By Gaddiel Torres and Joe Fenner
White Paper: Assessment of Panasonic Model KV-SS855, KV-S6045W and KV-S2055 Production Scanners
2000 Doculabs, 1201 West Harrison Street, 3rd Floor, Chicago, IL 60607, 312-433-7793, info@doculabs.com. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. Doculabs is a registered trademark. All other product names are trade and service marks of their respective companies.

Table of Contents

Executive Summary... 3 Company and Product Background.. 4
Company Background...4 Product Overview...4 Overview of Significant Capabilities and Specifications..5
Assessment Methodology... 6
Methodology for Evaluating Effective Throughput..6 Test Application and Environment...7

Assessment Results.... 8

Image Quality...9 Speed....10 Input Range....11 Reliability and Durability...12 Usability....12

Conclusion... 13

Strengths and Challenges...13
Appendix: About Doculabs... 14

2000 Doculabs

DOCULABS MARKETFOCUS REPORT

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Doculabs recently conducted a formal functional and performance assessment of the Panasonic KV-SS855, KV-S2055, and KV-S6045W scanners. The KV-SS855 focuses on high-volume applications. The KV-2055 is designed for departmental scanning environments. The KV-S6045W includes a flatbed scanner for departmental scanning of fragile documents or exception documents that cannot be placed through standard ADF transports (magazines, stapled receipts, etc). Our evaluation involved using the devices to scan a variety of real-world documents, and evaluating the scanners effective throughput capabilities. This included an assessment of the devices image quality, speed, input range, reliability and durability, and usability. Overall, we found that the scanners all offer strong solutions for handling large volumes of mixed documents in a variety of application scenarios. Both units are built for continuous operation in production environments, and provide customers with a viable solution at the high end of the scanner market. The major strengths of the scanners include: Superior image quality, due in large part to Panasonic Image Enhancement (P.I.E.) technology Automatic Document feeder can hold up to 1,000 pages using reverse gravity feed (KV-SS855) Easy-to-use one-touch scanning control panel Flatbed and ADF design in an all in one package (KV-S6045) Handles an exceptionally wide range of documents and offers duplex scanning High-speed throughput with jam-free operation Clamshell design makes scanner components easily accessible Ergonomic design with small footprint Two document paths (curved or straight) (KV-S2055, KV-SS855) Red or green dropout lamp selection via control panel (KV-S2055) Double-feed detector Operator manual includes clear instructions, examples, and diagrams
This white paper presents the results of Doculabs assessment of the Panasonic KV-SS855 and KV-S2055 document scanners, including a discussion of the evaluation methodology.
ASSESSMENT OF PANASONIC KV-SS855 AND KV-S2055 SCANNERS
COMPANY AND PRODUCT BACKGROUND
This section provides background information on Panasonic and on the KVSS855, KV-S2055, and KV-S6045W scanners.

Company Background

Panasonic Document Imaging Company (PDIC) is a unit of Matsushita Electric Corporation of America. The division markets the worlds broadest line of computer peripherals and office products, including: monochrome and laser printers; impact forms printers; color monitors; multifunction devices; multimedia speakers; PD, CD-ROM, and CD-Recordable drives; high-capacity optical drives and storage devices; copiers; facsimiles; and electronic white boards. In terms of scanner technology, PDICs primary focus is providing quality production scanners to handle virtually any scanning task. Panasonic offers scanners with throughput rates ranging from 20 images per minute (ipm) up to 160 ipm or 85 pages per minute (ppm).

Product Overview

The Panasonic KV-SS855, KV-S2055 and KV-S6045W are production-level scanners, with a rated speed of 85 ppm for the KV-SS855 and 50 ppm for the KVS2055 and 45 ppm with the KV-S6045W. In addition, the scanners provide powerful image processing capabilities and other features that make them ideal for higher-volume applications with mixed document sets, such as administrative forms processing. With the integration of a flatbed design on the KV-S6045W, Panasonic also provides users with a wide range of options for your needs. The ability of the scanners to handle a wide variety of document weights and sizes makes them viable for scanning applications and markets in areas including: Banking, financial, and medical markets Service bureaus Federal and state government Transportation and freight

