[sane-devel] xsane support of 16-bit grayscale scanner output

[Henning Meier-Geinitz]

Hi,

On Tue, Sep 06, 2005 at 08:52:46PM -0700, Dale Braden wrote:
> I have an Epson 2580 scanner, which is capable of 16-bit output for each 
> channel, including what it calls monochrome.  I'd like to use xsane to 
> preview the old black-and-white photographs that I have, and to set the 
> tone levels appropriately for each photograph, and then acquire the scan 
> with 16-bit depth.  I understand that xsane's preview mode is 8-bit 
> only, and that is fine.  But it isn't clear to me whether xsane can 
> actually receive 16-bit data from this scanner, because if I click on 
> File->Info, I see that the scanner output depth is 8-bit.

XSane is able to scan 16 bits per pixel in gray mode. You can check
such things with the test backend to be sure that it's not a problem
of the backend: "xsane test". However, I don't know if your backend is
able to provide 16 bits per pixel in gray mode.

> Where does xsane get this information,

>From the backend.

> and how can I change it? 

If the backend supports 16 bit, it will usually provide an option like
"Bit depth" to select the depth.

Bye,
  Henning