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Scan Features (6.50)
The scanning unit on the HP C5180 is composed of a platen large enough to scan 8.5 x 11.7-inch media. The CIS sensor is capable of 2400-dpi resolution with a maximum 48-bit bit depth. Interpolated (software-enhanced) resolution can reach 19,200, useful only for line art, especially considering the amount of time it takes to scan at this resolution. Scanning is possible from the software and the unit itself, but scan type or quality can't be specified via the menu. Specific settings can be assigned to the Scan button within the software program only. The scan head moves across the platen with an awful, grinding sound. Other scanners don’t do this, so why HP’s technology is different enough that consumers have to be tortured is beyond us.
Scan Speed (4.72)
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Scanning Times Per Resolution (in seconds)
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B&W
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Color
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Text
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Graphics
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Photo
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Resolution (dpi)
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8.5x11
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8.5x11
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4x6
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8.5x11
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75
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7.9
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43.0
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13.3
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43.0
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150
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7.6
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43.0
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13.3
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43.0
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300
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8.7
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53.0
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13.3
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43.0
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600
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58.8
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221.0
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57.0
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161.0
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1200
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254.5
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926.0
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196.0
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718.0
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Times for scanning text at lower resolutions—75, 150, and 300 dpi—were comparable to other multifunctions, even better than the Canon Pixma MP600. But at 600 dpi and above, the curve shot way upward, with a scan at 1200 dpi taking 4.24 minutes. The speed test is scored based on the slope of the line (y-value) shown in the charts below. The higher the y-value, the more that contributes to a low speed score.
Color graphics took appreciably longer to scan on the C5180 than comparable units. An 8.5x11-inch newsletter PDF took 43 seconds at the two lower resolutions. A 1200 dpi scan took over 15 minutes. You could take the dog for a spin around the block, grab a cup of coffee and a newspaper, and still get back before a color scan at this resolution was finished being rendered by the nearly comatose gremlins inside the 5180.
Four-by-six-inch photos scanned more quickly than any other document or image size at the highest resolutions, and just a bit longer than text at the lower dpi’s. Surprisingly, 8.5 x 11-inch photos scanned at comparable times to graphics at lower resolutions and even quicker at the highest resolutions (See table below). However, these times were considerably greater than those of competitors, such as the Canon Pixma MP600 and the Kodak Easyshare 5300, resulting in a poor overall score.
Scan Color Quality (5.96)
The HP Photosmart C5180 scored pretty well in our scan quality test, at least compared to some of its competitors. It shows the lowest mean Delta C error, 8.89, of any scanners in our test lab. (This error value corresponds to the average difference between the tested scanners' color values and the ideal color values of the Gretag Macbeth Colorchecker chart.) Both the Canon Pixma MP600 and the Kodak Easyshare 5300 have error values above 10. As a point of comparison, our Epson Perfection V700 Photo Scanner, the Printerinfo test labs control scanner that we calibrate and use for our testing, yields a color error of just 5.32.
The color error can be seen in the Colorchecker a*b* color error chart below. The farther that the scanner’s values, represented by the circles in the chart, stray from the ideal values, represented by squares, the greater the resulting error. The 5180 expresses some of the least error in skin tones, which is good news for users who plan on scanning images of people. The scanner shows its greatest errors in blues, purples, and reds, with somewhat less error in green colors.
The HP C5180’s mean saturation value, at 107.8 percent, is slightly higher than the MP600’s value of 106.1 percent, but not nearly as saturated as the Kodak EasyShare 5300, which reaches a value of 112.2 percent. Values closer to or over 120 percent are considered excessive because this can show up as loss of detail in highly saturated areas of an image.
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