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Scan Features (6.5)
Scanning on the MX850 offers a few options. You can select the document type in which there are four options: document (platen), photo (platen), document (ADF simplex) and document (ADF duplex). The printer also offers four methods of saving the scanned item; you can save to a PC, as a PDF file, attach it to an email or open it using a preferred application.
The scanner itself is capable of a maximum optical resolution of 4800 by 9600 pixels [software?]. This can be interpolated up to 19,200 by 19,200, but at the cost of reduced quality.
Scan Speed (9.81)
The MX850 was speedy at scanning; it managed to scan a 4 by 6 photo at the lowest resolution in just over 8 seconds, and a 8.5 by 11 photo in 31 seconds at the maximum resolution. That's significantly faster than many of the all-in-one devices we've looked at; the Kodak Easy Share 5300 took 12 seconds to do the 4 by 6 and 51 seconds to do the 8.5 by 11 photo. However, we did find one major problem with the MX850; although Canon claims it is capable of scanning at up to 4800 by 9600 dpi, the software was not capable of scanning beyond 600 dpi. This is a serious problem if you are scanning photos or want to enlarge a portion of an image for printing.
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Canon Pixma MX850 Scanning Times in Seconds for Five Resolutions
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Resolution
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B & W Text
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Graphics
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8.5 x 11 photo
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75
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8.06
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17.6
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17.72
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150
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11.06
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17.28
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27.97
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300
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16
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21.19
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20.59
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600
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18.53
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23.12
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30.84
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1200
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N/A
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N/A
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N/A
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Scan Color Quality (5.24)
To assess the color accuracy of the scanning function, Gretag Macbeth Colorchecker chart ran through Imatest to determine how far apart the scanner’s color values are from the ideal Colorchecker La*b* values.
The Canon MX850 scanner has a color error value of 9.55. It performed better than the Kodak EasyShare 5300, which scored 10.6 but not better than the HP C5180, which yielded a score of 8.36.
The MX850 did a good job of producing greens and foliage colors but did a poor job of making reds and yellows and that’s where most of its color error comes from.
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