Please let me know which is the best scanner competible with fine reader in terms of cost, speed and accuracy
On 12/10/10, Prashant Naik <[email protected]> wrote: > Dear friends, > > As requested by many members after my first mail on this portable > scanner I would like to submit a test report. This is a preliminary > test report. The device is a good option for bulk scanning by sighted > persons and volunteers. Also it is a first mainstream device like > this so there is a huge scope in its improvement and better > application in future. Following is my report pasted as below. > > Test report on I-ball QuickScan scanner. > > Testing done by XRCVC team consisting of > Prashant Naik and Salim Shaikh > XRCVC, Mumbai > Dates - from 4th to 9th December 2010 > ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Cost - MRP Rs. 7450/- > Available with I-Ball dealers. > Website - www.iball.co.in > http://iball.co.in/Product.aspx > > MORE SPECIFICATIONS > > Smart and Portable > Increase your productivity > Features: Document Scanner - Captures any document up to A4 size at > high resolution in about one second. > Object Photos - It can capture an object up to A4 size in one second. > Copier - It can capture a document or an object up to A4 size in one > second. The captured document can be printed out via any printer. > Presenter - To project a paper document or a real object to the large > screen using PC or laptop. > Video Recording - Its video recording function can record the progress > of any operation or demo. > OCR Function - Optical Character Recognition feature helps in > conversion of images of text into characters which can be edited. > Image Sensor: 2 Mega pixel CMOS Active Pixel Digital Image Sensor > Scanner Type: Foldable and Contactless Portable Document Scanner > Page Support: Up to A4 Size > Image Resolution: 1600 x 1200 pixels > Frame Rate: Variable with selected screen size. VGA 30 fps at > resolution of 640 x 480 > Scan Speed: One-click-scan, in a fraction of a second > Interface: USB 2.0 Interface > Image Formats: JPG, BMP, TIF, PDF, GIF, PNG, TGA, PCX. > Light: Ambient light > View Angle: 55 Degree > Lens: 3G1P + IR > Annotation and OCR Built-in OCR feature via software > Power Supply: DC 5V from USB > Bundled Accessories: Portable Scanner, Driver CD, USB Cable, Soft Pad. > OS Supported: Windows XP/VISTA/7. > Certifications: CE, FCC, RoHS > Weight: 600g > MRP: Rs. 7450 > Warranty: 1 Year > Document scanner A4 size > Photo capture A4 size in 1 second > Very portable and foldable > No adapter required. USB powered > Image adjustments > Weight 600 g > Operating system windows xp / vista / 7 > Office 2003 or office 2007 with all features installed needed for OCR > function > > HOW TO USE I-BALL QUICKSCAN > > You need to connect this device to computer USB port. (a USB driven) > device. > > You have a CD in your pack which has an application called ClickScan > ver 2.4. (8 MB setup file) > > You need to install this program to operate the device. > > Without this program also it can be operated with Fine Reader, Open > Book or Kurzweil OCR programs. But this way of operation is very very > cumbersome and not really useful for mass scanning. > > TEST FINDINGS > > Overall Grade (A - average, B - bad, C - very bad) > > Answer. Grade ‘B’ and ‘A’ both > (it is bad because we thought that it is a replacement for Zoom-Ex but > it is an average device as a camera scanner operated by sighted) > > TEST CASES > > 1. Without any assistive device (screen reader) both in static and > video mode or use of this device by a sighted. > > For good, clean and flat books one can do fast capturing of images. > > These images are stored in c:\program files\i-ball\photos folder. > OCRing on these images can be done with a good OCR software like Abby > Fine reader. > > Sighted can check the image quality and the focus area as view is > shown on the screen. > > The Problems observed with I-ball ClickScan ver 2.4 application > > No or limited key board access. > > Every time you need to go to menu to click on ‘Scan’ menu command. > > All captured images are not shown in the left side bar. i.e. Thumbnail > View. > > When double click on the workspace area it gives unnecessary error messages. > > Always default image resolution is 96 dpi which is too less for > document scanning. > > You have to change it to the 300 dpi in settings dialog for every new > job. It will not remember old setting or make this as default. > > You have to many a times close the application for starting a new job. > > There is no ‘new scan or document’ option in the file menu. > > Suggestions: > > Scan option is only available in menu it should be available thru key > board shortcut or single key. > > I-ball has not developed its own OCR engine. Bu it uses Microsoft > document Image Processing OCR system. > > Keyboard shortcuts and single scan key should be provided. > > Blue color dialogs and buttons control should be made as a standard > windows control. Menu should be more