The KV-SS855 comes with on-site repairs for the first six months, and the KVS2055 comes with a one-year parts-and-labor warranty. The KV-SS855 is priced at $24,999, the KV-S2055W is $9,999 and the KV-S2055L is $8,299.
Overview of Significant Capabilities and Specifications
Some of the major capabilities and features of the Panasonic KV-SS855, KVS2055, and KV-S6045W scanners are as follows: KV-SS855
High-volume production scanner portrait scanning speed of 85 ppm simplex, 160 ipm duplex Scanning resolutions from 100 to 400 dots per inch (dpi) 1,000-sheet automatic document feeder Handles documents from 1.9 x 3.3 up to 11.7 x 17 Handles documents from 13 pounds to 42 pounds continuous feed (11 pounds to 42 pounds manual feed) Supports a continuous feed of up to 11 x 131.5 long with the addition of 64MB RAM upgrade for medical and industrial market applications such as EKG, fetal heart monitor, brain wave, and oil well log document scanning Straight scanning path provides exceptional jam-free document scanning Features an industry standard SCSI-II interface and comes with a certified ISIS driver Image enhancement capabilities include grayscale, brightness/contrast, white level, image emphasis, monochrome reversing, auto threshold, and auto reversing

KV-S2055

Portrait scanning speed of 50 ppm Scanning resolution up to 600 dpi (optical 400 dpi) 300-sheet automatic document feeder Handles documents from 2.2 x 3.6 up to 11 x 17 Handles documents from 13 pounds to 42 pounds continuous feed (5.3 pounds to 42 pounds manual feed) Supports a continuous feed of up to 11 x 131.5 long, with the addition of 64MB RAM upgrade for medical and industrial market applications such as EKG, fetal heart monitor, brain wave, and oil well log document scanning Includes P.I.E. technology that provides exceptional images and reduced file size image enhancement features include grayscale (4-bit/8-bit), autodetermination of text and pictures, patch code support, and bar code support Includes built-in red lamp for dropout text in forms processing Supports KV-SS855 emulation Straight scanning path provides exceptional jam-free document scanning Features an industry standard SCSI-II interface and comes with a certified ISIS driver

KV-S6045W

Portrait scanning speed of 45 ppm Scanning resolution up to 600 dpi (optical 400 dpi) CCD optics on flatbed and CIS for backside 200-sheet automatic document feeder Handles documents from 2.2 x 3.6 up to 11 x 17 Has a flatbed with a maximum capture area of 11 x 17 Includes P.I.E. technology that provides exceptional images and reduced file size image enhancement features include grayscale (4-bit/8-bit), autodetermination of text and pictures, patch code support, and bar code support Manual scanning modes Start and Stop buttons Features an industry standard SCSI-II interface and comes with certified ISIS and twain drivers Also available in a simplex model (KV-S6040W)
Table 1 Key Capabilities and Specifications

ASSESSMENT METHODOLOGY

This section describes the methodology for evaluating effective throughput, the assessment environment, and the test application.
Methodology for Evaluating Effective Throughput
Doculabs methodology for assessing scanners is to evaluate effective throughput, which describes the overall level of service that a scanner can provide to an organization. Effective throughput assesses more than just raw speed, so it provides a much more meaningful assessment of the overall level of performance an end user can expect from a scanner. The factors that contribute to effective throughput are: Image quality Assesses the quality of the images that the scanner creates (measured in terms of optical character recognition (OCR) accuracy and visual image quality) Speed Assesses the overall speed of the unit (measured in ppm) Input range Assesses the sizes and weights that a scanner can handle, and any features designed to extend the input range or document handling capabilities Reliability and durability Assesses a scanners construction and any features provided to improve reliability and durability Usability Assesses how easy the unit is to configure, use, and service
We rated both scanners performance in each category on a five-point scale: excellent, very good, good, fair, and poor.
Test Application and Environment
To conduct the scanner assessment, we ran each scanner in a controlled laboratory setting. Our test application was a real-world scenario that included a number of common business documents that required scanning. The test documents varied in size, weight, quality, text size, text quality, and graphical elements. We used different test documents depending on the effective throughput dimension being assessed. For example, one group of documents was used for the OCR accuracy portion of the evaluation, and a second set of documents was used for the visual image quality portion of the evaluation. The intent of the exercise was to gain a thorough understanding of the full complement of features and functions that each product offered, and to see how the product performed in a simulated production environment. Additionally, the exercise gave us a feel for factors such as overall usability and ease of administration. Doculabs test environment included the following components. Scanner: Panasonic KV-SS855, KV-S2055 and KV-S6045W Scan station: Gateway Pentium 133 with 82 MB RAM running Windows 95 Capture software: Pixel Translations Simple Viewer Network: Windows NT network; Fast Switched Ethernet topology with 10/100 base T cabling running at 10 Mbit rate Interface: Adaptec 2940-UW SCSI interface

