Technical Basis of Fluid Scanning

FLUID SCANNING EXPLAINED

Origins in Fluid Immersion Microscopy

In Microscopy,

luid immersion increase

the resolution of the lens at high

magnifications.

(

The numerical Aperture of

the lens is proportional to

its

numerical

aperture which in turn is proportioanl to the refractive index of the fluid

)

Similarly,

LUMINA

Scanning Optical fluid has the effect of increasing the resolution

of the

scan.

See Nikon microscopy

explanation of oil immersion microscopy.

http://www.microscopyu.com/tutorials/java/objectives/immersion/

Fluid immersion in scanning only requires that the film be sandwiched between

glass an an optically clear overlay,

separated by a microlayer of fluid

as illustrated

in the image

to the

right

which shows

the film immersed in fluid

between glass on

one side and an

optically clear

overlay with the same index of refraction as the film

on the other.

Optical Benefits of Fluid Immersion Scanning

Cutting reflectivity of film grain

: Increased dymamic range, resolution and color saturation

mmersion in fluid cuts the reflectivity of the film grain. Light can

therefore travel through the grain without

some of the

transmitted light being lost to

reflection. The result is greater briliance and color saturation since the

amount of

light

transmitted in grain rich areas of the film is similar to those

of areas that do

not have as much grain.

The result is

better definition of the shadow areas and

greater dynamic range

and color saturation since more of the light is

transmitted through the grain and not lost to reflection.

Elimination of Pepper Grain

Because there is less refrectivity to the grain, the light is not scattered

as it hits the grain,

which results in

greater

resolution. But

since

reflectivity

and light scattering also magnify

the grain

, therefore cutting reflectivity cuts pepper

grain.

The often heard

complaint

of "

pepper grain

only occurs with

igh quality

film scanners

the

NIKON

000

and the Imacon.

These scanners use a highly collimated light source, which increases the reflectivity of the grain and

pepper grain

' .

Flatbed scanners

do not get the blame either,

because

only

very few

those

can pick up grain

detail

Drum scanners, i

n spite of their high resolution, never

get

blamed

for "

pepper grain

" because

they all are fluid

scanners

and fluid scanning makes the grain more transparent.

Elimination / reduction of Dust & Scratches

As for dust and scratches, w

ith fluid scanning digital ICE

becomes almost redundant. Not using it improves the over all

resolution and the

quality of the image. There is no question that digital dust reduction techniques

degrade the image.

Newton Rings

Good bye to the glass holder

Newton Rings are caused by reflections beween two surfaces when one of the surfaces is separated from the other by

a slight angle. Along the horizontal axis, the reflections interact and either knock each other out or help each other and

the result is a series of concentric rings that alternate between dark and light. Newton rings are encountered in

old

fashioned

devices

such as the glass holder for the NIKON and a difuser device that used to be used on Minolta

scanners.

People use these

devices

in search for a flat film plane not being aware that fluid scanning with the

ScanScience kits give them a perfectly flat film plane without degrading the image as the glass holders do.

Fluid

scanning attains film flatness

utilizing the

surface tension of the fluid

temporarily 'glue' the film to

the glass

The

detrimental effects

these

old

devices make them obsolete.

For an additional discussion see below.

Elimination of

Newton Rings:

Goodbye to Anti-Newton Glass

Since with Fluid Scanning newton rings

are a thing of the past

AN glass has outlived its usefulness.

AN glass

is glass

which has corrugations on the surface to break the Newton Rings but

is detrimental

the image. You would not put AN

glass in front of your camera lens.

The

improvement in image qualit

y between a fluid scan and a glass holder with AN

glass is significant.

he ScanScience System brings you refraction-free Fluid scanning to film scanners at 20% of the

cost of refractive limited offerings.

For an additional discussion see below.

Limitations of

dry scanning , d

enlarging

, or

dry projecting

All these practices

are similarl

y impaired.

The degradation

image quality

due to

the

reflection

scattering

at the

film

grain

are shared equally by all

techniques.

Fluid Scanning is not a new technique but it is new to film and flatbed scanners

irst used in drum scanners

and now

with the advent of

ScanScience

it is

universally used

on all scanners

Because

drum scanners are fluid scanners by definition, t

unique

ly saturated and sharp quality and smoothness made it the

choice of connoisseurs.

With the

advent of ScanScience,

all other scanners can benefit in the same measure from

fluid immersion scanning

. Significantly, users that have access to a drum scanner are finding that fluid scans with their

NIKON, IMACON and EPSON scanners rival drum scans.

Fluid scanning with

ScanScience's

LUMINA

ptical Super Fluid

is a simple technique that takes

very little time and

requires no post

operative cleaning and drudgery. In all it saves

time as in one operation dust and scratches are dealt

with not requiring

the

application of Digital Ice, which degrades the image.

