Harald,
Let us know if the firmware update solves the problem. Here's hoping
that it does!
Good luck,
Carlisle
On Jan 30, 2006, at 5:37 PM, Harald E Brandt wrote:
> First of all:
> Finally Microtek responded today, after more than a week! They
> attached
> the firmware version 1.61 for the ArtixScan 4000tf, saying
> "Unfortunately there is no Mac OS X updater available for this scanner
> model. The attached updater is for Windows only."
>
> Great! But there was no other information attached, no upgrade
> instructions, no release notes, and no information inside the
> zip-archive. Nevertheless, I have already managed to install it from
> the temporary-connected PC over USB, but I had to install ScanWizard
> just for the updater to find the scanner. And it works! (I normally
> use
> Mac OS X, but once the firmware is installed in the scanner, it is of
> course as good from Mac OS as from Windows.) It is too early to say if
> there are any improvements though.
>
> On 2006-01-30, at 16.24, Carlisle Landel wrote:
>> Are you sure you need a firmware update? Would you mind re-
>> explaining the problem?
>
> No, I'm not sure I need it. It is more of a "hope" that quality
> goes up
> and erratic behaviors go down...
>
> Originally I wrote: "Although the scanner still works, it sometimes
> happens that it misses focus, or that the calibration tables come in
> wrong, or slightly inconsistent brightness/color between scans, so
> I am
> hoping that a firmware upgrade might perhaps help."
>
> When I joined this list in 1999, I had a lousy scanner, but then I
> bought the ArtixScan 4000tf as soon as it was possible to buy it in
> Sweden. I happen to belong to the picky ones, so even though this
> scanner is supposed to be one of the best (e.g in terms of shadow
> performance), I have never been fully pleased, and the quality of
> scanner software, IT8-calibration in particular, is generally lousy
> with zillions of problems. Issues have been discussed with LaserSoft,
> and I've had various private communication with Ian Lyons and other
> friends. It has taken me a long time to get results that I consider
> descent. If you are interested in calibration issues, you may want to
> read the articles <>. Still
> though, the scanner sometimes misbehaves, and it has always been like
> that.
>
> As for why it sometimes misses focus, I don't know. I'm just hoping
> that new firmware will make it better. The most confusing aspect
> though, is the erratic behavior of multisampling. I have generally
> stayed away from multisampling for that very reason, but I really want
> to use it more. (It is common to hear people say it is not needed with
> this scanner, but that is just outright wrong -- if you demand
> capturing full-range slides all the way down to the deep shadows.)
> Apart from sometimes missing focus, the problem is that the brightness
> in the shadows sometimes change with different scanning sessions!
> Sometimes by a lot! Sometimes also shifting the color somewhat.
> Both of
> these problems seem to be related to multisampling (seem to happen
> more
> often then), despite this scanner has hardware support for
> multisampling. In principle, it could also be SilverFast that is the
> culprit here, but I don't think so. I suspect the electronics in the
> scanner is not stable enough, or its firmware is not good enough.
>
> I know I am picky -- some might even say perfectionist -- but I want
> full-range scans, and I want to do ALL image manipulation in
> Photoshop,
> including dedusting, i.e I really "just" want as clean and raw and
> noiseless sharp scans as possible.
>
> I tried VueScan a few times, but gave up on it. I have never before
> tried ScanWizardProTX, since it was not even available for Mac OS X
> until "recently", and I don't know of any people who use it. But since
> I had to install it on the PC just for installing the firmware, I
> started to wonder: Who use it? Does it have any merits over SilverFast
> Ai 6 for a person that really "just" wants clean noiseless raw sharp
> scans -- no image manipulation done by the scanner software!
>
> ______heb___________________________
> Harald E Brandt
>
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