Another important factor in obtaining quality scanned images is the dynamic range of a scanner.
Dynamic range is the ability of the scanner to register a wide range of tonal values -- something from near white to near black. A scanner with a good dynamic range is able to map input shades correctly to the output shades, so you will be able to see more detail in an image.
On the other hand, a scanner with poor dynamic range won't be able to detect as wide a range of tonal values. In this case, the scanner will fill in the shadow areas or lose all detail in the highlight in an attempt to map the colours correctly. What emerges will be an image with less detail.
Microtek scanners have a dynamic range capable of registering a wide palette of tones and translate these accordingly into photo realistic colour. For instance, the ScanMaker III, Microtek's 36-bit scanner, has a dynamic range of 3.4. (Anything above 2.0 is good, and anything above 3.0 is impressive.)
Microtek Europe B.V. phone: +31/(0)10/2425688 fax: +31/(0)10/2425699