HP introduces three new two-sensor Scanjet scanners

Hewlett-Packard Co. has announced three new flatbed scanners — the Scanjet 7400C, 7450C and 7490C. The three new scanners feature 2400 dpi optical resolution, and also incorporate a secondary sensor specifically designed for lower-resolution, high speed scans.

The new Scanjet series have one 2400 dpi staggered pixel sensor, along with a 600 dpi linear pixel sensor. By using two separate sensors, HP said, the new Scanjet models can provide both high-resolution images and high-speed images, without sacrificing quality. HP said they’re the first to deliver such a scanner to market.

HP indicates that the scanner itself automatically determines which sensor will be used depending on the scan. For low-resolution scans, the scanner will utilize the 600 dpi sensor, which delivers a preview scan in about four seconds, said HP. For high-resolution scans, like slides or negatives, the scanner switches to the 2400 dpi sensor.

The new Scanjet models sport 48-bit color depth, legal-size platens, and front-panel buttons that are programmable for scanning, e-mailing, faxing, filing, and launching OCR software. A front-panel LCD also enables users to select copy quantities. The new Scanjets include a lighted transparency adapter for scanning slides, negatives and transparencies from 35 mm to 5×5 inches. The two higher-end units, the Scanjet 7450C and 7590C, also come with a 50 page automatic document feeder that scans 15 pages per minute. All of the new Scanjet models ship with USB and SCSI interfaces.

The new Scanjet models are compatible with Mac OS 8.5 and above, as well as various flavors of Windows. The 7400C carries a suggested retail price of US$499, while the 7450C and 7490C models will retail for $699 and $999 respectively. Availability is expected in April.