Lab Test Report BLI RECOMMENDATION. Brother PDS BuyersLab.com 60 PPM (120 IPM)

Transcription

1 Lab Test Report A Comprehensive BLI Laboratory Evaluation JUNE 2015 Brother PDS PPM (120 IPM) Reliability... Excellent Media Handling... Very Good Ease of Setup... Fair Drivers/Utilities... Very Good Workflow Analysis...Good Image Quality... Very Good Hardware Ease of Use... Very Good Ease of User Maintenance...Good Productivity... Excellent File Size... Fair OCR Performance...Good Footprint...Good Value... Very Good Estimated Cost per Scan BLI RECOMMENDATION When compared with competitive A4 scanners tested, the 60-ppm (120 ipm) Brother PDS-5000 gave a very good overall performance during BLI s evaluation. The unit exhibited faster than average scan speeds in most tests. In fact, the unit s tested speeds at 300 dpi were the fastest of competitive units tested. Its larger than average ADF handles a wider than average range of document sizes, including plastic ID cards and long documents up to 236". Thanks to its bundled Button Manager utility, users can customize a virtually unlimited number of profiles for frequently used operations, nine of which can be accessed from the unit s two-line LCD control panel. The bundled DS Capture software provides direct access to TWAIN functionality for additional image processing features. The unit also comes bundled with Nuance OmniPage SE 18, which uses a BLI award-winning OCR engine. Additional features include user-adjustable image enhancements, such as gamma, brightness, shadow and highlight adjustments; the ability to scan to secure PDF format; custom color drop-out; and the ability to create multiple images with varying settings from one scan. Based on its very good overall performance, robust feature set and lower than average suggested retail price, BLI highly recommends the Brother PDS-5000 for workgroups and departments looking for a reliable and versatile scanner. Test duration: Two weeks, 30,000 scans Daily duty cycle: Up to 6,000 scans

2 STRENGTHS Highly reliable Lower than average SRP Customize a virtually unlimited number of scan profiles for frequently used operations Scan to secure PDF format Faster than average hardware speeds when scanning multiple pages Higher than average efficiency rate for all modes tested Smaller than average multi-page file sizes in color mode Larger than average ADF capacity Handles longer than average paper lengths Better than average OCR accuracy when scanning BLI s Red and Blue test documents at 200 dpi Linux, Mac and Windows OS compatibility Smaller than average storage footprint WEAKNESSES More steps required to install bundled solutions than average Below average OCR accuracy for BLI s Black test documents Larger than average black-and-white file sizes using default settings TEST RESULTS AND OBSERVATIONS, and represent positive, negative and neutral attributes, respectively. RELIABILITY EXCELLENT The Brother PDS-5000 experienced one misfeed while running 30,000 impressions during BLI s durability test. Brother offers a one-year limited warranty for the PDS-5000, which is average for the group. Tested Model Competitive Average Meter count (beginning of test) 0 0 End of test period 30,000 29,500 Total misfeeds/misfeed rate 1/Not applicable 2/1 per 14,750 scans Total Malfunctions 0 0 2

3 MEDIA HANDLING VERY GOOD The Brother PDS-5000 features an automatic document feeder (ADF) with a capacity of 100 sheets, which is slightly larger than average for the group. The unit s ADF handles paper sizes from 2.1" x 2.9" to 8.5" x 236", which is a wider than average range. The ADF accepts paper weights from 7.5 to 106 lbs., which is competitive for the group. Media Types Scanned During Testing Business cards Checks Credit cards Embossed cards ID cards Long documents Up to 236" Carbonless forms Wrinkled paper Tri-folded documents Hole-punched documents A4-size documents Rice paper BLI scans each test document unless otherwise prohibited by product documentation. The PDS-5000 has multi-feed detection, which is typical of most units tested. The Button Manager utility provides a continuous feed feature that lets users add pages to the batch during scanning. However, BLI technicians noted that it is difficult to find. The setting is located at the bottom of the last tab (More Settings tab) in small lettering. If using the TWAIN driver, this feature can be found at the bottom of the Paper tab via the Reload Timeout slide adjustment. Some competitive scan utilities tested provide this feature on the main screen. This unit can separate batches based on the detection of a blank page in the batch, by a pre-programmed number of pages or via barcode separation. BLI technicians did not experience any slowdown during batch processing. In BLI s tests, the device handled a mixed batch of different sizes, types and weights of media without any problem. This unit scanned BLI s vertical market batch, containing a HIPAA form, a medical history form, an insurance form and an ID card, without any errors. The document feeder offers face-down scanning in portrait orientation. 3

