[sane-devel] Digital ICE dust removal on Epson 4870

[Mr. Spock]

Hello,

I'm looking to buy a scanner to use with Debian Testing/Unstable.
I see that the Epson 4870 is listed as having 'Complete' support.
Does this include the special hardware-based dust removal feature
called Digital ICE?

I've searched the archives here and the SANE Epson Backend FAQ,
and read up lots elsewhere on the web about this, but am still
unclear: does the scanning software need to do anything to make
this facility work? It is different from the usual Dust Removal
option in software, in that the scanner uses infra-red and dual
light sources to create a separate 'defects' channel (as well as
R, G & B) to detect imperfections on the image. This technology
(developed by a company called Applied Science Fiction) is used
in high-end film scanners - see the results:

http://www.photo-i.co.uk/Reviews/interactive/Epson%204870/page_10.htm
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/other/display/epson-4870photo_6.html


If not the 4870, then do any other such film scanners support it
using SANE? Is anyone here using it?

I see that the PIE PrimeFilm1800 is unsupported by SANE; how about
their new PrimeFilm 3650u, which also has Digital ICE?

This would be of great help to me, saving hours of dotting in The
GIMP. If ICE is not supported, I'll probably just buy a cheaper
scanner for now, perhaps an Epson 2400, or maybe wait until the
2480, 2580 or 4180 are fully supported.


Many thanks,
-- 
Malcolm Smith 
http://www.canopus22.demon.co.uk/