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JX100Scn

Scan a Targa image from a Sharp JX100 scanner


Syntax

JX100SCN [<switches>] <cFILENAME.TGA>


Switch

/aspect
Preserve aspect ratio.

/dither
Scan in two colors (black and white) with dither.

/dev:com<n>
Scan from device name (default is COM1).

/verbose
Print input and output dimensions.

/s<n>
Scan in <n> grey shades (2, 16, or 256).

/color16
Scan in 32,768 colors (Targa 16).

/color24
Scan in 16,777,216 colors (Targa 24).

/b<n>
Set brightness to <n>. Range is -6 (dark) to 6 (light). Default is 0.

/t<n>
Set scan rate. Set <n> to:
1  9600 baud.
2  19200 baud.
3  57600 baud.
4  115200 baud.

/w<x>,<y>,<w>,<h>
Set scan window in inches:
<x> is the x origin (x must be greater than or equal to 0)
<y> is the y origin (y must be greater than or equal to 0)
<w> is the width (x +w must be less than 11.0)
<h> is the height (y + h must be less than 17.0)

/o<x>,<y>,<w>,<h>
Set output window in pixels:
<x> is the x origin (x must be greater than or equal to 0)
<y> is the y origin (y must be greater than or equal to 0)
<w> is the width (w must be greater than 0)
<h> is the height (h must be greater than 0)

/compress
Compress output file.


Arguments

<cFILENAME.TGA>
The Targa image filename to save the scanned image to.


Remarks

Device driver for the Sharp JX100 4" x 6" personal color scanner. Requires 
serial port containing UARTs fast enough for rapid data transfer. Passing 
parameter string correctly will produce a high quality Targa 16 or Targa 24 
output file.

Install the JX-100 by connecting the data cable to a serial port: COM1 or 
COM2. Use the enclosed 9-pin AT style/25-pin XT style adapter, if required, 
to match your port. Connect the power cable to the data cable at the inline 
plugs. With the scanner horizontal on a non-abrasive surface, plug in the 
power cube. You should see the scanner CCD head initialize and retract by 
moving a short distance then returning. If it does not move when power is 
supplied, re-check power and cable connections. You may operate the JX-100 
with the viewport covered or exposed to room light. It is recommended for 
best results to cover the viewport with an opaque sheet of paper or card 
stock after aligning the scanner with the item to be scanned.

The JX-100's practical highest scanning speed is dependent on the installed 
hardware in your PC. Basically, the scanner can very easily send data faster 
than the PC can accept it. The UART chip on your serial card will lose scan 
data if the speed selection choice on the Options menu is set too fast. With 
the JX-100 always start your scanning at the slowest speed within the 
Options menu. It is worth a few moments of experimentation to see how much 
speed your serial interface and the bus can accept. Most 8MHz bus 
motherboards with the 8250 UART integrated circuits can accept the 19,200 
baud rate which is the second slowest speed choice.

Some of the newer serial cards with the large scale VLSI chipsets will 
accept much faster data transfer rates and may use the 57K baud rate, third 
slowest speed. With a 16550 AFN UART that contains FIFO buffers, you may be 
able to scan at 115K baud, the fastest speed. We have found that the CPU 
speed is not necessarily important to how fast you can scan. The type of 
serial interface and the UART is important to fastest scan speed.

Generally, the scanned image quality is below that of the Sharp JX-300. The 
portrait mode orientation of the JX-100 seems an unusual choice when typical 
PC monitor orientation is more similar to the JX-100's landscape 
possibilities. By scanning "sideways" in landscape mode then rotating the 
image 90 degrees, the JX-100's true abilities can be shown to be excellent. 
With this trick, it produces extremely acceptable, high resolution images.

The JX-100 is a serial device that can communicate with the PC at several 
baud rates similar to a modem or other serial device. Usually this is done 
through a UART of the types: 8250, 8250A, 16450, 16C451,or members of the 
16550A family. It is our understanding that all UARTS for the PC except 
those in the 16550A family are very slow from a hardware standpoint. The 
capabilities of whatever UART that is in your PC directly affect the 
communication capabilities of the Sharp JX-100. The 9600 baud rate is quite 
reliable but very slow. The 19200 baud rate seems quite reliable on ATs or 
better, but may not work on XTs or slow ATs. In our limited experience, the 
57600 baud rate is not usable on slow bus speed motherboards where the bus 
evidently looses incoming data. It is usable at 12 MHz bus speed and may be 
usable with very fast CPUs and memory. We think that it is worth 
experimenting with the use of the 16550A UART with FIFO buffers to possibly 
help stop data loss at the fastest baud rates. According to our 
communication specialists, the pin-compatible 16550A is an improved UART 
that accepts faster data transfer than the 8250 or 16450. The 16550A, 
16550AF, and 16550AFN have 16 byte First-In-First-Out buffers and can 
support 256k baud even though the hardware design of the PC only allows 115k 
baud.

On properly exposed, full-range, prints, photos or artwork having a "normal" 
or well-balanced range of luminance and chromanance, the JX-100 produces 
quality scans. This type of image is what a photographer would call a 
"well-exposed" photo. Photos or prints with unusual luminance or chromanance 
balance do present severe problems with the JX-100. It seems to respond 
poorly to pictures with unusual tonal or color balances.

We have used an opaque, black screen on the viewport of the JX-100 to 
prevent extraneous light from possibly degrading the "exposure" during the 
scan with the following results. The opaque screen seems to improve the the 
quality of well-balanced, good quality photos, especially on coated stock. 
We seem to have problems on photos with a lot of light colors or whites in 
them. The JX-100, when it doesn't like a light colored image, tends to 
yellow the resulting scan. Apparently, when not able to visually evaluate 
the image adequately prior to scanning, certain images must be repeatedly 
scanned while varying the parameters to achieve good results. This is not 
true for those "well-balanced" images which scan readily at top quality 
usually on the first scan. The warmup time from a cold start seems to take 
longer than expected. The scanner may time-out until warmed up. Warm seems 
to be up to 10 minutes. Give it plenty of time especially if in a cool 
environment. You must be sure all cables are hooked up correctly, you've 
chosen the correct port, the scanner is on, and so forth not only to scan 
but also to prevent the scanner from locking up the computer.