Scanner uses only one cable

I want to replace my current scanner which uses a power cord along with a usb cable.

I saw a new model that uses only one cable.

Does it use the same usb cable that I currently use ?

I can't see how one cable can do it all.

Thanks.

Andy wrote:
I want to replace my current scanner which uses a power cord along with a usb cable.

I saw a new model that uses only one cable.

Does it use the same usb cable that I currently use ?

I can't see how one cable can do it all.

Thanks.

A USB2 connector can provide 5V @ 500mA.
A USB3 connector can provide 5V @ 900mA.

You can "bus power" peripherals from the main computer power source.

Now, can you run a scanner motor off that sort of current ?

If a scanner used a digital camera (relatively low resolution),
then you might be able to make a scanning bed without needing
to move a 1xN horizontal scanning element and belt propelled
transport mechanism.

Normally, a scanner consists of a 1xN element, and the transport
has a stepper motor. The stepper motor pauses for 1 or 2 milliseconds
per "impression" as it scans a line at a time "in a flash". With the
stepper motor approach, a typical data rate might be 2MB/sec. I don't
think anyone has attempted to make a transport with a continuous
motion. And the "noise" the scanner makes, helps indicate whether it
uses a stepper motor or not. The stepper motor tends to "thump" the
chassis (torque ripple from the discontinuous motion). The scanning
element needs to stand still for a moment, to get enough light to
build up some signal on each pixel sensing element. The light source
in the scanner has to be bright enough to drive each sensing element
to its final value, within that 1 millisecond window. And even modern
LEDs need a generous amount of power to make a really
bright light source.

I would think a USB3 equipped scanner would make this easier,
from a power perspective. Since the sensor on the 1xN scanning
bar can't really deliver data faster than about 2MB/sec, the actual
data transport itself doesn't need USB3 rates. USB2 data transfer
is probably fast enough for it.

Paul

On Sun, 17 Feb 2019 18:59:08 -0500, Paul
wrote:

Andy wrote:
I want to replace my current scanner which uses a power cord along with a usb cable.

I saw a new model that uses only one cable.

Does it use the same usb cable that I currently use ?

I can't see how one cable can do it all.

Thanks.

A USB2 connector can provide 5V @ 500mA.
A USB3 connector can provide 5V @ 900mA.

You can "bus power" peripherals from the main computer power source.

Now, can you run a scanner motor off that sort of current ?

If a scanner used a digital camera (relatively low resolution),
then you might be able to make a scanning bed without needing
to move a 1xN horizontal scanning element and belt propelled
transport mechanism.

Normally, a scanner consists of a 1xN element, and the transport
has a stepper motor. The stepper motor pauses for 1 or 2 milliseconds
per "impression" as it scans a line at a time "in a flash". With the
stepper motor approach, a typical data rate might be 2MB/sec. I don't
think anyone has attempted to make a transport with a continuous
motion. And the "noise" the scanner makes, helps indicate whether it
uses a stepper motor or not. The stepper motor tends to "thump" the
chassis (torque ripple from the discontinuous motion). The scanning
element needs to stand still for a moment, to get enough light to
build up some signal on each pixel sensing element. The light source
in the scanner has to be bright enough to drive each sensing element
to its final value, within that 1 millisecond window. And even modern
LEDs need a generous amount of power to make a really
bright light source.

I would think a USB3 equipped scanner would make this easier,
from a power perspective. Since the sensor on the 1xN scanning
bar can't really deliver data faster than about 2MB/sec, the actual
data transport itself doesn't need USB3 rates. USB2 data transfer
is probably fast enough for it.

Paul

My Canon flat bed scanner is USB powered. It has fairly good
resolution. (At least 300BPI)

On Sunday, February 17, 2019 at 5:59:06 PM UTC-6, Paul wrote:
Andy wrote:
I want to replace my current scanner which uses a power cord along with a usb cable.

I saw a new model that uses only one cable.

Does it use the same usb cable that I currently use ?

I can't see how one cable can do it all.

Thanks.

A USB2 connector can provide 5V @ 500mA.
A USB3 connector can provide 5V @ 900mA.