4 The Brother PDS-5000 scans long documents up to 236". EASE OF SETUP FAIR The PDS-5000 comes with one disc that contains Brother Button Manager, DS Capture Software, scan drivers, Nuance OmniPage SE 18 and a trial version of EMC Captiva QuickScan Pro. Installing all software and drivers (except for the trial version of QuickScan Pro) took a total of 22 mouse clicks, which is more than average. Users don t have to restart the computer after installation; some competitive scanners require this extra step. However, technicians noted that it was unclear which order the software needed to be installed in and prefer a process that installs the software and drivers simultaneously. The device comes fully installed out of box. To finish the installation, users must insert the AC cable into the power inlet, then connect the AC cable to a power outlet and connect it to a PC via a USB cable. DRIVERS/UTILITIES ICA, SANE, TWAIN, ISIS and WIA drivers are included. The drivers are Microsoft-certified. VERY GOOD 4

5 Brother Button Manager provides selections for image mode, paper size, resolution, file name, file format and OCR settings on the main page. Via the Image Adjustment tab, users can access gamma, brightness, contrast, shadow and highlight adjustments via slide bars. The Image Processing tab provides blank-page removal and image rotation tools. The TWAIN driver provides additional image enhancements, compression tools and digital imprinter settings, among others. Brother Button Manager lets users customize a virtually unlimited number of scan profiles for frequently used operations, nine of which can be accessed from the scanner s control panel. To customize a profile, users can right click on the icon on the system tray and select the profile manager to see all profiles currently available, and then click the Add button to create a new profile. Existing profiles can be edited and deleted as well, and users can choose whether to launch the included TWAIN driver during the scanning process. Button Manager Properties Window Users can create multiple images with varying settings from one scan. The scan utility provides several pre-set profiles, including iscan Image, iscan OCR, Scan to File, Scan to File (OCR), Scan to App, , Printer, Shared Folder, FTP and SharePoint. A Help file is not available for the drivers. A scan preview is available through the TWAIN driver. Pop-up error messages indicating a paper jam, for example, are displayed at the PC. Unlike most competitive scanners tested, the PDS-5000 offers scanning to a secure PDF. 5

6 Destination Network folder Connected printer Local folder application Integrated USB port Scan to cloud Microsoft SharePoint Other No FTP File Type PDF Encrypted PDF Searchable PDF Single-page TIFF Multi-Page TIFF JPEG Other (secure PDF) BMP, GIF, PNG, RTF, TXT, XPS, DOC, XLS, PPT, DOCX, XLSX, PPTX, HTML WORKFLOW ANALYSIS The PDS-5000 comes bundled with DS Capture and Nuance OmniPage SE 18. GOOD DS Capture is a proprietary capture solution that provides access to the TWAIN driver s features to scan and route documents. With Nuance OmniPage, users can create scan profiles to automatically redact or highlight certain information, recognize key points on a document, and save the document to its final destination. Scanning can also be initiated from OmniPage. To create a scan profile via OmniPage, users simply select New from the applications menu and follow the step-by-step instructions. BLI technicians noted that setting up scan profiles was simple easier than with some other OCR solutions evaluated. OmniPage also allows users to create their own OCR zone templates, which come in handy when recognizing multiple documents in the same format (e.g., invoices). The PDS-5000 is compatible with Kofax VRS sofware. However, VRS is not included with the unit s software bundle. 6

7 Nuance OmniPage SE 18 IMAGE QUALITY VERY GOOD The Brother PDS-5000 offers a very good selection of image processing features, including auto cropping, automatic color detection, blank-page removal, de-skew, despeckle, smoothing, reverse image and dynamic threshold. Additional features include hole-punch removal, color adjustments, error diffusion, halftone binarization, mirror image and split image. Note that some image processing features are available through the TWAIN driver and some are available through the Button Manager utility. Users may need to activate TWAIN via the Button Manager software to access all features. Brother provides two separate color drop-out tools. When accessed through the Button Manager utility, users can remove red, green, blue, or a custom color. However, they must upload an image file and then choose a color from within the image file to remove for the custom color drop-out tool. When used through the TWAIN driver, users can remove red, green and blue, and pick which color to remove via a color picker tool, or use the auto drop-out feature. When removing the color red from the document using the TWAIN driver, all text was clearly readable, though some speckling remained. When using the auto color drop-out feature, one text box in the document was blacked out and unreadable; all other areas were as readable as when the color red was removed. 7

