Path: utzoo!telecom-request Date: 12 Jun 91 13:22:22 PDT From: cmkrnl!jeh@decwrl.dec.com Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: Easy Fax to ASCII? (And Back Again, And...) Message-ID: Organization: Kernel Mode Consulting, San Diego CA Sender: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Approved: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 11, Issue 452, Message 2 of 11 Lines: 59 In article , learn@piroska.uchicago.edu (William Vajk) writes: > There was another fax related message here the other day, and I was in > process of responding when the computer went bye-bye. It was a request > for an easy conversion to ascii from fax. Because of the graphic > nature of fax, and the fact that there is no assurance of the style > and pitch of type received, one would actually have to be at the edge > of some serious AI to achieve the goal requested. Anyone who has used > an optical scanner and worked to convert a long document to ascii from > typed sheets can attest to the difficulties of accurate conversion > given only one character set to decipher. > On the other hand, to convert from ascii to fax is relatively easy, > but certainly not easy enough to make a fax machine into a computer > peripheral. I dunno. I've seen an add-in board for PCs that gives you the ablity to send FAXes from common sorts of PC documents, including imbedded graphics, and receive to files on disk. For hardcopy you print the files on your regular computer printer. Received faxes could be imported to PC applications as if they were scanned graphics images. Cost was only $250. The board also behaved as a 2400 bps data modem. Of course, if you want to fax somebody a copy of a piece of paper as opposed to a document within your computer, this won't help you unless you have a scanner handy. Which brings up a related problem ... if I buy a Fax, why should I also have to buy a scanner for my PC? For example, I notice that H-P is selling a "FaxJet" which sits between your compute and your LaserJet printer. This machine sells for around $1400 and handles document feeding for multiple-page transmission, unattended receive, etc., etc. In other words, one of these things plus your LJ gives you a complete high-end plain-paper fax plus a laser printer. It even has a 300 dpi mode for ultra-high-res (by fax standards), when communicating with other FaxJets. But if you think you could also use this gadget as a scanner for your PC, you're mistaken! (At least according to the manual I perused.) If you want to scan a document at 300 dpi and send it to another FaxJet for printing, you can do that, but if you want to scan a document and collect the bits locally, you have to buy a separate scanner for that! Bah. What a waste. (Of course HP will gladly sell you a ScanJet for, what, $1200 or so?) HP could have REALLY set the market on its ear with a combined fax/scanner unit. Oh well. (While we're at it, we should be able to receive faxes directly into PC graphics files too.) --- Jamie Hanrahan, Kernel Mode Consulting, San Diego CA Chair, VMS Internals Working Group, U.S. DECUS VAX Systems SIG Internet: jeh@dcs.simpact.com, hanrahan@eisner.decus.org, or jeh@crash.cts.com Uucp: ...{crash,scubed,decwrl}!simpact!cmkrnl!jeh