LaserSoft Imaging

Hi all,

I've bought the DigitDia4000 in order to scan my whole slide archive efficiently - together with the SilverFast Ai Studio version 6.4.3r9. I'm looking for a setting, which is reasonable good in most cases - keeping in mind, that I'm not looking for an individual, but an overall optimum. Up to know I've scanned about 700 slides - but I'm still not satisfied; either the scantimes are too large or the quality is not as expected.

Therefor, I'd like to share my favourite setting with you in order to get feedback on the settings or on the used SF-version you are using - assuming that nearly all DigitDia 4000 users are looking for the same... one setting for batch-scanning of all slides.

My intention is to have authentic copies of my slides with as less information lost as possible. Also, I do not want to do any kind of post-processing, since I've too many slides - so I'd prefer to loose some information on the edge of the slide instead of having a black border somewhere in the picture.

My output device is primarily my TFT-flatscreen - showing white as white and black as black. Since I'm using the German localized version of SF, the settings listed are in German - but in the order they appear. I hope it's helpful anyway:



Basically, the used settings are the 'standard' settings. My experience with ACR showed, that on some pictures the colors are shown incorrectly, so I turned this off. AACO is also a great feature, but not ideal for batch-scanning. The parameters I manipulated are the values for white- & black-tones, since I want to have a 'real' black shown on my monitor.

iSRD doesn't work sufficiently in the automatic mode, so I set it to manual with parameter threshold set to 12 and the defect size to 8 - which worked for most pictures.

Unfortunately, I get some blue stripes in the darker areas on my slides when iSRD is enabled. I'm currently in contact with LSI about this. Does anyone have the same experience? I hope this can be fixed easily in order to start the batch scan of all of my slides pretty soon.

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Best regards,
rowerman

rowerman,

have you tried out the fantastic tutorial which Kul wrote on how to use Silverfast on the DigitDia 4000?

It's available on www.jostark.de but I'd also be happy to send it to you by e-mail if you let me know your address.

Since you're using AiStudio, version r9 I'd really be interested to see whether

a) Kul's settings would work for you, i.e. whether you'd like the colors of your scans
b) whether the noise level would be reduced by applying the multisampling feature
c) whether you'd experience any misaligned scans
d) whether iSRD works for you okay (many threads in this and other forums indicate that users observe a huge decrease in quality of iSRD when Silverfast changed from r8 to r9
e) whether you experience any system shutdowns

I currently use Silverfast 6.4.3r8 on my Braun MultiMag Slidescan 4000 (which is identical to Reflecta's DigitDia 4000).
I am very happy as far as the colors of my scans are concerned. They truly match the colors of the original slides. Mind you, this is only the case after considerable testing of various settings and after I've calibrated my TFT using Spyder2 (is your monitor calibrated by the way?).

What I don't like, however, is the fact that the noise level on dark scans is way too high. Some of the scans look very "grainy" as a result so I'm thinking about upgrading to AiStudio. However, based on the feedback in various threads, the newer versions of Silverfast seem to be full of bugs still ... hence, I'd be really grateful for your feedback.

Thanks very much
digi_m

Hi digi_m and others,

just to answer your questions and get this post moving on somewhat:

a) I'm in contact with Kul and know his settings and tutorial. But since the settings are depending somewhat on the version of SF you're using, I've not checked it out, since we are both waiting for the 6.4.4r4 release of the software. LSI said, the open tickets regarding iSRD-enhancements for DD4000 will be implemented with the next upcoming release.

b) By definition the noise level will decrease when increasing the sampling time of a picture. But since increasing the sampling time will linear increase my scan-time, I'm not willing to activate the multisampling feature. I'm waiting for 6.4.4r4 which should solve all those issues. But yes, if enabled I can observe an optimized noise level.

c) What do you mean with 'misaligned scans'? They are somewhat rotated, maybe 0.5degree or even less (but visible, if compared to the original) - but that's all and doesn't bother me too much. It seems to be a 'feature' of the DD4000.

d) see a)+b). iSRD of 6.4.3r9 and beyond is IMHO totally scrap. I've tried 6.4.3r8 - which is ages faster than release r9, but not better compared to the noise in dark areas, the blue stripes shown in the example above, etc. Therefore, I've opened ticket(s) to the LSI Hotline and give a call to the support hotline to get those issues fixed:
- increased performance (6.4.3r9 by far too slow!)
- blue stripes in dark areas, see example above
- resultant color shift (= Farbverschiebung)
- colored noise in dark areas (= Farbrauschen)
- some really thick dust particles are not / not sufficiently removed if auto-mode of iSRD is enabled

e) No, I have not experienced any systems shutdowns by now. But I got the warning by the LSI hotline, that version 6.4.3r8 is not designed to run with the DigitDia4000-firmware version higher than 1.04 - but I'm using DD4000 with firmware version 1.06 + hardware-version 47 (but again, I've stopped playing around, just scanned about 10 slides with r8).
==> And yes, of course, the upcoming release 6.4.4r4 should also work with DD firmware 1.06 (or latest currently available).