accessible with keyboard. Only > alt key is not working. > > You need some frame or boundaries (similar to zoom-ex legs) at the > base to make sure that your pages are within the range of scan area. > > Also if device is little moved or changes its direction the image can > go out of focus area. So a screen view is important for a user. > > One more thing observed is this device has a horizontal top for lense > which results in adding shadow on the page in the center area. This > Is or can disturb OCR output. > > ------------------------------------------ > > 2. Without any assistive device both in static with fine reader > > Scanned images can be opened and read in Fine reader. But using fine > reader to scan and read is not so good option. > > This device uses windows “capture picture to video” dialog which has > four buttons and two image preview windows. With capture button you > can capture current image. In the right hand side preview you can see > all the images including old scanned images. (This is a problem). > Select all button is not a toggle and really does not work in fine > reader as it only adds few or one images in the list. Get capture > button is used to add images and close this dialog. > > Same dialog appears in Kurzweil and open book program. Preview and > select options are not screen reader friendly. > > ----------------------------------- > > 3. Video mode as a screen magnifier or CCTV. Static and video mode zoom, > etc. > > When you do video recoding its don’t show on screen after save you can > see the recoding. You can’t use this device as CCTV. When you take a > image then its give zoom option. > > ---------------------------- > > 4. With JAWS its own application. OCR Microsoft application. What > are the difficulties with screen reader JAWS > > Use of screen reader JAWS in i-ball application is not very friendly. > Menus are spoken but not perfectly. It reads as context menus. Also > alt key to access menu does not work. Dialogs are not so readable. > > For OCR it opens Microsoft document imaging application. Being a > standard Microsoft application it is JAWS friendly. > > ---------------------- > > 5. With OCR assistive software like Open Book, Kurzweil, Fine Reader, etc. > > Kurzweil / open book / fine reader can be used for opening captured > images and then recognize. But it is not worth at this moment to use > this device with these applications for scanning and reading directly. > > OCR results > During scanning we have observed that sometimes layout is not maintained. > > Also if page is not kept absolutely flat then your images results with > skewed text lines which results in a bad OCR output. > > --------------------------------------- > > 7. Any qualitative comments > > In ideal scenario this device is an image capturing device. > > This device is right now can be used as an image capture device mainly > by sighted people. > > Other Advantages > > Image to pdf option in the menu is available. > > Can save different types of images jpeg, tiff, etc. > > Can do automatic image capturing job. > > End of report > -------------------------------------------------------- > > On Mon, Dec 6, 2010 at 9:04 PM, Prashant Naik <[email protected]> wrote: >> Dear Mukesh, >> >> You are right one needs to thoroughly test new devices for its >> robustness and accessibility for VI. Also find whether is it worth >> investing in it? That’s where at XRCVC we try and test new devices. >> We are a very first buyer of his unit in Mumbai. We got this sample >> unit on Saturday afternoon. So still working and testing it. Do not >> want to make any comments at this moment unless I myself test it with >> various test scenarios and environments / programs. Soon I will >> write my findings about ClickScan to the list. >> >> Regards, >> Prashant Naik >> -------------------------------- >> >> On Mon, Dec 6, 2010 at 4:33 PM, korbamukesh <[email protected]> wrote: >>> hello sir, >>> it was good to know that there are more devices likely to come in the >>> market as portable scanners. because, i find it very convenient to >>> move around with my laptop and portable scanner to get it scan the >>> handy pages at our finger tips. >>> >>> as i am appearing for my higher studies examination, i need to scann >>> lot of books, journals, papers etc while visiting the libraries. >>> >>> for this purpose, i have once used one scanner of cannon light 25 >>> which turned to be not advisable for multiple scanning. because, after >>> scanning few pages say five or ten the scanner device used to go slow >>> down and sometimes stop working for few minutes. while enquiring with >>> my dealer, he informed me that this scanner is meant only for scanning >>> bills, memos etc but not for continuous scanning of books. >>> >>> another difficulties was that the menus of the scanning program of my >>> cannon product were not accessible. but after configuring this device >>> with fine reader, i could easily locate the scan command with this >>> device. >>> >>> so