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| Vidar Systems was originally
a Swedish firm that manufactured large format scanners
out of Herndon, VA. The popular 4220 model was introduced
in 1986. The 42 designated the width of the scan bed,
and the 20 stood for an optical resolution of 200DPI.
Later models were the 4240, the 6220, the 3240 (manufactured
for Gerber), and the 4250. The 4220's design featured
four CCD cameras and an IBM PC/XT-based controller.
The computer interface plugged into the PC/XT chassis,
and was most commonly a Versatec Greensheet or DEC.
The 4250 used a 386-based chassis and a SCSI interface.
In the original configuration, the cameras had to be
aligned by gently tapping them with a hammer. Mark's
motto at the time was "have ball peen hammer, |
The
Vidar 4220 circa 1986. |
will travel". Later, the firmware was updated
to allow for software stitching of the cameras.
In the early 1990s, Vidar acquired Truvell, a
company that produced high-end film scanners for
the medical industry. These film scanners are
still being produced to this day. In June of 2002,
Vidar was acquired by Contex A/S. |
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The Versatec Acris
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| Versatec was a pioneer
in large format electrostatic plotters. They also sold
Vidar 4220s and 4240s under the Versatec label. In the
late 1980s, they manufactured an Aperture Card scanner
that produced a high quality 400dpi image. This single
card machine had their Greensheet interface, and could connect |
directly
to a Versatec electrostatic plotter to make large format
copies. Versatec was later purchased by Xerox and became Xerox Engineering Systems (XES). Not long after this article was published, we were contacted by Richard Tuhro, who worked on the ACRIS project. Many thanks for the insight, Richard!
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The TEC Scanner
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| These were manufactured by Tokyo
Electric Company for Phoenix, AZ-based GTX Corporation.
Introduced in 1986, it was the first large format scanner
to use a solid 24" line of CCD arrays instead of cameras.
It connected directly to GTX's |
Recognition Module, a parallel processing
R2V powerhouse (for its time) that in turn, connected
to an IBM PC. The TEC scanner was fast, even by today's
standards. It zipped through a D-size drawing in less
than 18 seconds at a resolution of 400DPI. |
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The Toyo Denki Scanner
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| A hybrid design
between Broomall Industries' modified flatbed plotters and
TEC's CCD/light bar design, the flatbed stood upright and
held the drawing in place by an electrostatic charge. The
36" line of CCD arrays passed across the drawing at
an optical resolution of 400DPI. The prototype was delivered
to GTX in 1987 |
for evaluation. This thing was huge, very
cool, and had very good image enhancement. Unfortunately,
the $300,000 price tag was a little steep, and it was
packed up and sent back to Japan. Reportedly, at least
three of them were sold over there. Like the TEC, it also
used the GTX interface. |
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