ASSESSMENT RESULTS

As mentioned, the purpose of the performance test was to evaluate the Panasonic scanners with respect to the following effective throughput characteristics: Image quality Speed Input range Reliability and durability Usability
In each category, we rated the scanners as excellent, very good, good, fair, or poor. The following table summarizes the effective throughput evaluation. Category Description KVSS855

Very good

KVS2055

KVS6045W

Image quality How accurate OCR processing is, how good the image looks, and how readable the text is Speed Input range How fast the scanner runs

Excellent

Very good Good

Good Very good

Whether the scanner can Excellent handle the variety and volume of documents that you need to scan The scanners durability and its ability to operate continuously at rated speed The ergonomic design of the unit, the complexity of the interface, and usability from the administrator and operator perspective Very good
Reliability and durability Usability
Table 2 Effective Throughput Results: Panasonic KV-SS855, KV-S2055 and KV-S6045W
The remainder of this section provides detailed analysis for the results within each effective throughput category listed above.

Image Quality

Panasonic is focused on delivering scanners that provide strong image enhancement technologies. The KV-SS855 scanner has a maximum of 64MB RAM that it can leverage in image enhancement processing, and it includes two CCD cameras for front and back scanning. The KV-S2055 provides a costeffective technology solution for duplex scanning, using two CIS image capture sensors. The KV-S6045W uses a CCD for front-side document scanning and a CIS sensor to capture images on the back, thus providing a high quality costeffective duplex capture system. In terms of visual image quality, all three scanners will meet the needs of their intended applications. The KV-SS855 and KV-S6045W provide excellent visual image quality, leveraging the P.I.E. technology to provide consistent quality over mixed document batches. The KV-S2055 scanner provides reasonably good visual image quality that is acceptable for mid-volume administrative applications. In terms of OCR accuracy, all scanners produced good results on our test documents. For these units, we scanned and OCRd a series of 8.5 x 11 20pound white documents, with black text of 10-, 12-, and 14-point fonts. We then verified the OCR accuracy from the images. The following table shows the OCR word accuracy results of the KV-SS855, KV-S6045W and KV-S2055, in percentage of words correctly recognized. Font Size

14 Overall Average

Word Accuracy: KV-SS855

99.4% 100% 100% 99.8%

Word Accuracy: KV-S2055

98.3% 99.8% 100% 99.36%

Word Accuracy: KV-S6045W

98.3% 99.5% 100% 99.26%

Table 3 OCR Accuracy Results
The Panasonic KV-SS855 is high-speed production scanner, with rated speeds of 85 ppm portrait. In our assessment, we were able to run the scanner slightly above rated speeds. Our throughput speeds were 85.23 ppm at 200 dpi in portrait mode. This speed should be sufficient for most high-volume production scanning applications. The throughput speed of the KV-SS855 makes it a very attractive and viable solution for many production-oriented document capture applications. In addition, the unit has a lower cost of entry than many competitive high-speed solutions. The KV-S2055 scanner is rated at 50 ppm at 200dpi, or 100 ipm duplex. In our assessment we were able to run the scanner at 49.85 ppm on average. This should be sufficient for departmental use and administrative capture applications, and the unit offers an attractive price point for such mid-volume applications. The KV-S6045W flatbed scanner is rated at 45 ppm portrait with approximately 82 ipm. We tested the scanner at about 44.62 ppm on average, which is excellent for a departmental scanning solution. It addition, this scanner is an excellent exception-handling scanner for production and departmental applications.

Input Range

The input range of the Panasonic scanners is competitive in their respective classes. The transport of the KV-SS855 can handle documents as large as 11.7 x 131.5 with the 64MB RAM upgrade. In terms of page thickness, the transport can handle documents from onionskin up to card stock. The scanner includes a 1000-sheet automatic document feeder that automatically lowers when empty for easier document loading. One of the most noteworthy characteristics of the KV-SS855s document handling was the fact that the transport easily handled documents ranging from onionskin up to card stock without adjusting the document feeder. Combined with its throughput speed, this input flexibility contributes to overall productivity and continuous use with a minimum of jamming. The KV-S6045W has a flatbed design in addition to its ADF making it capable of scanning a wide range of document sets. The large flatbed scanning area of 11 x 17 enables users to scan a wide variety of document types (envelopes, stapled documents, magazines, etc.). The ADF supports mixed document sets, which reduces the need for document preparation and thereby saves time and money. The ADF supports up to 200 pages at a time using the ADF. The KV-S2055 scanner is more limited in terms of its input size range, and is designed for more general-purpose office scanning. The scanner offers a manual paper feed and can support up to 300 pages on the document feeder; the KVS2055W scanner can support landscape scanning. Both the KV-SS855 and the KV-S2055 scanners come with a paper path selector for document travel. End users have a choice of using the exit in the back of the scanner or the top hopper.