Monitor Calibration: I've adjusted my monitor with help of following freeware-tool: http://www.hex2bit.com/products/product_mcw.asp
I've tested hundreds of settings to get an idea about the interdependencies of the features of SF, but I'm not sure, if I need to calibrate the monitor. I've checked your homepage and the given referencies, but found no killer arguments for doing the calibration. Noise will be detected even on a totally uncalibrated monitor and the colors should match the original by definition, if IT8-calibration is used. ACR, auto contrast, and gamma are the parameters which influence the colors on first hand - and honestly, these are the parameters, where I'm somewhat helpless. But is it really worth buying a monitor calibration kit? Can it be reused for more than one monitor (sw registration, etc)? Which tools are used at which price? Feedback is welcome. Or are there rules of thumb (color temperature, RGB-values of reference fields of the scanned IT8 slide, etc) which would overcome an expensive monitor calibration?

Regards,
rowerman

Hi Rowerman and everybody else,

Let me answer the questions you posed on Sunday:

re a) Did LaserSoft indicate as of when the new release will be available? After I had sent LaserSoft my test results of AiStudio 6.4.4.r2b (see other thread) I immediately received a note from S?nke Noack telling me that the results would be presented to Product Management, but I haven't heard anything re the timeline for the next release. I just noticed that 6.4.4r3 is available now. However, checking the version history it doesn't seem to resolve any issues re the DigitDia 4000.

re b) Yes, I agree, it would be great if the multisampling feature didn't have to be activated at all. Especially since the scanner itself is not the cause for the noise, i.e. when you compare scan results using Cyberview versus Silverfast, Cyberview scans hardly show any noise. However, I don't like the colors of Cyberview since they do not match the original at all, so I've - more or less grudgingly - accepted the fact that Silverfast is - in principle - the better solution.... except for the remaining issues ...

re c) When I referred to "misaligned scans", I was talking about scan results reported here in this forum ("Multiscan sometimes fails to align scans" by emaerkel. Basically, what happened to this user was that the multisampling feature resulted in multiple scans of the same slide not being properly aligned, i.e. looking like someone put several transparencies on top of each other resulting in a "jittery" scan.

re d) thanks for outlining so clearly to Silverfast what is really required for all of us users of DigitDia 4000 & Silverfast

re e) I also received the warning from Silverfast Support that versions SF 6.4.3.r8 and higher are not supposed to be used in conjunction with FirmWare 1.06 ... I tested the demo version of SF Studio 6.4.4r2b, I use FirmWare 1.04 (due to the warning), but my system crashed constantly (see other thread posted in this forum "SF AiStudio 6.4.4r2b ? SlideScan 4000 /DigitDia 4000"

re your last item:
Before I had calbrated my TFT using the hardware calibration tool Spyder2, I had also tried out all available freeware tools (all of them - of course - being software calibration tools). I never managed to see all the patterns, colors, blacks and whites in the way intended by each of these tools despite countless hours spent trying to get all the contrast etc. settings right. I guess it depends on the quality of your TFT whether hardware calibration is really required. After I had calibrated my monitor, I could barely believe the results: it was truly awesome how vibrant the colors looked. There was no "grey fog" on my slides anymore despite the fact that I had used settings enabling me to see details in the darker areas of the picture. Yes, it is very expensive to use these tools (at least 80 EUR if you shop around on the Net), but I personally think it's money very well spent.
If you see all the test pictures, slides etc. in exactly the way the description of all these software calibration tools calls for, then I wouldn't invest in a hardware calibration tool.
The Spyder 2 doesn't require an activation number so yes, you could install it on several PCs. To be honest it's been a little while since I read the license agreement so I don't recall whether installing the tool you purchased yourself on several PCs would violate the terms & conditions of the license. I you check out Patrick Wegner's scanshop http://www.scandig.de/ , you'll get a pretty good overview of what's available in terms of different tools and what to look out for.

Regards,
digi_m

as to d)

I reported quite the same bugs in various tickets by the end of April and got the message they're working on it.

They never told me the thing with the firmware.

Hi digi_m and Kul,

since we are all wainting for the same fixes, I've listed the history of what LSI wrote me back of my various inquiries to keep you up to date:

Fri, 02-Jun-06 15:44 (after I called the hotline)

anbei die Version : 6.4.3r8b. Eine neue Version wird es voraussichtlich Ende n?chster Woche geben -
m?chte aber nichts versprechen. Sobald ich genaueres wei? melde ich mich wieder bei ihnen.