8 Button Manager provides a resolution range from 75 to 600 dpi, while the TWAIN driver has a resolution range from 72 to 600 dpi. Both resolution ranges are competitive for the group. When digitally reproducing colors using default settings, the unit experienced a competitive amount of color shift for cyan, magenta, warm red and blue, and a higher than average amount of color shift for yellow and green. Color Shift Reading Pantone Originals Tested Model Delta E Shift Pantone Process Cyan Pantone Process Magenta Pantone Process Yellow Pantone Warm Red Pantone Green Pantone Blue The colors for the tested model are based on the RGB values of the original Pantone images after being scanned at 300 dpi and saved in TIFF format using default settings. The closer the Delta E number is to zero, the closer the scanned color is to the original Pantone image. HARDWARE EASE OF USE VERY GOOD The PDS-5000 has Power, Start and Stop keys, and up/down arrow keys to select one of the nine available scan profiles. The Power LED light illuminates green when the scanner is on, blinks green when the device is initializing or in power-save mode and blinks red when there is a problem with the scanner. Error messages appear via the two-line LCD. BLI technicians noted that loading paper is simple and on par with most other units tested in that users can simply adjust the side guides and load paper. In addition, the side guides provide stacking assistant guides that can lift up to secure a large batch. And users can lock the guides for additional ADF security. Indicators guiding users to scan documents face-down and to avoid staples and paper clips are provided on the ADF. Paper sizes and a card orientation icon are also provided. 8

9 Misfeed Access Area Removing misfeeds is simple and on par with most other competitive scanners tested. Users simply pull on the gray lever below the document feeder to open the ADF cover and remove the misfeed. EASE OF USER MAINTENANCE GOOD The PDS-5000 s user-replaceable consumables include a reverse roller, a pick-up roller and a separation roller, each with a rated life span of 200,000 scans, which are competitive for the group. BLI technicians noted that the procedure for replacing the reverse roller is on par with other scanners tested. Once the ADF cover is open, users press and hold the left and right sides of the roller cover to open it and then pinch the reverse roller to pull it out of the machine. The procedure for replacing the pick-up roller is also typical of others tested. Users must first open the ADF side guides as wide as possible, then open the ADF cover, open the pick-up roller cover using the available finger hole and then pinch the roller to pull it out of its housing. The separation roller can be removed in the same fashion. Additional maintenance includes cleaning the scanner glass and rollers. Consumables must be removed prior to cleaning them. Consumable and total scan counters are available via the Button Manager Options screen. 9

10 Reverse Roller Replacement PRODUCTIVITY EXCELLENT With a rated speed of 60 ppm (120 ipm) in black-and-white and color modes, the PDS-5000 s tested scan speeds are faster than average when measuring hardware throughput in all modes tested at 200 and 300 dpi. When measuring software processing times, speeds are competitive for the group in black-and-white and auto color modes at 200 dpi and faster than average in all other modes tested. The unit s efficiency rates (the percentage of the rated speed at which it operates) are higher than average in black-and-white, color and auto color modes when measuring hardware throughput and software processing times. Tested Multi-Page Portrait Speed in PPM Competitive Average Hardware Software 200 dpi Black-and-white Color Auto Color dpi Black-and-white Color Auto Color

11 Multi-Page Hardware Efficiency Rate Multi-Page Software Efficiency Rate Black Black Color Color Auto Color Auto Color Tested Model Competitive average Percent Percent The efficiency rate is the percentage of the rated speed at which the unit operates at 200 dpi for both black and color scan modes. The closer the rate is to 100%, or if it exceeds 100%, the more efficient the unit. % Decrease* In Hardware Scan Speed At 300 dpi Versus 200 dpi Black Color Auto Color Tested Model Competitive average Percent * Note that a rate of 0% or less indicates that there is no slowdown or an increase in speed when increasing the resolution. % Decrease* In Software Scan Speed At 300 dpi Versus 200 dpi Black Color Auto Color Tested Model Competitive average Percent * Note that a rate of 0% or less indicates that there is no slowdown or an increase in speed when increasing the resolution. 11

