OMR Scanner vs. Image Scanner + OMR Software

Data Collection Systems OMR Scanners OMR Software

How the systems Run? Editing in case of errors Get Student Responses OCR Generate Report Scan as Image Send Image to Remark Office Software

How the systems Run? Generate Report Scan get student responses Send Student Data to Remark Classic Software In case of error it reject it or not based in user constraint

We have to talk in details for every step of the way 1Accuracy 2HeavyDuty 3RunningCost

Accuracy the desired accuracy during scan 1

» OMR Scanners  Consistently %  Validation and scoring on the fly (during scanning).  Selected stacker for rejected papers.  Not in need to expert person exist while scanning. Accuracy » OMR Software  Up to 99.9 % with Editing  Validation and scoring occur after scanning.  Invalid paper go with normal paper so you will need to search with the scanned images.  There is a need to expert person exist while scanning.

Why OMR Scanner is more Accurate? 1.Read Head Design In image scanner if you have the read head begin to waken you will have less accurate in scanning and resolution and you will not know till you have big problems (read head affected with amount of graphics, text and dirty in paper). In OMR Scanner each column have its own LED and if LED have some problem the scanner will let you know and you can fix only this LED, the LED read the place of data only not all the paper.

Why OMR Scanner is more Accurate? 2. Feeding The feed rollers (tires) The feed rollers used in image only scanners will transfer pencil graphite from the sheet being scanned to subsequent sheets which can easily be read as a mark. Scantron Engineering changed feed roller material and density to eliminate this graphite transfer problem. As you can imagine, when pencil graphite is transferred to the following sheets, and read as a mark when there really is no mark intended, high stakes testing results are at serious risk. The scanner buffering design The image only scanner doesn't know if there is an error until 3 sheets after the sheet is fed - much too late to do anything about the error due to scanner buffering design. Note: The image only scanners with the OCR Software solution would use a pixel count approach for OMR that will create errors when erasures are on the sheet. This approach sets a level of 'fill' for the bubble, say 10% which would be interpreted as a 'hit' for the answer. If there is an erasure on the sheet, and the pixel count for that bubble is 10%, they have a double 'hit', so this results in an error.

Why OMR Scanner is more Accurate? 3. Mark Discrimination Levels Image Scanner (Bi-Tone) have no mark discrimination levels while OMR Scanner (256 Gray Scale) have 16 Level Bi-Tone/No Mark Discrimination Results Error Correct Error Correct Error Correct Error Correct Error Results 16 Level Mark Discrimination Correct Original Document The study that was done at the University of Georgia showed that running a Fujitsu scanner with the remark software produced about a 3% error rate in the scoring. Most of this error was in multiple marks due to erasures being picked up.

Why OMR Scanner is more Accurate? 4. OCR process ABC DE Recognition Area for Question Each choice have its own Recognition Area OK (A) Wrong (A and B) Wrong (B and C) The image only scanners with the OCR Software solution would use a pixel count approach for OMR that will create errors when erasures are on the sheet. This approach sets a level of 'fill' for the bubble, say 10% which would be interpreted as a 'hit' for the answer. If there is an erasure on the sheet, and the pixel count for that bubble is 10%, they have a double 'hit', so this results in an error.

Why OMR Scanner is more Accurate? 5. Interactive Transport Printer  Prints information such as: Error codes. Date or Timestamp. Alphanumeric messages. Batch or serial numbers. Validation flags. Test scores (total score or subtest score). all this information based on data that is scanned. Printing occurs during scanning so there is no effect on throughput rate.  Image Scanners cannot print on the form because it depend on post-scanning processes.

2 Heavy Duty the main factor is to continue with good performance, not to start with good performance

Heavy Duty 1.Materials  Rollers (tires): o In image scanner the rollers like printers manufactured from material which affected with dirty and graphite and cleaning material so it can easily read as a mark. o In Scantron OMR Scanner engineers changed roller material and density to eliminate this graphite transfer problem and to be easy to clean.  Read head: o In image scanner it’s one unit (contain camera, mirrors & lamp). o In OMR Scanner it’s 48 LED (using infrared).

Heavy Duty 2. Daily Usage:  The image scanner have limited pages to be scanned per day (for example scanner PANASONIC KV-S2048C scan maximum 6,000 page per day).  Scantron OMR Scanner can work 24 hours per day.

Heavy Duty 3. Open Feed Path: The image scanner have not open feed path so it’s increase the probability of Jam and in case of jam it’s not easy to overcome this jam In OMR Scanner Open feed path design for direct access to roller assemblies and read heads simplifies cleaning and document removal

3 Running Cost

1.Form Design (Capacity) Remark uses larger bubbles and cannot space them as closely on the forms as we can with a traditional OMR form. This could create altering tests or going to a 2 page response where with an OMR form this would not be an issue.

Running Cost Printing Desktop Printer * In case of small amount of forms. * Problems of packing & printing quality. * Parts lifetime which affect in quality (like heater or toner line lengthwise the form). * Form Shifting. Print Planet * In case of large amount of forms (or accurate forms). * Easy packing & high printing quality. * Avoid headache of low quality of printing due to the parts lifetime (like heater or toner). * Avoid the cost of printer depreciation. * Decrease the probability of Shifting to the minimum rate.

Running Cost 3. Machine Cost Image scanners are not designed for serving this area, and if we want to have image scanner which is suitable for this area we will find it in the high volume category and it cost a lot. In the other hand OMR Scanners is designed specially for serving this area so it works for long time and it has modified to strengthens some components which make the lifetime of scanner is more longer with the needed accuracy.

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