Umax Astra 2200

Before USB became a standard there were two simple options for connecting a flatbed scanner: the parallel port for economy, and SCSI for professional usage. The parallel port scanner is now virtually obsolete, with USB having taken over the mid-range market. Umax has made the most of it by bridging the gap between the two latest options with the Astra 2200, which provides both SCSI for high-speed scanning, and USB for ease of installation.

However, despite the scanner having both interfaces, there is no SCSI card included, so if you don't possess a compatible SCSI card you will be restricted to using the USB interface. Not surprisingly, there is a definite performance difference between the two interfaces, which becomes more obvious as you increase the scanner's workload. Scanning an 8 x 10inæphoto in greyscale took 42 seconds on theæSCSI interface, and 44 seconds on the USB interface - a negligible difference. However, scanning the same size photo in colour took two minutes, 13 seconds using SCSI, and two minutes, 50 seconds with USB - a more noticeable distinction.

Having said that, the USB scanning speed is far ahead of Umax's budget Astra 2000U (reviewed issue 63, p171), taking 48 seconds off the time taken to scan a colour 8 x 10in photograph. The speed also compared favourably with that of the Epson Perfection 1200 (reviewed issue 62, p179), which was only nine seconds ahead of the Astra 2200. Ultimately, for performance results, the speed potential of the 2200's SCSI interface adds that little bit extra over Epson's Perfection, which only runs on USB.

The specifications boast 42-bit colour using BET (Bit Enhancement Technologies), but that includes software interpolation; the scanner itself is only 36-bit. Using the 42-bit mode showed a slight difference in scanning quality: the colour blending was smoother and less patchy, but not immediately discernible. This was to the detriment of scanning speed: in 42-bit colour the 2200 scanned an 8 x 10in photo in eight minutes, 18 seconds, even using the SCSI interface - over six minutes longer than the same scan in standard colour. This effectively renders the feature useless for the professional, especially for an almost negligible quantity difference.

With a depth of 467mm, the Astra 2200 is a great deal larger than a sheet of A4 paper, which is going to push desk space requirements if you're short on working area. The appearance is basic but not ugly, with Umax ignoring the recent trend in translucent casing, as demonstrated by Agfa's SnapScan Touch (reviewed issue 64, p177).

With an optical resolution of 600 x 1,200ppi, the overall picture quality will not compare with that of the Epson Perfection's 1,200 x 2,400ppi resolution. But when both are judged at 600ppi, the quality of the 2200 was adequate, with a standard photograph-sized scan showing a lot less in the way of erratic glitches than the Perfection. When zooming in, however, the picture was not as sharp, and this was also demonstrated on scanning sharp lines and text, which came out blurred. In addition, the colours were often not as clear or prominent as they should be, looking slightly faded.

Following Epson's inclusion of a transparency adaptor with the Perfection 1200, the Astra 2200 includes a transparency unit in a bundle costing £50 less. The unit gives you a 5 x 4in scanning area, which should be enough for most transparency requirements. The quality, however, is not up to the standard of the Epson Perfection, with pictures looking dark and shadowed, and colours not being as prominent or clear. The shadowing couldn't be corrected with the TWAIN controls either, as the default setting for highlighting is already on maximum, and shadowing on minimum. Lines and text were also slightly less focused than those scanned on the Perfection, but this could be slightly improved using the sharpen tool.