OT: Digitising collections of microfiche - Re: Looking for opinions...

[Paul Koning]

> On Mar 28, 2018, at 11:39 PM, Fred Cisin via cctalk <cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote:
> 
> On Wed, 28 Mar 2018, Bob Rosenbloom via cctalk wrote:
>> This thread reminded me of a DYI scanner I had read about. Found it with google:
>> http://retrocmp.com/projects/scanning-micro-fiches/235-the-homebuild-automatic-micro-fiche-scanner
> 
> I like his enthusiasm and the fact that he actually got it together and DID it.
> 
> Hmmm.  If you gut the reader, and photograph the illuminated portion of the fiche, rather than project and photograph the screen, image quality will be a lot better.  Ambient light will cease to be a significant issue.
> 
> I don't think that ANY of them are color, so with bitonal, noise should not be that much of a problem, unless that is being compounded by the long exposure?  

That sounds right for documentation microfiche such as the DEC ones.

I've run into microfiche that is somewhat similar but for a very different purpose: the rear-projection microfiche used in PLATO terminals.  Those have square images, 256 of them (16 by 16).   And they often are in color.  They were used to provide photo images to go with the bitonal (orange/black) PLATO screens, for applications such as teaching botany.

	paul