Hot on the heels of the previous news item comes this:

Canon HyperPhoto Provides Unparalleled Photo Quality Output for Minilabs, Camera Retailers and Print-For-Pay Outlets

Canon U.S.A., Inc., the industry leader in optical and digital imaging technology, today announced the immediate availability of the HyperPhoto System, a fully-integrated digital photo production system. Offering the finest photo-quality output on the market today with 1,200 dots per inch (dpi) resolution, HyperPhoto transforms negatives and transparencies, reflective art, and digital media into calendars, postcards, stickers, composites and other creative mediums.

Designed for use by camera retailers, print-for-pay outlets and minilabs, the HyperPhoto System gives dealers and retailers the ability to attract new customers with both numerous standard templates and specialized software features. HyperPhoto's Custom Edit Service software allows retailers to create their own customized templates that can be individually designed for their business needs and with print sizes up to 11.6 by 49.6 inches.

In addition to working with conventional transparencies and print films in 35mm and Advanced Photo System formats, the user-friendly HyperPhoto System also accepts images and artwork stored on ZIP, floppy disks, CD-Rom and PC-MCIA cards, making it convenient for designers and consumers working with digital cameras. Canon's HyperPhoto System will also have the capability to be networked with other imaging solutions hardware in the near future.

``Consumers and business professionals will enjoy being able to utilize their photographic images by digitizing, organizing and editing them into the various HyperPhoto formats,'' said Robert Bryson, executive vice president and general manager of Canon's Imaging Systems Group. ``Print-for-Pay, camera and minilab businesses will notice a dramatic difference in HyperPhoto's output quality compared to products produced by similar machines. The Canon system's innovative ways of presenting visual information are designed to support the increasing sophistication of consumers and business and their expectations of quality and creativity.''

``What gives the HyperPhoto System a value beyond the sum of its parts is the way Canon has integrated the components into a complete system that creates a 'business opportunity,''' states Lyra Research's Hard Copy Observer. ``Ten prints per day comes out to about half-an-hour to an hour of use per day, which is an incredibly low useage rate to break even. This fact will likely appeal to photo labs that want a relatively low-risk entry into the digital printing area.''

``Whatever customers use -- data or film, scanned image, floppy or ZIP disk -- the HyperPhoto System has allowed us to provide them with high-quality imaging capabilities and creative freedom in a single, easy-to-use system,'' said Dave Cordle, Vice President of Cord Camera in Columbus, Ohio. ``From photo albums and scrapbooks with custom backgrounds to producing prints from transparencies, our customers are impressed with the quality of the prints and the unique and personal works of art they are able to customize and create.''

The HyperPhoto System consists of four tightly-integrated primary components: the HyperPhoto Scanner HS-100; HyperPhoto Server PC HG-100; and the HyperPhoto Printer H-100 and the CanoScan 620P Flatbed scanner. Those operating the system will enjoy a friendly graphical user interface, featuring an Order and Print queue menu with icons denoting past and current jobs to ease selection.

The HyperPhoto Printer is equipped with newly-developed high-resolution Bubble Jet heads with six-color independent ink cartridges that print in razor-sharp 1,200 dpi resolution. Canon's HyperPhoto paper, designed specifically for the system, provides superb color reproduction, tone fidelity, and built-in laminate to turn digital pictures into durable memories.

With the ability to scan up to 30 frames each minute, HyperPhoto's high-speed Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) scans 35mm negatives, transparencies and Advanced Photo System (APS) format films at a rate of 2 seconds per frame. The scanner's built-in color correction captures fine image detail, dramatically improves color renditions and removes red-eye and scratches. HyperPhoto also works with reflective art such as photographic prints or postcards, as well as panorama-size prints up to 4x12-1/2 inches.