DRY SCAN FLUID SCAN

DRY SCANNING

FILM FLATNESS

PRE-

CONDITION TO SHARPNESS

Depth of Field

and Scan Sharpness

Scanners optics are close-focusing devices

with

shallow

depth of field

. To obtain a

sharp

image

the film

must be

placed at the

scanner's Plane of Optimum Focus

(POF)

Film, on the other hand

, is never flat. Any one that has

studied physics knows that

the lateral

tension required to

make

a string suspended between two points adopt

perfectly straight

shape

is infinite.

ilm flatness can not be attained by

tensioning the film.

Overcoming the

film's

natural tendency to

curl requires

applying a

perpendicular force

to the film

through

the whole

area

. The surface

tension of the fluid

provides that perpendicular force in the way that no

tensioning

devices

such as spacers provided with specialty holders

can.

Scanner Holder >

Other HOLDERS >

FLUID SCANNING - ScanScience >

MORE ABOUT REFRACTION IN FLATBED AND FILM SCANNERS,

ASS HOLDERS, "AN" GLASS

Refraction

is the bending of light

as it travels

from

one medium to another with a

different

refractive

index

Refraction degrades

the image since not all light

rays are perpendicular to the glass,

and instead

of pinpoint landing on the sensor as a

perpendicular light

ray would, it

scattered over several

sensor

corruption of

the original

image impair

esolution, contrast and saturation

To see the effect of fluid scanning look at any of the several images provided. The fluid scans are

notable because of their higher resolution and

contrast, dynamic range and greater color

saturation than dry scans.

REFRACTION AND THE FLATBED SCANNER

In Flatbed Scanners the glass comes with the

package, and

the refraction

of the

glass

bed

unavoidable.

Fluid scanning involves an additional

glass but the

glass need

not be in the

path between the light emerging from

the film and the

optics. Epson V

750 scanners are

provided with a wet

mount tray which require

that the film be placed

on top of the glass when

wet mnounted. This results in

double refraction caused the

In additional

chunk

glass

effectively

subtract

ing

some of

the benefits gained by fluid

scanning.

ScanScience's

simple answer to the problem is to

provide an

adapter that

avoids

glass

between the film

and the sensors.

fluid mounting

plate

faces the

lamp,

with

the film

being

placed

under the glass

he image

going to the

sensors

untainted

additional

refraction

from the fluid

mounting plate.

REFRACTION AND THE FILM SCANNER

Film Scanners have the inherent advantage over

flatbeds that they

are not

refraction

limited

The absence of the extra glass, potentially

gives film

scanners

an edge but

does not solve

the problem of dry

film curvature.

SHOULD YOU USE A

GLASS HOLDER

Owners of film scanners try overcoming the film

flatness problem by

using

glass

holders

is physically impossible to attain film flatness with

glass

only on one

side

of the film, unless

the film curves in such a way as to have

its curvature

against the

glass. When this happens

the result

Newton

Rings.

ScanScience's

simple answer to the problem is

fluid scanning. With

the

glass on

the

side

of the

lamp so that there is no glass

between

the film

and

the sensors

This

results in the

flatbed scanner not being subjected to

double refraction, and

the Film

scanner to no

refraction at all,

preserving its

inherent advantages.

SHOULD YOU USE

ANTI-NEWTON GLASS ?

AN glass

has a microscopically rough surface

intended

to break up

Newton's

interference

reflections

which

cause Newton

rings.

When the light reflected

from two surfaces at a slight

angle

and a short

distance to

each

other

meet, it can

interact

con

structively or

destructively

according to their

phase,

causing

Newton

Rings.

AN Glass therefore

can not be

perfectly clear glass: if

placed

in front of the

lens it

would be

detrimental to the

image.

Taking a picture using AN

glass

as a filter

will

show what

effect

AN has

the

image

When AN glass is part of the film carrier in a film

scanner,

the film is placed

against

the

glass which is

the light path from the film to the scanner

sensors.

This

not only

adds

the

additional

refraction of the glass

but the

degrading

effect of

AN surface

to the

degradation

the image

A full

discussion of Newton Rings appears in the ScanScience manual provided with the Kits.

ScanScience
Innovators in Fluid Scanning.

Our Innovative Products power the
World's Finest Scanners

See the new
Evolution of the
Scanning fluid
Story. - Click Her e

http://www.historicphotoarchive.com/stuff/wet.htm

From:
http://www.apug.org/forums/forum128/26216-wet-mounting-scanm
ax.html
Wet Mounting by ScanScience (scanmax)
Hi there,

I got from ScanScience (scanmax ) a wet mounting set for a
flatbed scanner. The results are stunning. I just tried with a 665
Polaroid neg and the improvement is incredible.
For people interested, it's really worth it !

G.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WETMOUNTING/
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Old 03-28-2006, 06:45 PM