What are Optical Scanners?
An optical scanner is any scanning technology that converts a physical image, text, or object into a digitized form that can be stored as a 2D image file on a computer. 3D scanners also exist, but they are not widespread and are sometimes based on different technologies. Optical scanners have been around for decades and their price has dropped accordingly. You can buy low-level used optical scanners on eBay for as little as 20 US dollars (USD) and a new scanner on newegg.com for around 50 USD. Better optical scanners sell for hundreds of dollars. The basic technology underlying optical scanners is that of the charge-coupled device (CCD). A CCD consists of a capacitor array that is sensitive to light. The technology was invented in 1969 by Willard Boyle and George Smith at AT&T Bell Labs, and was commercialized shortly thereafter. The capacitors in a CCD respond to up to 70% of incident light, in contrast to photographic film, which only responds to 2%. Incoming light causes the capacit