12 When increasing the resolution to 300 dpi, the unit s speeds when measuring hardware throughput and software processing times exhibited virtually no slowdown in black-andwhite, color and auto color modes, which is competitive to slightly better than average for the group. O BLI compared the unit s speeds before and after disabling auto page-size detection and de-skew to gauge whether the device maintains its rated speed after changing settings. When measuring hardware throughput and software processing times, the unit exhibited virtually no slowdown in all modes tested, which is competitive for the group. O The unit did not slow down when duplex scanning in black-and-white and color modes, which is also competitive for the group. O The unit s single-page scan speeds are competitive when measuring hardware throughput and slightly slower than average when measuring software processing times in all modes tested (black-and-white, grayscale, color and auto color). Tested Single-Page Portrait Speed in Seconds Competitive Average Hardware Software 200 dpi Black-and-white Grayscale Color Auto Color dpi Black-and-white Grayscale Color Auto Color FILE SIZE FAIR When scanning multi-page documents using default settings, file sizes are larger than average in black-and-white mode and smaller than average in color mode at 200 and 300 dpi. File sizes in auto color mode are competitive at 200 dpi and smaller than average at 300 dpi. When using the scan utility s compression tool, file sizes for black-and-white mode reduced by about 64% at 200 dpi and 63% at 300 dpi. Color files reduced by about 63% at 200 and 300 dpi, and auto color file sizes reduced by about 64% at 200 dpi and 63% at 300 dpi. 12

13 Tested file sizes when scanning single-page documents are larger than average in blackand-white mode and competitive for the group in color and auto color modes at 200 and 300 dpi. Tested File Size in KB Competitive Average 200 dpi 300 dpi Single-Page Black Single-Page Grayscale Single-Page Color Single-Page Auto Color Multi-Page Black 8,013 1,499 14,510 2,521 Multi-Page Color 4,789 6,099 9,797 12,763 Multi-Page Auto Color 4,890 5,720 9,797 11,812 OCR PERFORMANCE GOOD When using the unit s bundled Nuance OmniPage SE 18 software, the unit exhibited lower than average accuracy when scanning BLI s Black test document at 200 and 300 dpi. The unit s accuracy when scanning BLI s Red and Blue test documents at 200 dpi was better than average. O The unit s OCR accuracy for BLI s Red and Blue documents at 300 dpi, and BLI s Green document at 200 and 300 dpi are competitive for the group. OCR Accuracy in Percent Competitive Average 200-dpi Accuracy 300 dpi-accuracy Black Red Blue Green Note that for OCR testing, BLI compares the unit s bundled OCR software results with those of other scanners tested. When OCR software is not provided, BLI tests OCR using Nuance OmniPage 18 Professional. 13

14 OTHER FEATURES ENERGY STAR-qualified. NOT RATED Linux, Mac and Windows OS support. FOOTPRINT GOOD O Weighing pounds and measuring 12.4" wide x 7.3" deep x 7.2" high, the PDS offers a smaller than average storage footprint (trays closed). With trays extended for operation, the depth and height increase to 27.0" and 9.5", respectively. While the depth is larger than average, its height with trays extended is shorter than average. VALUE VERY GOOD The PDS-5000 s list price of $ is lower than the average of comparable A4 scanners available in its speed range. The PDS-5000 has a projected total cost of ownership of $4,032 over a three-year period, which equals an estimated total cost per scan of Both the TCO and the estimated cost per scan are competitive with the average. This estimation was based on a daily scan volume of 6,000 sheets and includes the device s list price, two-year extended warranty and the cost of maintenance over three years. Brother PDS-5000 Competitive Average Device Suggested Retail Price $ $1, Three-Year Warranty Cost $ $ Maintenance Kit Cost $ $83.12 Rated Yield Between Kits 200, ,222 Total Cost of Ownership (3 years) $4, $3, Estimated Cost per Scan The competitive average includes comparable scanners currently available in the United States. All values are based on manufacturers suggested retail pricing. 14

