T9000s performing image enhancement in high end graphic arts input scanner

ICG (formerly known as Itek Colour Graphics) is a small company, which supplies high quality capital equipment to the colour printing market. Over a period of more than 20 years ICG has manufactured machines for scanning colour images and for outputting separations. The latest ICG input scanner is the 350i. The design criteria set at the start of the 350i development project were very challenging. The objectives were to develop a new machine in one year rather than two and to minimise build cost, without any technical compromise. Radical technical solutions were required to satisfy these demanding criteria. A selection of alternative RISC systems was considered from which the T9000 was chosen. The author looks at the scanner, and some of the design issues considered