The Mustek ScanExpress 1200 For Large Format Scans

The ScanExpress 1200 is one of only two scanners using CIS (Contact Image Sensor) technology as opposed to the standard CCD (Charge Coupled Device) used by most scanners. A review of the Mustek ScanExpress 1200 is necessary to introduce users to the specifications of the machine and its capabilities.

Any office using scanners for business purposes will find the large format machine an extremely useful piece of equipment. Document sizes up to 297 by 420 mm can be accommodated and scanned in full color with a 9600 dpi (dots per inch) resolution. Communication is through a USB 2.0 interface which is easy-to-use. The machine will work with most Windows OS's including 2000, Vista and XP. It is compatible with the Apple Mac OS X system too.

Copies of a high quality can be produced with the best scanners and may be faxed or E-mailed using the software supplied with the machine. Among the software are programs for OCR (Optical Character Recognition) and for manipulating images, which graphics designers may find useful. Besides having a color depth of 48 bits, the 24 bit gray scale is also supported with printing onto plain paper of A3 size.

A 500 MHz Pentium processor, 128 MB of RAM and 220 MB of free space on a hard disk drive will be required for the installation of this scanner. A free USB 2.0 port should also be available and, to view scanned images, an SVGA color monitor should be used. The unit's power is not transferred through the USB port but is delivered via a 12V supplementary power adapter included with purchase. LED's provide the light source for scanning. These do not require as much power and allow for a quick start from cold.

Scanners normally take up a lot of space on a work surface. This is called a large footprint to the technically minded. Being an A3 scanner the ScanExpress 1200 is no exception to the rule. This could cause some minor problems while a suitable location is being sought. One feature that will prove useful is the ability to remove the cover to facilitate the scanning of books or thick documents. The cover is held in place by two wedges, and when these are removed, the cover can be separated from the base.

There are no visible switches or operating keys on the outside of the scanner, no on/off switch is to be found. The machine relies entirely on it's operating software for control. What is interesting is that the software that controls the machine has not changed in five years. All the drivers are modern, fortunately, and are able to support Windows XP 64 bit and Vista.

A scanners maximum optical resolution is quite important, but be careful about claims of interpolated resolution which is really a software trick to try and generate a large picture from less available data. A clear picture can not be built up from very little data. The machine is able to scan at 9600 dpi but displaying an image on a computer screen will not require much more than 75 dpi. Printing the scanned color picture can be done reasonably at 300 dpi while black and white pictures would need 600 dpi.

Looking at the above information, it is assumed that images would be printed out in their original size. A higher resolution is required for enlargements, however, and when the final image is printed, the greater dpi should be kept after enlarging. This review of the Mustek ScanExpress 1200 has hopefully been of some use.