News

How DataMaster Lab tests Scan Quality

15 March 2024

Here is one of the different graphs we use for our tests,
and some good and bad examples
of what the scan devices we test have done to them
(with exactly the same settings)

We measure scanner image output quality in lots of different ways. One of our tests the quality of fine coloured lines in graphics.

Everyone uses graphs. It’s often the best way to show data. Everyone pays for cloud storage. How do you scan documents with neat graphs in a way that the details are still clear, but the file is not huge?
First you need a good scanner. And you need to have scan image processing that doesn’t mess up fine lines when it tries to make the file smaller.

We developed a test to measure this which we use whenever we test a copier or a scanner. One of our test sets of originals includes a page with three graphs, with lines of different colours and thicknesses. We score the scanned output for colour fidelity and for information loss, looking at each of the three tables individually against defined benchmarks for each of the criteria.

There are 30 different evaluations as detailed as this just for compressed image quality, covering posterization, quantization, edge effects, and more. All our evaluations of scanned image quality are equally scientific. Our print and scan productivity tests are just as thorough. We have been doing this for 15 years, and our test and evaluation methods are robust and rigidly applied to all the machines we test. Dozens of individual tests are summarized into our scan quality results showing quality against file size.

Our subscribers like results that are easy to read, to digest and to use for sales and marketing.

Subscribers to DataMaster Online can see the results of all our tests, and compare machines’ results side by side. Click HERE for a free trial of the service.