The first microfilm scanner I ever used was an old DOS Sunrise microfilm scanner. There was no Windows GUI- it was all keyboard, and mouse commands were limited. As cumbersome as all of this sounds, it was a great way to learn the fundamentals of microfilm scanning 16 mm and 35 mm roll film.
As technology advanced, so did the scanner displays and microfilm scanning; instead of just typing numbers in DOS, the microfilm scanner operators were able to see visual graphs of the microfilm roll frames, edge detection parameters, re-arm distance, reduction ratio, and quality enhancements, in real time.
Perhaps the biggest leap was from Sunrise DOS to Sunrise NT microfilm scanners for 16 mm microfilm rolls and 35 mm microfilm rolls.
Older Wicks & Wilson roll film scanners had a very user friendly software interface, as well. But they also had their share of issues for microfilm scanning 16 rollfilm and 35mm rollfilm.
With so many leaps and bounds, it's natural for NextScan to kinda rewrite the book on roll film digitizing. With their NextStar software, the operator simply scans strip ribbons of the roll, an another worker confirms that the individual frames separated correctly, after the detection settings are created. Microfilm scanning is now faster and better for operators and customers.
In general, 16mm roll scanners and 35mm roll scanners are better, faster and the service is better also.
