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CONFIRMATION:

Image Access WideTEK 36 rated the "fastest wide format scanner"

Image Access WideTEK 36 - fastest wide format scanner

BERTL, the independent American business equipment research and testing laboratory, has evaluated the Image Access WideTEK 36 and awarded it a highly recommended 4 Star Rating. "The bottom line" say BERTL, "is that the WideTEK 36 is the fastest wide-format color scanner on the market today".

This is no more than the recognition that Image Access deserves.

The WideTEK 36 is a true networking scanner that works straight out of the box on any operating system, with no software to install, no extra costs for scanning software and no need for a host PC. The WideTEK has its own Pentium-based Linux system with 2Gb RAM, more than in most PCs, dedicated to scanning activities. It is not shared with Windows or other application software and drivers. This and a 1 GBit Fast Ethernet connection with TCP/IP based Scan2Net Interface is used to make the WideTEK scan faster.

In their Performance Conclusion, BERTL say that "The WideTEK 36 actually does scan at its claimed speed and the only delay in the observed time is the transfer time of the image from the scanner to the computer using the 1 Gigabit LAN interface. Scanning to JPEG file format instead of TIFF uncompressed format further improves the overall scanning performance by 50 to 100 percent for color."

"The concept of an internal computer to make processing scanned data faster and the use of a 1 Gigabit LAN interface is clearly state-of-the-art for the wide-format scanner industry", BERTL reported.

With an introductory price of Euro 9.999 / GBP 7,495 / USD 13,999, the WideTEK 36 is supplied with a floorstand and scanning via internet and network-ready connectivity plus all accessories. A "true" networking scanner, the WideTEK 36 is an obvious rival to the new Contex Puma G600 iJET Plus which has a UK list price of GBP 16,425 / USD 22,975.

The WideTEK is a low noise, 36" (915 mm) monochrome, greyscale and colour CCD scanner. It has a compact footprint, an easy to use touch-screen interface, gives copyshop rates of productivity and is backed up with German engineering and support. We are not at all surprised that the WideTEK 36 has been favourably rated by BERTL.

The WIDETEK will be on display at CeBIT, Hannover, Germany, from 4 - 9th March 2008.

FREE tickets are available for CeBIT. Click here.

BERTL say "The WideTEK 36 scanner with the Scan2Net scanner application was a pleasant surprise. We saw several new innovative technologies implemented in the WideTEK 36 scanner. Among them was 1 Gigabit LAN interface, built-in computer with internal hard disk, white LED as the illumination source, very fast color performance and the first use of a wide-format scanner as a Web server!".

BERTL were inspired by the built-in touch display, providing nearly the same features available through a Web browser. They noted that this makes the scanner a practical walk-up copier as well as a LAN-based scanner. BERTL praised the clear structure of the user interface, its comfortable operation with clear and easy to understand assembly instructions, and the easy replacement of consumable parts. "The WideTEK 36 brings to the market new innovative thinking of how scanners should be designed and operated" they said.

BERTL, who are new to the evaluation of large format scanners, recently gained the services of Henrik Vestermark, the prolific scanning industry commentator and consultant, as their Director of Wide-Format Analysis. Vestermark brings considerable experience and knowledge to the job. Having established BERTL's wide format scanner evaluation criteria, Vestermark is now reviewing a number of key products. Vestermark's insightful, positive influence is conspicuous in this review and other recent BERTL articles.

Among the criteria that BERTL will test wide format scanners on is their performance in areas such as scan speed, scan quality, associated hardware and software equipment, etc. Points are awarded for each function and multiplied by a price factor to result in a price / value ratio. The WideTEK 36 earned excellent ratings according to the price / value ratio and was thus awarded 4 Stars and rated "Highly Recommended".

The complete BERTL test report on the WideTEK 36 is available on Image Access' website. Click here to access it.

Those who are interested to know how Vestermark overcame his scepticism of reports that Image Access, the new kid on the block in wide format scanner manufacturing, had a genuinely fast scanner can read his article in BERTL iTchat, "Is there an emerging scanner vendor in the large format scanner market?" also available on the Image Access web site.