User manual

With the current software and firmware, the automatic recognition of the scanning area works
perfectly. Adjustments would only be required if there was a problem recognising the orientation of
the slide. The dimensions in this Tab are always shown in centimetres, regardless of the defined
measurement units (section 5.2.4).
JS says that scans are never 100% even, and there can be a narrow diagonal band at the side of
the slides. Martin has also commented on this, but I have not encountered this problem. In order to
change any values, it is necessary to first tick the box Enable user setting for auto-crop. JS then
recommends adjusting only the offsets – some trial and error will be necessary to determine the
correct values.
The values defined here are “scanner” values which by default, will be applied to all slides. It is
possible to define the scanning area individually for pre-scanned slides – see section 6.3.4.1.
Personally, I prefer to scan the slides completely and crop afterwards in the Image Editor. I have
cropped a lot of pictures to cut out excessive foreground in the original slide, i.e. to improve the
picture, not to correct the scan. If required, Irfan View and other Image Editors have a batch
function which permits the same cropping to be applied to multiple pictures in one operation.
6.1.2.4 ICE/ROC/GEM
• ICE – Image Correction and Enhancement - is one of the most important features of the
DigitDia 5000. It is a hardware dust and scratch removal feature. The scanner has an infra-red
detector which recognises dust and scratches, i.e. irregularities on the surface of the slide. A
software compensation is then applied when the actual scan is performed.
Martin had some initial problems with this, when ICE did not distinguish scratches on the slide
sufficiently well from sharp edges in the picture, and consequently scanned them out of focus.
Newer firmware appears to have fixed this. I have found ICE very useful, and it really does
clean up dusty slides quite well.
Using ICE causes each slide to be scanned twice – first a pre-scan to detect the dust and
scratches, then the actual scan to file.
The following Digital ICE Information from the Kodak Austin Development Centre is reproduced
from the official Cyberview ICE User Manual:
Traditional silver-halide Black and White film cannot be used with Digital ICE. Black and white
chromogenic film (C41 process) can be used with Digital ICE enabled scanners. When scanning
chromogenic films for Digital ICE implementation, the film must be scanned as a colour image. After
Digital ICE processing, the colour may be converted to black and white using an image editor.
Using Digital ICE with Kodachrome film. In general, Digital ICE works with Kodachrome film. However
ASF’s experience indicates that some Kodachrome images suffer a loss of image detail as a result of
Digital ICE image processing. Any loss of detail will depend on the particular Kodachrome film, exposure
level, and image content. Kodachrome slide film uses a unique dye that responds differently from other
slide films. Due to the nature of the dye and the Kodachrome film development process, Digital ICE can
misinterpret certain image detail as a defect. An example of a general group of images that can be
affected is underwater images, due to the lack of content in the red channel. Similar images in which the
green and blue channels overshadow the red data may present a problem.
• GEM – Grain Equalisation and Management, a method to automatically analyse and remove
digital film grain. This only works at a scanning resolution of 1800 dpi or higher. JS reports no
visible benefits.
Cyberview Page 15 of 33 Dec 2008