You can "bus power" peripherals from the main computer power source.

Now, can you run a scanner motor off that sort of current ?

If a scanner used a digital camera (relatively low resolution),
then you might be able to make a scanning bed without needing
to move a 1xN horizontal scanning element and belt propelled
transport mechanism.

Normally, a scanner consists of a 1xN element, and the transport
has a stepper motor. The stepper motor pauses for 1 or 2 milliseconds
per "impression" as it scans a line at a time "in a flash". With the
stepper motor approach, a typical data rate might be 2MB/sec. I don't
think anyone has attempted to make a transport with a continuous
motion. And the "noise" the scanner makes, helps indicate whether it
uses a stepper motor or not. The stepper motor tends to "thump" the
chassis (torque ripple from the discontinuous motion). The scanning
element needs to stand still for a moment, to get enough light to
build up some signal on each pixel sensing element. The light source
in the scanner has to be bright enough to drive each sensing element
to its final value, within that 1 millisecond window. And even modern
LEDs need a generous amount of power to make a really
bright light source.

I would think a USB3 equipped scanner would make this easier,
from a power perspective. Since the sensor on the 1xN scanning
bar can't really deliver data faster than about 2MB/sec, the actual
data transport itself doesn't need USB3 rates. USB2 data transfer
is probably fast enough for it.

Paul

Thanks a lot Paul.

Is there a way I can tell which cable I have(Usb 2 or 3) by looking at it.?

Andy

On Sunday, February 17, 2019 at 7:11:27 PM UTC-8, Andy wrote:
On Sunday, February 17, 2019 at 5:59:06 PM UTC-6, Paul wrote:
Andy wrote:
I want to replace my current scanner which uses a power cord along with a usb cable.

I saw a new model that uses only one cable.

Does it use the same usb cable that I currently use ?

I can't see how one cable can do it all.

Thanks.

A USB2 connector can provide 5V @ 500mA.
A USB3 connector can provide 5V @ 900mA.

You can "bus power" peripherals from the main computer power source.

Now, can you run a scanner motor off that sort of current ?

If a scanner used a digital camera (relatively low resolution),
then you might be able to make a scanning bed without needing
to move a 1xN horizontal scanning element and belt propelled
transport mechanism.

Normally, a scanner consists of a 1xN element, and the transport
has a stepper motor. The stepper motor pauses for 1 or 2 milliseconds
per "impression" as it scans a line at a time "in a flash". With the
stepper motor approach, a typical data rate might be 2MB/sec. I don't
think anyone has attempted to make a transport with a continuous
motion. And the "noise" the scanner makes, helps indicate whether it
uses a stepper motor or not. The stepper motor tends to "thump" the
chassis (torque ripple from the discontinuous motion). The scanning
element needs to stand still for a moment, to get enough light to
build up some signal on each pixel sensing element. The light source
in the scanner has to be bright enough to drive each sensing element
to its final value, within that 1 millisecond window. And even modern
LEDs need a generous amount of power to make a really
bright light source.

I would think a USB3 equipped scanner would make this easier,
from a power perspective. Since the sensor on the 1xN scanning
bar can't really deliver data faster than about 2MB/sec, the actual
data transport itself doesn't need USB3 rates. USB2 data transfer
is probably fast enough for it.

Paul

Thanks a lot Paul.

Is there a way I can tell which cable I have(Usb 2 or 3) by looking at it.?

Andy

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB_(Physical)#Power

James Davis wrote:
On Sunday, February 17, 2019 at 7:11:27 PM UTC-8, Andy wrote:
On Sunday, February 17, 2019 at 5:59:06 PM UTC-6, Paul wrote:
Andy wrote:
I want to replace my current scanner which uses a power cord along with a usb cable.

I saw a new model that uses only one cable.

Does it use the same usb cable that I currently use ?

I can't see how one cable can do it all.

Thanks.
A USB2 connector can provide 5V @ 500mA.
A USB3 connector can provide 5V @ 900mA.

You can "bus power" peripherals from the main computer power source.