Reliability and Durability
Doculabs found these scanners designed for high reliability and durability in both production and departmental environments. The scanners are solidly-constructed. The large unit is extremely sturdy, and is constructed of heavy-duty sheet metal. The rollers are designed for reliability and continuous operation, with minimal cleaning requirements. The small unit and flatbed model are constructed of molded plastic and has a minimum of moving parts. In addition, the scanners have well-designed air flow ventilation systems and ventilation fans. This helps keep the scanners from overheating and contributes to reliable operation in production environments.

Usability

Panasonic has designed its scanners to be extremely easy to use. The units are ergonomic, and can fit on a desk or table top. In addition, the units include clearly labeled instructions in various locations that make routine maintenance easier. The units clamshell design makes it easy to access the transport path to clear jams. In addition, the scanners document guides are easy to work with; the KVSS855 even contains magnetic guides on the output tray for ease of use and placement. The scanners LCD control panels provide diagnostics, warnings, and current status information. In addition, the control panels provide users with basic document settings, which can also be controlled by software. Unfortunately, the KV-SS855 scanner does not have a stop button to stop operation when a jam or misfeed occurs the scanner must be stopped via the software. The Panasonic scanners are designed to make it easy to replace parts such as rollers. In fact, Panasonic sells kits that end users can use to perform routine parts replacements themselves, reduce their maintenance costs. And for areas outside of end-users capabilities, the KV-S2055 and KV-S6045W comes with a one-year parts-and-labor warranty, while the KV-S885 has on-site repairs provided for the first six months.

CONCLUSION

Overall, the Panasonic KV-SS855, KV-S6045W and KV-S2055 offer solid, costeffective scanning solutions for their respective application classes. These units achieve truly effective throughput, thanks to high image quality and OCR accuracy, good throughput speed, good input ranges, reliability and durability, and usability. In addition, these units are extremely cost-effective solutions for their intended applications: high-volume production applications (KV-SS855) or mid-volume administrative applications (KV-S2055) and (KV-S6045W) departmental complete solution. For organizations looking for reliable hardware to meet a variety of capture needs, the Panasonic scanners fit the bill.

Strengths and Challenges

The following table summarizes some of the key strengths and challenges of the Panasonic KV-SS855, KV-S6045W and KV-S2055 scanners. Strengths
Ease of use Excellent image quality provided by P.I.E. Excellent ADF mixed batch support Fast enough for production applications Offers complete solution (KV-S6045W) Ergonomic design Flatbed design (KV-S6045W) Clamshell design makes transport and parts easy to access Easy-to-use display, buttons, and settings User changeable parts Cost effective Reliable

Challenges

KV-S2055 CIS provided lower image quality as compared to CCD technology Does not stop for double feeds or jams KV-SS855 lacks a stop button
Table 4 Key Strengths and Limitations

APPENDIX: ABOUT DOCULABS

Doculabs, Inc., is an independent industry analyst firm providing research and advisory services to innovative companies investing in e-Business technologies and to the leading vendors that supply them. Founded in Chicago in 1993, Doculabs was one of the first industry analyst firms to ground its research in unbiased, applied product assessments. This unique methodology is the cornerstone of Doculabs business. Doculabs research methodology is built around understanding the differences between products in conjunction with industry and user trends. Not only does Doculabs conduct regular analyst briefings with industry leaders, but we also conduct actual hands-on evaluations that deliver qualitative and quantitative results. This gives us a depth of knowledge that is unmatched by other research and consulting firms, and enables us to build a truly credible information bridge between end-user need and vendor product development and strategy. Doculabs growing staff of analysts is dedicated to software and technology research, advisory services, and market analyses. The company specializes in emerging technology solutions, including e-Commerce, Customer Relationship Management, Content and Knowledge Management, Fulfillment and e-Billing, and e-Business Infrastructures. Doculabs analysts are regular speakers at industry and vertical market conferences, and continue to author numerous articles in industry journals such as. InformationWeek, Info World, PC Week, CIO, Computer World, Internet Week, Knowledge Management Magazine, Network World, Group Computing, KM World, Imaging and Document Solutions, and Inform, just to name a few. For more information about Doculabs, visit our web site www.doculabs.com.

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