What Is a WIA Scanner?
Normally there is a functional divide between devices like scanners and 3rd party programs. This is because the programmers who make the software for these devices do not collaborate with all the programmers who might make software to make their respective products compatible. However, Microsoft's Windows Image Acquisition (WIA) platform, and its successor Windows Portable Devices (WDP) platform, allows normally incompatible devices and software to be functionally compatible.
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WIA
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WIA is a special software platform which Microsoft's operating system uses to allow 3rd party software applications to interact directly with scanners, digital cameras, and other devices that produce still images. The WIA platform acts as a kind of intermediary, translating signals from both applications and devices that produce still images into a common format that each can understand. This allows programs to automatically detect and use special features of a particular imaging device.
WIA Device Compatibility
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In order to be able to use the WIA platform, imaging devices have to be programmed to use Microsoft's WIA software library. Another way of saying that a device is WIA compatible is that it is a "WIA device." Consequently, digital cameras that are compatible with the WIA platform are called "WIA cameras" and scanners that are compatible with the WIA platform are called "WIA Scanners." This can be a significant point of advertising and marketing because of the extra functionality such compatibility gives its user.
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WIA vs Windows Driver
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There is a significant difference between a device having driver software that will allow it to work with Windows and a device being compatible with the WIA platform. A scanner with a Windows driver allows Microsoft's operating system to recognize it, send data to it, and accept data from it. These drivers frequently also include a piece of Windows software from the device's manufacturer that is specifically programmed to use the device's functionality. A scanner that is compatible with the WIA platform can be used by any piece of software that also uses the WIA platform.
WIA After Windows XP
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The WIA platform was introduced by Microsoft for Windows ME and XP. Beginning with Windows Vista, Microsoft released an improved version of WIA called the WDP platform. While WIA is no longer an active project for Microsoft, Windows still supports devices and programs designed for the WIA platform through the newer WDP platform's WIA-WPD compatibility layer. This allows users with older WIA scanners, and other WIA devices, to continue to use them with contemporary versions of Windows.
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References
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