ICE AND GEM DEMO

This is a demo of the effects on image detail of digital ICE (tool for removong surface dust and scratches), and GEM (grain management tool) as implemented on a Nikon Super Coolscan 4000 ED.

The original slide was taken on Fujichrome Sesia II 400 with Minolta Maxxum 7xi, 28-80 mm zoom, fill flash from camera pop-up flash.

Before scanning, the slide was cleaned to the best of my ability with a small brush to remove surface filth, so the beneficial application of ICE is not demonstrated, just the effects on image detail.

A portion of the slide was scanned at 4000 dpi in 8 bit mode (not full 14 bits) without any multisampling. This choice was for expedience of faster scanning as all extras add to time.

The scan was repeated six times with combinations of: ICE off, on normal, on fine; and with GEM off, and on at 4 (maximum). Scans with intermediate settings of 1,2, and 3 for GEM were not done.

No corrections (exposure control, levels, colour management, sharpening, etc.) were done in either scanning software or Photoshop.

The crops displayed are 300 X 300 pixels, which represents (according to my crop info window in Photoshop) 0.075" X 0.075" of the original (4000 X6000 pixel) 1" X1.5" transparency.

After the crops were laid out in order in a combined file, the image size was changed without resampling from 4000 dpi to 400 dpi which did not change file size or alter image pixels, but enabled text entry for the legend.

The file was then saved as JPG at best (10) setting. this has resulted in a rather large file for which I apologize, but for the purpose of this image, I considered it important to minimize any artifacts.

For anybody who is curious (perhaps from hearsay) about the effects of these software tools on image detail, this may help define the issue somewhat.

Thanks for wading thru all this explanatory babble, but I guess if you've got this far you don't mind.

Cheers, Wayne

For the demo, very useful.

Tony