if possible, kindly let me know the product updates at your end if >>> you have tried scanning multiple pages with this device. i am very >>> keen to have such product. >>> >>> if possible, also share with me the dealer information in mumbai. >>> >>> regards, >>> mukesh. >>> >>> On 12/4/10, Prashant Verma <[email protected]> wrote: >>>> More similar devices are expected very soon. We are testing a portable >>>> scanner which has similar features and is likely to be out in the market >>>> in >>>> the coming months. >>>> >>>> More details on ClickScan are given below from its website >>>> http://iball.co.in/Product.aspx?s=2 >>>> Iball portable scanner named ClickScan >>>> Features: •Document Scanner – Captures any document up to A4 size at >>>> high >>>> resolution in about one second. >>>> •Object Photos - It can capture an object up to A4 size in one second. >>>> •Copier - It can capture a document or an object up to A4 size in one >>>> second. The captured document can be printed out via any printer. >>>> •Presenter - To project a paper document or a real object to the large >>>> screen using PC or laptop. >>>> •Video Recording - Its video recording function can record the progress >>>> of >>>> any operation or demo. >>>> •OCR Function – Optical Character Recognition feature helps in >>>> conversion of >>>> images of text into characters which can be edited. >>>> Image Sensor: 2 Mega pixel CMOS Active Pixel Digital Image Sensor >>>> Scaanner Type: Foldable and Contactless Portable Document Scanner >>>> Page Support: Up to A4 Size >>>> Image Resolution: 1600 x 1200 pixels >>>> Frame Rate: Variable with selected screen size. VGA 30 fps at >>>> resolution of >>>> 640 x 480 >>>> Scan Speed: One-click-scan, in a fraction of a second >>>> Interface: USB 2.0 Interface >>>> Image Formats: JPG, BMP, TIF, PDF, GIF, PNG, TGA, PCX. >>>> Light: Ambient light >>>> View Angle: 55 Degree >>>> Lens: 3G1P + IR >>>> Power Supply: DC 5V from USB >>>> Annotation and OCR Built-in OCR feature via software >>>> Bundled Accessories: Portable Scanner, Driver CD, USB Cable, Soft Pad. >>>> OS Supported: Windows XP/VISTA/7. >>>> Certifications: CE, FCC, RoHS >>>> Weight: 600g >>>> MRP: Rs. 7450 >>>> Warranty: 1 Year >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> -------------------------------------------------- >>>> From: "Prashant Naik" <[email protected]> >>>> Sent: Saturday, December 04, 2010 5:08 PM >>>> To: <[email protected]> >>>> Subject: [AI] I-ball ClickScan_Instant Scanner >>>> >>>>> Dear Friends, >>>>> >>>>> Today at XRCVC we got one more instant scanner device. It is not a >>>>> specialized device like zoom-ex but a mainstream product from I-ball >>>>> called ClickScan (a USB driven, small and portable). The i-ball >>>>> application to capture and do other operations is not keyboard >>>>> friendly or JAWS accessible. But a sighted can use it with mouse. It >>>>> has many features like scanner, copier, ocr, presenter and video >>>>> recorder, etc. This is an instant scanner device. This is very >>>>> recently launched and costs around 6000/- >>>>> >>>>> One can use it with fine reader and do very fast scanning. A good >>>>> option for libraries and resource centers for doing mass scanning. >>>>> >>>>> We are still exploring it but thought to share this info with the list >>>>> as it is exciting that for the price of 1/10th we have one option. >>>>> About the accuracy we need to test thoroughly but is decent, no idea >>>>> on exact resolution and scanned image quality. I think I-ball has >>>>> come up with this product for fast photo scanning. Anyway we can try >>>>> and if it’s helpful for us we can start using it. >>>>> >>>>> Regards, >>>>> Prashant >>>>> >>>>> To unsubscribe send a message to [email protected] >>>>> with the subject unsubscribe. >>>>> >>>>> To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, >>>>> please visit the list home page at >>>>> http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in >>>>> >>>> >>>> To unsubscribe send a message to [email protected] >>>> with >>>> the subject unsubscribe. >>>> >>>> To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, >>>> please >>>> visit the list home page at >>>> >>>> http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in >>>> >>> >>> To unsubscribe send a message to [email protected] >>> with the subject unsubscribe. >>> >>> To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, >>> please visit the list home page at >>> http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in >>> >> > > To unsubscribe send a message to [email protected] with > the subject unsubscribe. > > To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please > visit the list home page at > http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in > -- Naresh Kumar Assistant Professor Department of History Kamala Nehru College (University of Delhi) To unsubscribe send a message to [email protected] with the subject unsubscribe. 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