Fw: BOD Image Scaling in GEMS

["Ian Piper" <ian@dieboldes.com>]

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Ian Piper <ian@dieboldes.com>
To: Ken Clark <ken@dieboldes.com>
Date: Thursday, August 26, 1999 12:21 PM
Subject: Re: BOD Image Scaling in GEMS

----Original Message-----
From: Ken Clark <ken@dieboldes.com>
To: Request for Change Report <rcr@dieboldes.com>
Date: Thursday, August 26, 1999 9:40 AM
Subject: RE: BOD Image Scaling in GEMS

  I believe the issue could be solved by providing a method of scaling the ballot image size up or down and also a method of relocating the origin point.

  

Ian, can you please clarify that statement for me.  Do you believe that adding scaling to a BOD application will make the Minolta 20/25 meet our AccuVote ballot specifications?

Yes.  All laser printers scale (magnify/demagnify) images slightly from the true image size.  The amount of variation in scaling is different from printer to printer.  It would be essential to have the ability to adjust the output image so it can be printed closer to the true size.

 

On the Minolta 20, this scaling issue seems to be the only drawback.

This should only have to be done once per computer/printer configuration.

 

That would surprise me. 

 

Only testing will tell.

If the 5si is any indication, the adjustment would have to be made every n-thousand ballots, after it was shipped, and during certain stellar alignments.

 

The Minolta 20 that we ran limited testing on, showed us consistent registration, excellent toner bonding characteristics, and crisp images.  Off the shelf, the printer can take 90 lb. stock, and we can get it with a duplexer, PS capable, with a goodly amount of memory.  All this at a reasonable cost.  The ballots printed off the Minolta 20 weren't so far out that we couldn't find an AV unit that could read them.  If we pick the AV units to use, we can read them, but but I know that not every AV would be able to read them. 

 

However, you're right.  As good as the printer looks at first blush, a small test does not a BOD printer make.

 

We need to do extensive testing with a few units printing thousands of ballots, both here in McKinney and out in the field.  I would just like to be able to print ballots in spec and see if they go out of spec after a few thousand, rather than print out of spec ballots and see them go further out of spec.  If the ballots can be printed within spec, perhaps we can use them for a beta test instead of throwing the paper away.

 

We have a Minolta Pageworks 25 on the way into McKinney, so we can do the same initial testing with it as we did with the Minolta 20.  When this rcr comes to fruition, we'll be able to continue with more extensive testing.