Archive Writers, the new COM - Still a useful imaging tool to
preserve vital information
Digital to
Analog preservation is still available today through COM technology. Yes, COM
is still a useful imaging tool for distribution, migration and preservation of
vital information.
Computer
Output Microfilm is any microform containing data produced by a recorder from
computer generated electrical signals. The recorder, a Computer Output
Microfilmer, is a recording device that converts data from a computer into human
readable language and records it onto microfilm.
A little over
20 years ago we started calling it Image Output Microfilm (IOM) and the recording
units were Film Writers. It's still COM, but we wanted to call it something
else so the prospective user/buyer would not think of the old systems that
could not handle the varied image and print formats that are now used in our
records management systems.
Today we mostly
call them Archive Writers. These new COM units can write not just the data but
also the "image" to microfilm. You don't have to create a blocked
print file and then to go to the brass & glass system of old. The tiff
image format you view on your screen is what you will see on the film and in
some cases the writer can handle many other raster or vector formats.
These COM
devices are no longer using only CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) to write but they use a
LED ion beam, an electron beam, a helium-neon laser or a plasma screen for high
resolutions and grayscale capabilities. Just like production laser printers of
today, these machines can be online and will obtain impressive resolutions
(over 600 dpi) and output speeds (up to 600 pages per minute). Always keep in
mind that the digital image must be of high enough quality to take advantage of
the high-end microfilm printers.
A few
examples of applications for these new COM Recorders are:
Aircraft
manufacturers deliver the planes to their customers with an enormous amount of
documentation. This documentation comes on paper, microfilm and on digital
media. The documents are created digitally and both the paper and the microfilm
are printed out from the same digital formats. Their COM recorders act like
in-line printers. Up-dates to maintenance manuals are handled the same way and
with the new COM units the manufacturer no longer has to print out the new
manual and then re-film it.
The 2000
Census was digitally scanned and is entirely stored in digital format that
makes it very accessible for the various Federal Government agencies that
require the information. A problem arises since the public cannot access the
original information for 70 years. With these new COM Recorders the Census
Bureau can easily output the information to a long-term media and insure its'
accessibility when it can be released to the general public.
A large
construction company creates and updates over 500,000 drawings per month. All
of the drawings needed to be microfilmed for analogue distribution and most of
them required scanning for digital distribution. By scanning all of the
drawings and producing 35mm film images they were able to use the image cleanup
features of the digital systems and quickly produce high-resolution microfilm
images. The resultant decrease in labor costs, lower equipment maintenance
costs and lower material wastage will help pay for the new system in less than
2 years.
The COM
recorders built today and that are being used by service bureaus around the
world are:
Anacomp (http://www.anacomp.com/services/mir/dis/xfp2000.aspx): The XFP2000® units are
no longer manufactured, inventoried and waiting for an order to come in but new
units are available. This machine will output at resolutions up to 300dpi onto
16mm roll and 105mm roll and fiche with speeds up to 400 pages per minute. Its'
system supports page printer output codes of AFP from IBM and metacode from
Xerox. Reduction ratios of 24x, 42x, 48x and 72x are available. Image
Direct 2.6 is a Windows-based client server application that enables the creation
of an Integrated Data Stream (IDS) that combines bitmapped images (TIFF Group
IV) with text and index information. “Image Direct
will take your scanned or encoded data (bitmaps) from your network to
the XFP2000 using either 105mm or 16mm film formats as required.”
Fujifilm The AR-1000 records digital documents
onto "Archive Media AM-66" providing convenient and safe long-term
preservation of stored information. The AR-1000 solves the issue of long-term
preservation of information, the only drawback to digital data. It also offers
a document management solution by managing the lifecycle of the documents from
creation through storage and destruction. Business-sized records can be
recorded at about 130 pages per minute. The AR-1000 features parallel processing
of jobs, providing greater throughput. Easy operation; simply follow the
on-screen instructions. No darkroom necessary. 16mm x 215’ Fuji film only.
See: http://ar1000.fujifilmrmd.com/Default.aspx?tab=Spec
GID: (http://www.gid-it.com/gid_prod.php?rowname=com&menuid=11
)
GID’s COM
system 6880 is a sophisticated and reliable film-based imaging system. It can
accept alphanumeric and graphic (image) data and produces cut, ready to use
microfiche. Top speed is 600 pages per minute (alpha, 1 up) at 300 dpi.
