| Large format area imagers are far superior to line imagers used by telecines and real-time scanners. |
Area Imager(Lasergraphics)
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Line Imager(The Competition)
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| ScanStation |
Director 10K |
| Motion | Continuous | Frame by frame | Continuous |
| Warped film tolerance | Good | Very good | Poor |
| Triple-flash scanning for print film | No | Yes | No |
Light integration for dirt/scratch
Difuse light from the integrating sphere reduces the appearance of scratches in the film base, and scratches on the emulsion side (that do not damage the dye layers) without softening, blurring, or altering the image.
 | On-axis light passes through undamaged film and reaches lens |
 | On-axis light passes through scratch which deflects it away from the lens |
 | Off-axis light from diffuse source passes through scratch but nevertheless reaches lens |
Collapse
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Very good
Diffuse light source
Enlarge image
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Poor
Collimated light source
Enlarge image
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| Splice tolerance | Very good | Poor |
| Banding due to dirt in aperture | No problem | Big problem |
| Gentle sound scan for old film | Yes | No (24 fps only) |
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