Scanner parts - Idea from Google DYI

Everything camera related. Includes triggers, batteries, power supplies, flatbeds and sheet-feeding scanners, too.

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natecbc
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Scanner parts - Idea from Google DYI

Post by natecbc »

Hey Everyone!

Has anyone tried tearing apart either a flat bead scanner or a handheld scanner and using that capturing images? I know that some of the mid-range scanners can scan pretty quickly. I'm wondering if a couple couldn't be torn apart and then motorized on top of the platten. If the default hardware was used a controller program could be created, if one hasn't been already, to automate high quality scans quickly.

I'm imagining two scanbed sensors attached to the platten. The platten is pulled down on the book, a button is pushed, the scanbed sensors both move left to right and then on the next page both move right to left. This would ensure they never meet in the middle. The scans themselves could be pretty quick depending on the hardware and the size of the book. Scanbed sensors would be superior for quality and the configuration could significantly improve post processing procedures in text only books. Also this would eliminate keystoning, lighting issues, increase portability (since the construction size would be significantly decreased), and hopefully decrease cost.

Any thoughts?
vitorio
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Re: Scanner parts - Idea from Google DYI

Post by vitorio »

I didn't find any serious attempts here in the forums, but maybe I didn't look hard enough. Out of the box, flatbed scanners aren't really well-suited for non-destructive scanning of anything other than sheets of paper.

One problem flatbed scanners have is there's no way to get right into the spine of the book. Just think about putting the book down on the flat glass. There's plastic for half an inch to an inch all around. The scanning bar comes out from beyond the glass, and has machinery on either side. You'd lose half an inch to an inch or more near the spine, best case. Even specialty flatbeds with "book edges" can't handle paperbacks. Handheld scanners aren't much better, and you're manipulating all but the smallest images to stitch passes together.

Another problem is focal distance. Newer scanners have different sensors (CID) than older models (CCD), which can't "see" anything that isn't pressed right up to the glass. Even so, CCD sensors aren't good for more than an inch or so above the glass, so you can't prop a book up in front of a scanner and expect to resolve anything.[1][2]

That said, scanography (scannography, or scanner cameras) is a thing, with pinholes, or large-format lenses. I think it'd be interesting to adapt these techniques and see if it's possible to get really high-resolution images, all the way to the spine, non-destructively, even if it's several seconds per page.
stromateis
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Re: Scanner parts - Idea from Google DYI

Post by stromateis »

Technically you could build such a setup. However, you could really never take a scanner apart and build your own. A couple of problems are in the way. The most pressing is control. The scanner control software, device drivers, and the like are closed source and fairly obtuse. Sure, you could just grab a Windows device driver and talk to it, but you are looking to take apart the scanner and reconfigure it, so the control scheme will be different from what the device driver was programmed to do. You also have the headache of keeping up with driver updates and supported OS.

The other challenge is calibration. Scanners are highly calibrated machines. Overtime and with heavy usage the calibration slips and the scanning will no longer work. Removing the guts and setting everything up in a new way will totally throw off the calibration. Also, if you don't know the calibration to begin with, how do you know how to keep it once you've reconfigured the setup?

Then you have the practical problems. Scanner's have a shelf life on their optics and lighting, for small job, shouldn't be an issue, but if you are taking apart a used scanner or using it for a longer period you are looking at a tiresome and possible expensive change out. Scanners are bulky because of the gearing needed to step the optics, especially with the precision needed.

In the end, it's just easier and more practical to use a camera and post process the image.
vitorio
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Re: Scanner parts - Idea from Google DYI

Post by vitorio »

143MP scanner camera: http://petapixel.com/2014/12/29/medium- ... n-scanner/

Looks like the project's been going on for a few years now, not sure why it's just hitting the blogs today.

In this particular Flickr photo, though, he also mentions what sounds like a mechanical frame for creating a large-format shot by stitching together multiple photos into a 600MP image: https://www.flickr.com/photos/projectese/13070558403/
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