Wade, I have been in contact with a major manufacture of scanners and someone on the east coast ( professor at a college I believe)who has done panoramic cameras using linear CCD's. It was difficult to get them together. I had tried to get a free scanner in exchange for an article on how to take it and modify it for use as a panoramic camera. I did get the company to agree to give away a scanner but I do not think anything and happed beyond this. This was about a year ago and I think it flopped. I think it is a great idea to use linear CCDs for doing digital imaging. I would like to have a panoramic camera myself but I think it is more complicated than what might be thought of on first blush. I would still encourage anyone thinking of this to go forward and I may be able to supply CCD samples and data sheets. Today there is NO scanner maker in the U.S. only OEM's. So this means it is hard to get color sensors. As for small area sensors as in the TI offering. I think it is better to go to wall mart and buy their $30 digital camera to play with. My issue with area sensors is that the inexpensive ones are barely of a size to be interesting and the interesting ones are in cameras that cost $900 so far. One not only needs the sensor but the chip set that drives it ( from the sensor manufacture ) and therefore the PC board design to even begin to experiment. We do have a few area sensor / digital camera makers in the U.S. but they are having a hard time of it from a business point of view. So from where I sit linear sensors , some at the 2400 DPI range over 8.5 inches in width, could offer much improved images over even the present crop of area sensor cameras at a price of requiring a slow scan time. They are also much easier to drive than the area guys. With respect to flare and artifacts. It is only an issue where there is a lot of contrast. The sun can deliver this , a small light inside a scanner can not. In fact, they have the other problem as they have gone from 8 micron photo diode to 5 micron photodiode to get the resolution up in a smaller , cheaper area. This has significantly reduced the amount of photons that are captured and is the difference between good and OK scanners. the OK scanners actually have fewer electrons generated by the photosite that the number of combinations that the A to D converter can deliver. It is a good trick to be able to interpolate color values between individual electrons ;<) . There is also a trend for the Scanner makers to have each sensor custom made with their own IP on board. This will limit availability of sensors to the general public outside of buying a scanner itself. _______________________________________________ Cameramakers mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://rmp.opusis.com/mailman/listinfo/cameramakers
