How to choose a scanner for Regent Instruments software applications

Scanners

We have one demo unit of a LA2400 scanner offered at a discounted price. It has aesthetic imperfections that don't affect the image quality. Contact us at sales@regentinstruments.com for further details.

Scanners for Regent Instruments products

IMPORTANT NOTE: Scanners are not sold without our software programs

	Standard Area		Large Area
	LC4800P For WinFOLIA and WinCAM only	STD4800	LA2400
Portable (can be used in field)	Yes	No	No
Optical resolution DPI / Minimum pixel size (mm) (DPI = dots per inch)	4800 / 0.005	4800 / 0.005	2400 / 0.011
Max. Scan Area (cm)	21.6x28	21.6x28	30x43
Max. Scan Area (cm) SLS / Included or not (to scan thick objects such as roots, seeds or needles).	--	20x25 / Included	30x42 / Optional
Bits per pixel (Grey levels/Color)	16/48	16/48	16/48
Interface	USB 2	USB 2	USB 2
TWAIN 32-bit / 64-bit	Yes / No	Yes / No	Yes / Yes

Recommended for WinFOLIA	Yes Portable. Can be used in fields with a computer.	Yes	Yes
Recommended for WinRHIZO & WinSEEDLE	No	Yes	Yes
Recommended for WinCAM	Yes. Contact us to validate.	Yes	Yes
Recommended for WinDENDRO	No	Yes Very high image quality. Not suitable for samples larger than its max scan area (the scanner glass is not at the same level as the surrounding plastic edges).	Yes Very high image quality. Suitable for large samples, even those larger than its scan area (the scanner glass is at the same level as the sourrounding plastic edges).
Included with all scanners - 1 year warranty. Manufacturer's manuals and utility software to acquire images.

Note 1: STD (Standard) and LA (Large Area) scanners are commercial grade, LC (Low Cost) scanners are consumer grade.

Scanners are not created equal

1-Optical resolution and minimum pixel size
These two specifications are related. A higher resolution is better (pixel size is smaller). The optical resolution is the highest resolution at which the images are scanned without interpolation. Maximum resolution is the highest resolution a scanner can produce with interpolation (adding pixels by averaging colors of neighboring ones). The goal for a good scanner is to achieve the best resolvability to distinguish fine details (like tree-ring transitions or thin roots). There are large differences among scanners and sometimes their theoretical specifications do not match their actual performances. This is because not only the sampling frequency (dpi) is important, but also the quality of the optical, electronic and mechanical components.

Click to View Scanners Comparison Images

2-TWAIN versus File Transfer:
There are two ways to acquire images for use with Regent's image analysis programs:
• TWAIN: When a scanner is TWAIN compatible (has TWAIN drivers), our software programs can control it and get images from it directly and analyse them. All our scanners are TWAIN compatible and have been tested to work well with our programs.
• File Transfer: With this method an image file is created by a generic scanning software (which comes with the scanner) and then opened by our software programs for analysis. This process is slower because it involves two extra steps: saving images to disk and retrieving them. This is the only method for our programs to analyse images when a scanner is not TWAIN compatible.

Why buy a scanner from Regent Instruments ?

1- Compatibility.
You are sure that the scanner, its accessories and software program will work together as expected. Some of our programs' features and our hardware accessories only work with the scanners that we sell (we cannot adapt them to all existing models).

2- Technical Assistance.
In case you have difficulties installing or using it, it is easy for us to help you since we know and use the scanners that we sell. Note that we only provide technical assistance for image acquisition for scanners that we sell.

3- Calibration for precise measurements.
Scanners are made mainly for artistic applications. We calibrate our scanners with precise standards. This calibration is automatically used by our programs to compensate for differences among scanners so that data produced by different models will give similar results (when you ask a scanner to scan at 400 dpi it might scan at 392 or 408, this is what our calibration compensates for). Our calibration also compensate for differences when using a given scanner under different conditions such as when measuring an object at various orientation on its scan area (the dpi in the head movement direction is often different than from the light direction).

4- Reliability and image quality.
You get a scanner that is well adapted (fast, precise and reliable) for long term repetitive scientific measurements.

Our scanners do not exhibit the shadow problems for seeds, needles and root scanning.

5- Accessories for faster and easier scanning. Our positioning system with trays allows to repetitively place and scan needles, seeds or roots. The clasical scanner "Preview" step is bypassed, which saves lot of time. It also comes with a color contrasting background for color analysis and scanner cover raisers to scan thick objects (like roots in trays). There are also optional accessories for ring analysis on wood cores. Accessories can easily be removed and installed by the user in a few seconds.

6- Additional instruction manual and video tutorial. They teach how to install and utilise the scanner and our accessories and how to scan biological samples for analysis with our programs. They help you get the best images from our scanners and will save you time by giving some tips about the scanner that you have purchased. Note that the video tutorial is for WinRHIZO and WinSEEDLE only at this time.

	Image Analysis for Plant Science

Regent Instruments Inc.	since 1991