Scanners Vs. OCR Readers
Image scanners and OCR (Optical Character Recognition) readers both scan documents and convert them to a digitized format. This makes it possible to transfer the information through disks, CDs, email and websites. However, several major differences exist between scanners and OCR readers.
-
OCR
-
According to the Institute For Telecommunication Sciences, OCR readers identify characters using a light-sensitive mechanism. Printed characters are necessary for reliable identification. Computers may save the characters in formats like TXT (text) or DOC (document).
Scanners
-
An image scanner can scan a document, photograph or other thin object and turn it into a digitized image. Unlike an OCR reader, an image scanner records colors, graphics and signatures. Users can save the scans in various image formats such as GIF (Graphics Interchange Format).
-
Compared
-
The main advantage of OCR readers vs. scanners is that they can convert documents into a text or document format, making them faster to transmit and much easier to edit. On the other hand, scanners prove far more versatile for non-text purposes.
-
References
- Photo Credit typewriter image by zelenyj from Fotolia.com