Now, can you run a scanner motor off that sort of current ?

If a scanner used a digital camera (relatively low resolution),
then you might be able to make a scanning bed without needing
to move a 1xN horizontal scanning element and belt propelled
transport mechanism.

Normally, a scanner consists of a 1xN element, and the transport
has a stepper motor. The stepper motor pauses for 1 or 2 milliseconds
per "impression" as it scans a line at a time "in a flash". With the
stepper motor approach, a typical data rate might be 2MB/sec. I don't
think anyone has attempted to make a transport with a continuous
motion. And the "noise" the scanner makes, helps indicate whether it
uses a stepper motor or not. The stepper motor tends to "thump" the
chassis (torque ripple from the discontinuous motion). The scanning
element needs to stand still for a moment, to get enough light to
build up some signal on each pixel sensing element. The light source
in the scanner has to be bright enough to drive each sensing element
to its final value, within that 1 millisecond window. And even modern
LEDs need a generous amount of power to make a really
bright light source.

I would think a USB3 equipped scanner would make this easier,
from a power perspective. Since the sensor on the 1xN scanning
bar can't really deliver data faster than about 2MB/sec, the actual
data transport itself doesn't need USB3 rates. USB2 data transfer
is probably fast enough for it.

Paul
Thanks a lot Paul.

Is there a way I can tell which cable I have(Usb 2 or 3) by looking at it.?

Andy

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB_(Physical)#Power

The USB2 has four pins. It might use a black colored tab
(likely the default color for a while in early USB days).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:U...receptacle.svg

The USB3 has nine pins and the graphic here isn't really
good enough to see the details. Notice that the tab is
blue for USB3.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:U...tacle_blue.svg

The USB electrical contacts sit in the same X-Y plane. The
four flat contacts in the front of the jack are for USB2. The
five contacts in the back (with raised profile via curved
springy contacts) are for USB3.

The USB3 contacts consist of TX+,TX- GND RX+,RX-
The ground connection exists, so they can make a
controlled impedance cabling scheme for the signals
running at 5Gbit/sec or so. The separate TX and RX pairs
mean the hardware can be transmitting and receiving USB3
packets at the same time (full duplex). Most USB transactions
have a dominant direction, so real usage patterns have
most of the traffic in one direction, and less traffic in
the other direction.

USB also has a "Power" standard for various additional
levels of power transmission, but a cheap scanner is not
likely to rely on this. As not every computer will have
the right "goods" on its end. I don't have any equipment
here which supports advanced USB power standards.

Some scanners are wireless (Wifi), but that tends to be
in the AIO printer category. And an AIO printer needs power
from the wall for the electrical load, so there is still
one cable on the equipment.

There can be battery operated goods for a "car office" but
expect to pay more for such a thing. And it still has
to be regularly recharged.

Paul

In message , Paul
writes:
James Davis wrote:
On Sunday, February 17, 2019 at 7:11:27 PM UTC-8, Andy wrote:
On Sunday, February 17, 2019 at 5:59:06 PM UTC-6, Paul wrote:
Andy wrote:
I want to replace my current scanner which uses a power cord along
with a usb cable.

I saw a new model that uses only one cable.

Does it use the same usb cable that I currently use ?

I can't see how one cable can do it all.

Thanks.
[]
What a lot of answers to a couple of simple questions!

1. Yes, scanners that run on the 2½ watts available from a USB socket
have been around for years. (Quite an impressive engineering
achievement, IMO, but it's not new.) You should be able to find them on
the second-hand market for peanuts, as stand-alone scanners are becoming
rare now with printers tending to include scanners.

2. Unless it says on the "new model"'s box that it's USB3 *only*, then
yes, it almost certainly will work with your existing cable. If it is
USB3 with USB2 fallback, it might work _faster_ with a USB3 cable - but
only if you have a USB3 connection at the computer end. (USB3 connectors
tend to be blue. [Though don't assume a blue cable is USB3 - it has to
have the extra 5 contacts as Paul has discussed.])

Can you tell us the make and model of the new scanner you've seen?
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

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