15 SUPPORTING TEST DATA Test Environment: This product was tested in BLI s 10,000-square-foot test lab, in an environment monitored by a Honeywell Temp/RH chart recorder, which replicates typical office conditions. Test Equipment: A PC running Microsoft Windows 7 Professional, based on a 3.3-GHz Intel Core CPU with 4-GB memory and a 74-GB hard drive. The scanner is connected to the PC via a USB cable. Test Duration: A single product is tested for two weeks, one week of which consists of a reliability test during which the product is run at its manufacturer-rated duty cycle. Tested Configuration: Brother PDS-5000 base unit. Test Procedures: The test methods and procedures employed by BLI in its lab testing include BLI s proprietary procedures. An industry-standard KATUN test original, as well as BLI s 6% coverage original, are used in the speed tests. BLI s test is designed to replicate real-world use over an eight-hour workday, and as such includes a mix of various types and sizes of documents, color and black-and-white, legal size and letter size, single-sided and double-sided. Tested originals include lightweight invoices, checks, business cards, heavier card stocks, credit cards, ID cards and embossed cards, when supported. Speed tests are conducted in black-and-white, grayscale and color modes using a single page and a stack of pages that is equal to double the unit s manufacturer-rated scan speed. Speed tests are performed at 200-dpi resolution using single-sided pages and default settings. Additional tests are conducted to check for any slowdowns in duplex mode or after increasing the resolution to 300 dpi, or when enabling/disabling automatic scan features (auto de-skew, auto crop, auto orientation). The scan processing/transmission speed is measured from the time the technician initiates scanning from the scan software to the time it takes for the scanned image to appear at the PC or to be accessed from the PC (depending on the functionality of the utility). To measure the hardware speeds, technicians add an extra page to the batch to warm up the scanner, but only measure the speed from the time the second page begins scanning to when the trail edge of the last document exits the feeder. OCR tests are performed with all pertinent image processing features enabled at 200 dpi and 300 dpi using four clean, good-quality test documents in black, red, blue and green font colors. Each document contains the same pangram repeated in various font sizes and types. About Buyers Laboratory LLC: Buyers Laboratory LLC (BLI) is the world s leading independent provider of analytical information and testing services to the document management industry. For over 50 years, buyers have relied on BLI to help them differentiate products strengths and weaknesses and make the best purchasing decisions, while industry sales, marketing and product professionals have turned to BLI for insightful competitive intelligence and valued guidance on product development, competitive positioning and sales channel and marketing support. BLI also offers private, forhire testing services that help manufacturers develop and market better products and consumables. Note: This report is based on BLI testing one representative test sample at a specific point in time. BLI is not responsible for differences in performance that may be the result of lot-to-lot variation, changes in production and machine modifications implemented by the manufacturer, service issues or any other reason beyond BLI s control. Test unit serial #: U63939C5U BUYERS LABORATORY LLC North America Europe Asia Gerry Stoia, CEO Anthony F. Polifrone, Managing Director Gerry O Rourke, Managing Director, BLI International Daria Hoffman, Managing Editor Dr. Simon Plumtree, European Managing Editor Tracie Hines, Senior Editor, Competitive Analysis Reports Jamie Bsales, Senior Product Editor, Solutions George Mikolay, Senior Product Editor, A3 MFPs Marlene Orr, Senior Analyst, Printers and A4 MFPs Lisa Reider, Senior Product Editor, Scanners and Environmental Carl Schell, Senior Writer Priya Gohil, Senior Editor Kaitlin Pendagast, Associate Editor David Sweetnam, Head of European Research and Lab Services Pete Emory, Director of Laboratory Operations Martin Soane, European Lab Manager Pia Beddiges, Manager of Competitive Services Anthony Marchesini, IT Director T.R. Patrick, Art Director 15

16 CERTIFICATE OF RELIABILITY Awarded to BROTHER INTERNATIONAL CORPORATION for the performance of the Brother PDS-5000 in BLI s in-house durability test Anthony F. Polifrone MANAGING DIRECTOR RELIABILITY CERTIFIED LAB TESTED JUNE 2015 DATE This is to certify that when subjected to a 30,000-sheet Buyers Lab durability test, the Brother PDS-5000 proved to be a highly reliable product. BUYERS LABORATORY LLC THE LEADING INDEPENDENT OFFICE PRODUCTS TEST LAB AND BUSINESS CONSUMER ADVOCATE NORTH AMERICA EUROPE ASIA COPYRIGHT 2015 BUYERS LABORATORY LLC. REPRODUCTION WITHOUT THE WRITTEN PERMISSION OF BLI IS STRICTLY FORBIDDEN.