Mit freundlichen Gruessen,
Christoph Sperling
- LSI Senior Tester -

E-Mail: support@silverfast.de
Fax: 0049 (0)431 562847
Hotline: 0900 1 8888 53

LaserSoft Imaging AG
Luisenweg 6-8
24105 Kiel, Deutschland

Fri, 02-Jun-06 16:33

unter http://www.silverfast.com/temp/sn/SFD-6.4.3r8b_AFL.zip
koennen Sie die alte Version temporaer herunterladen.
Allerdings muss ich gleich zu Beginn sagen, dass Sie nicht fuer Scanner mit
Firmware-Versionen hoeher 1.04 tauglich ist: Wahrscheinlich wird SilverFast
beim Scan mit iSRD abstuerzen.

iSRD sollte in der Tat keine Auswirkungen auf ein Farbrauschen in den Tiefen
besitzen. Sobald eine fehlerbereinigte Version zur Verfuegung steht - momentan
wird an iSRD noch weiter gearbeitet - empfehle ich es einmal mit der dann
publizierten Version nachzutesten.
Ich hoffe Sie hier baldmoeglichst von unterrichten zu koennen. Bis dahin ein
schoenes Pfingstwochenende :)

Mit freundlichen Gruessen,
S?nke Noack
- LSI Support Manager -

E-Mail: support@silverfast.de
Fax: 0049 (0)431 562847
Hotline: 0900 1 8888 53

LaserSoft Imaging AG
Luisenweg 6-8
24105 Kiel, Deutschland

Tue, 06-Jun-06 13:55

wir konnten den Fehler reproduzieren und haben dies unserer
Entwicklungsabteilung mitgeteilt.

Sobald dies behoben wurde, werden wir sie umgehend benachrichtigen.

Bis dahin bitte ich um etwas Geduld.



Mit freundlichen Gruessen,
Christoph Sperling
- LSI Senior Tester -

E-Mail: support@silverfast.de
Fax: 0049 (0)431 562847
Hotline: 0900 1 8888 53

LaserSoft Imaging AG
Luisenweg 6-8
24105 Kiel, Deutschland

Wed, 14-Jun-06 12:20

ein neues Release wird voraussichtlich Anfang der Woche zur Verf?gung stehen.


Wir werden sie dann umgehend benachrichtigen.


Mit freundlichen Gruessen,
Christoph Sperling
- LSI Senior Tester -

E-Mail: support@silverfast.de
Fax: 0049 (0)431 562847
Hotline: 0900 1 8888 53

LaserSoft Imaging AG
Luisenweg 6-8
24105 Kiel, Deutschland

Tue, 27-Jun-06 15:54

zunaechst einmal moechte ich mich dafuer entschuldigen, dass Sie in meiner
Abwesenheit nicht wie durch den Kollegen zugesagt informiert worden sind.

Das erwaehnte Update-Release steht tatsaechlich schon laenger bereit -
mittlerweile sind wir bei der online verfuegbaren Version 6.4.4r3 angekommen.


Informationen ueber die wichtigsten Aenderungen zwischen den Versionen finden
Sie im Newsbereich der Website gelistet.

Mit freundlichen Gruessen,
S?nke Noack
- LSI Support Manager -

E-Mail: support@silverfast.de
Fax: 0049 (0)431 562847
Hotline: 0900 1 8888 53

LaserSoft Imaging AG
Luisenweg 6-8
24105 Kiel, Deutschland

Wed, 28-Jun-06 17:16

in der 6.4.4r3 gibt es eine marginale Aenderung in der aktuellen
iSRD-Implementation, den Scan bei Aufloesungen 3600 DPI betreffend, der aus
diesem Grunde nicht weiter Erwaehnung fand.

Die von Ihnen (auch in den anderen genannten Tickets) gemeldeten und z.T.
bestaetigten Schwierigkeiten sind voraussichtlich mit der folgenden Version
6.4.4r4 behoben.
Ich bemuehe mich momentan um einen konkreten "Fahrplan", um Sie und mich
besser ins Bild setzen zu koennen...

Fri, 30-Jun-06 15:38

ich habe die momentan Sachlage zusammengefasst darstellend dem Projektleiter
Entwicklung ueberantwortet, um den Vorgang aus Ticket 2006052501562
beschleunigt zu sehen.

Let's hope that LSI gets the problems fixed soon...

Best regards,
rowerman

?hnelt den Antworten, die ich (allerdings nicht so h?ufig und regelm??ig) bisher bekam

hat jemand von Euch schon die 4r3 mit dem DD4000 ausprobiert?

Hi Rowerman and Kul,

Have not yet tested 6.4.4r3 since I didn't think it affected any functionality of the DigitDia 4000... might play around with it depending on the wheather this coming weekend ...

Rowerman,
thanks a million for your updates on what Silverfast told you. Let's hope the new version will be out very soon!!!

Take care
digi_m