Shel, VueScan has some very nice features that the Minolta software lacks. The feature that I find critical is its ability to sample each pixel more than once and average the results during the scan. This has the effect of adding more bit depth to the scanner and reducing shadow noise. Assuming the pixel sensor is fairly linear, each time you double the number of samples you add about one bit to the signal to noise ratio. This does a great job of killing shadow noise in high-contrast scenes.
There are many other features that are really nice as well; it would take pages to mention them all. The most important feature for me is that Ed Hamrick is always tweaking and improving VueScan. Every couple of months I download a new version and discover another really cool feature that he's added. This is in contrast to the scanner companies, who seem to consider the driver software to be a nuisance and rarely update or improve it. To anyone who is having trouble with VueScan, I recommend that you try the latest version. If that doesn't work, document your problems and e-mail Ed. If it's a legitimate issue, he'll probably fix it in a future release.... --Mark -----Shel wrote----- Why is Vuescan a better choice than most other programs, and, seemingly, better, or more highly praised, than the factory software? - This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org .
