> OK, Tony. Rather than let this whole exercise dissolve into a flame war
> about methods, intentions, and so on, do you (and Ian Lyons, who also
> has strong opinions on this subject) have practical suggestions for how
> the data should be presented and viewed? I'd like to think that it's
> possible to get some useful information from the group scanning effort,
> and I *don't* think it's productive to simply throw our hands in the air
> and say it's all too hard. Otherwise, we're just throwing opinions
> around with no focussed approach to resolving issues.
If I knew the answer to that, as a simple procedural prescription, it
wouldn't take me as long as it does to check out how a scanner deals with
just one target.
It isn't 'all too hard' by any means, but the noble aims of objective
comparison are stuffed up a treat by two opposing facts. One that 16bit
scans are needed to get a fullest picture of scanner behaviour, but two,
that 16bit scans are just raw material, and invariably need work
involving more software and human judgement before looking half-decent.
So: arriving at useable visual comparisons means doctoring the data so
it's no longer objective, but someone's 'best interpretation'.
You can't rely on something like PS Auto Levels, either - although it will
set consistent levels, this will often mean colour shifts. Try it on the
Halloween samples, and you'll see the Canon and Acer samples turn over
warm. Then you'll have people saying 'ugh, the Canon and Acer are horribly
inaccurate with colour'. And they'd be just as wrong as the 'noisy
Polaroid' faction. The former is invalid because judgement has intervened,
the latter because it has not.
Regards
Tony Sleep
http://www.halftone.co.uk - Online portfolio & exhibit; + film scanner
info & comparisons
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