasonable to assume that the Contex TD will not go for a lower specification than this. As CIS scannners are best suited to technical drawing work where 200 to 400 dpi optical is usually adequate, it is likely that the Contex CIS scanner will go for parity and be 600 dpi optical also.
However, as Contex have stubbornly defended the suitability of the Hawk-Eye G36's 200 dpi optical resolution, it is possible that they may choose to sell a CIS scanner with 400 dpi optical (but no less). This will help them position it against their more expensive CCD scanners but it will not make them look good on paper when buyers compare optical resolution technical specifications, a critical area in choosing an entry-level large format scanner. This is something which Contex are acutely aware of given the Hawk-Eye's poor specifications.
Image Quality
As Contex have a commitment to continue selling expensive CCD scanners, we wonder where they are going to draw the fine line between CCD and CIS. We imagine that Contex will stress CIS for technical drawings and CCD for colour and crumpled or folded documents.
Image Width
The CIS products that have hurt Contex are 40" (Colortrac Cx 40) and 42" (Graphtec) scanners. As the Hawk-Eye is a 36" scanner, Contex may stick with this size which is suitable for both A0 and E-Size scanning in portrait mode.
A 36" CIS scanner will not impact as badly as a 40" one on Contex's 36" CCD devices. A 36" image width will allow Contex to justify more expensive CCD scanners with wider image widths and will also allow Contex to build a smaller CIS scanner like the 36" Graphtec SK200 for their OEM market.
Overall Size
A small size will be one way to establish Contex's new CIS credentials. Contex scanners are the largest, heaviest, most cumbersome wide format scanners there are. There is no reason why the new Contex CIS scanner must be as big as Contex's CCD design.
Colortrac SmartLF CIS and CCD scanners are outwardly the same. These and the Graphtec range of IS and CS scanners have a solid look and feel about them. Size creates a sense of value and worth at the expense of a large footprint.
The Graphtec SK200
- setting the standard for
stylish, compact CIS design.Only the Graphtec SK200 scanner is remarkable in appearance. It is the lightest, smallest, most compact A0 scanner, a tribute to Japanese design and engineering, one increasingly popular in the OEM market. We hope Contex follow Graphtec's lead with the SK200 and give us a compact CIS scanner!
A compact Contex CIS-based scanner painted in black... now, that would be stylish and impressive!
Face-up scanning
The image could be fed in one of two ways. We think face-up is more likely. It is more user-friendly and suited for the entry-level market and is used in Graphtec's compact SK200. Face-up scanning means that the CIS arrays will be housed in the hood.
Media Thickness
Thick media scanning is a feature of Contex's CCD scanners but is not something that most CAD users working with standard thickness drawing sheets need. As the TD Series will be aimed at the technical drawing market, the requirement for supporting thick media will be largely unnecessary. We expect to see the Contex TD Series support no more than 1-2mm thickness. This will allow Contex to justify more expensive CCD scanners which support 0.5" / 15mm as standard via Automatic Thickness Adjustment.
Models / Options
There will be two models, offering monochrome only (a la the Premier) and colour (a la the Hawk-Eye). These will have Base and Plus options, an arrangement that seems to work for Contex and meet some users needs. The Plus options will offer faster scan speeds.
Network-ready
Contex's marketing will probably tell them that networking is something many users see as a benefit - despite what scanner salesmen say! As both Colortrac and Graphtec are weak in networking at present and Contex is stronger, it is again reasonable to assume that the Contex CIS scanner will be as networkable as any other Contex device.
Software
Contex's software is tried-and-tested but long-in-the-tooth. We hope that Contex have used this opportunity to modernise it. If Contex have not developed technical drawing scanning software that works in real-time, as does Colortrac's excellent ScanWorks, we will be disappointed. ScanWorks uses an on-the-fly "scan once, edit many" approach to image editing. If Contex persist with their current software's mode of operation which requires repeatedly scanning backwards and forwards over different selected parts of a drawing to select settings, we will be extremely disappointed.
Speed
It may be slower than the current HD Series at 12ips monochrome at 400 dpi Turbo. It will probably use Contex's new USB 2.00 interface with xDTR. A Plus upgrade may add extra speed.
Energy Star 2007
Contex will have to offer Energy Star 2007 compliance with their CIS scanner.
Price
With scanners being much-of-a-muchness, price is the biggest issue in the new cost-conscious market for wide format scanners.
If Contex cannot be competitive here they might as well pack it all up now and go fishing. We do not expect them to do so. We expect Contex to compete but at a slightly higher price which maintains the illusion that "you get what you pay for" i.e. Contex quality.
The big problem Contex will have is in differentiating their new CIS scanner from their more expensive CCD products. If Contex offer too much, Contex CIS-based scanners will outsell the CCD-based HD Series, much like AutoCAD LT outsells the full-blown AutoCAD, much to Autodesk's dismay. If Contex offer too little at too high a price, the new scanner will be unattractive to all but corporates with big budgets and a fear of firing. In this case, the fastest growing new market for large format scanners - CAD users - will turn their back on Contex's CIS-based scanner.
We believe that the new Contex wide format CIS scanner will cost approximately the same as today's cut-price Hawk-Eye. This may even include a stand and software. Given the cost savings inherent in CIS large format scanner manufacture, Contex can entice the market with some further small price reduction to bring their colour CIS scanner in at around a £5995 and or $8995 (Base) price.
British buyers will have reason to grumble (as always) over the high UK price given the strong pound / dollar conversion rate!
Of course, we could be completely wrong. Contex may surprise us with a 1200 dpi optical CIS scanner with a built-in processor for fast networking communications. Somehow we doubt it! This is an exercise in catching-up and staying profitable, not selling the farm at a knockdown price. Low-cost pricing has never been Contex's way. They will sell CIS quality at a comfortably higher price.
Conclusion
Assuming we're right and Contex are about to release a CIS scanner, this is an interesting, exciting and positive development. However, we wonder what will distinguish Contex's CIS scanner from any other. Will this be a "me too" product or do Contex have something really special up their sleeve? We look forward to seeing it and evaluating the product fully on its release.
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