Reductions of 24x, 42x, 48x &72x are standard and customer's requests are
optional. The image mode speed is 240 pages per minute, 240 dpi. The 16mm film
unit can take a 4,500-foot film cartridge (2.5mil) and when set to the 48x 2 up
mode it can print 522,000 frames (8.5x11) per roll.
Image
Graphics:( http://www.igraph.com/EBRecorders/EBRs.htm
) Image Graphics manufactures Micrographics Electron
Beam Recorders that are capable of recording ASCII, Raster and Vector data onto
16mm, 35mm, 70mm and 105mm conventionally processed silver halide microfilms. A
4.0 micron diameter, high energy, electron beam is employed and the EBR can
record at resolutions of 600 dpi or greater as well as 8 bit grayscale images.
Kodak: (http://graphics.kodak.com/docimaging/US/en/Products/Micrographics/Microfilm_Cameras/i9600_Series_Writers/index.htm)
The Archive Writer 9600 is capable of outputting a 215-foot, 16mm roll of
microfilm in less than one hour. Using the 24x mode, 1 up (simplex) this means
90 pages per minute and is capable of 300 dpi. Kodak has sold a few thousand
units over the past 17 years. 16mm x 100’ or 16mm x 215’, Kodak proprietary microfilm
only.
MD Archive ImageWriter: (http://www.iicarchive.com )
The Archive ImageWriter uses a single Optical Camera System with the flexibility to
adjust to 16mm and/or 35mm standard
LE 500 microfilms.
Exposure
Rate: 1.2 sec/Frame typical [ANSI A4 TIFF Group 4 Compression].
Extensive Metadata Program choices, plus electronic indexing of
all data recorded on each roll of film.
Document Capture Range: A10 [1.02” x
1.45”] through AO [33.1” X 4.8”]
Manufactured
in Singapore and assembled in the US for the North American market.
Staude: (http://www.e-staude.com/fc_eng/p06_fileconverter.php) The Staude digi-fiche system converts most raster images
files (tiff, gif, jpeg, pdf, etc.) to analog images and onto conventional
microfilm. This unit can also print to color film. The output is 105mm
microfiche and the speed is "up to 2,500 images per hour". The Staude
file-converter 16/35 "can handle all kinds of image files such as TIFF, JPEG,
PDF, DOC, XLS, etc. in bi-tonal, grey scale or color. The converting process,
which is done by utilizing standard 16 or 35 mm microfilm, is quick, reliable
and provides excellent image quality. The original document size can vary from
as small as a postcard up to A2. After the files are transferred to the system
it will work without any further operations."
Zeutschel: (http://www.zeutschel.de/english/products/microfilm_plotter_op500.html) The OP500 "prints to 16mm or 35mm roll film (1,000'
max.)". Maximum 81 Mega Pixel optical resolution' output. Capable of
printing standard source document microfilm densities of 1.0 +/- 0.1 and will
output grayscale and to color film. The production speed of the OP 500 is for
maximum quality 600 full frames 35mm per hour, 1200 half frames 35mm per hour
and for 16mm up to 2400 frames per hour."
Note: For
storage and distribution of engineering documents an accepted industry standard
microform is the aperture card. The following machine prints from digital to
microfilm that is mounted on aperture cards with the data coming from CAD or
raster files:
Wicks and
Wilson: (http://www.wwl.co.uk/apertureplotters.htm) The Wicks and Wilson ACO-2 aperture card plot station can
output 35 cards per hour at 200dpi and 25 per hour at 400 dpi. Input via
standard raster and vector formats. The film used is "laser plotting
film". The cassette holds 250 cards and the unit weighs 230 pounds.
The above information was extracted from the manufacturers' web
sites or from company representatives. Keep in mind that the purpose of this
list is to assist the reader in their search to find the best hardware answer
for their in-house digital to microfilm printing needs. The author in no way
recommends the use of any specific equipment but does recommend further
research by those readers who have applications to which a COM device will
provide solutions for their vital records needs