Top 10 Scanners

With Canon's CanoScan D2400UF, the next big thing in scanner technology has arrived. As the first flatbed to offer an optical resolution of 2400 by 4800 dpi and hardware-based 48-bit color depth via its internal 16-bit analog-to-digital converter, the CanoScan D2400UF represents the first in a flashy new generation of scanners that should be hitting the market in the coming months.

Until now the most robust scanners we've tested provided a maximum optical resolution of 1200 by 2400 dpi or 1600 by 3200 dpi, and a maximum hardware-based 42-bit color depth with 14-bit A/D converters. In general, the higher the resolution and color depth, the better the potential quality of the final scanned image.

New Scanners, More Options

This month, in addition to the Canon model, we tested formidable new scanners from Microtek and Visioneer. The premium-priced $499 Canon CanoScan D2400UF and $450 Microtek ScanMaker 5700 aim to capture the attention of corporate users, while the medium-priced $180 Visioneer OneTouch 8800 USB vies for the wallets of small-office and home users.

The new scanners from Canon and Microtek are both dual-format models, capable of performing reflective or transparency scans straight off the shelf. The CanoScan D2400UF offers new, patented Film Automatic Retouching and Enhancement technology, which uses infrared light to detect imperfections (such as dust and scratches) on the film surface, and uses software interpolation to automatically correct and eliminate those problems. Applied Science Fiction pioneered a similar technique called Digital Image Correction Enhancement for use in dedicated 35mm film scanners, but those models cost considerably more.

Although the D2400UF sports many promising features, this unit's performance is somewhat hamstrung by its USB interface, which is slower than IEEE 1394 and SCSI scanners competing against it in the same price range. Consequently, while Canon's scanner is innovative, it failed to make our Top 10 list.

A much faster alternative for corporate consumers is Microtek's ScanMaker 5700, a 42-bit-color, 1200-by-2400-dpi unit that comes with a dual IEEE 1394 and USB interface. Thanks to its lightning-fast speed, high-quality images, and other versatile features, the ScanMaker 5700 makes an impressive debut on this month's Corporate chart.

Finishing off this month's list of new competitors is the Visioneer OneTouch 8800 USB, which earns a spot on this month's SOHO chart. In addition to the usual assortment of handy push buttons we've come to expect on Visioneer's scanners, this model produces better-quality color than many previous OneTouch models did.

Learn more about the three scanners tested this month, as well as the other scanners on the Top 10 chart, by using the drop-down menu at the top of each page to read the individual reviews.