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Scan Mode Speed of Saving Image Files as PNG vs JPG
Scan Mode

Information in this article applies to:

  • uScope Navigator V4.5 and Later

Article ID: NSC2337 — Created: 27 Oct 2020 — Reviewed: 14 Dec 2020

Question

Will setting the image file format to PNG slow the scan speed of the uScope?

Answer

Yes. But, typically, this effect is observable only on slower PCs. When scanning slides, you may opt to save the scanned fields are PNG files or JPG files.

  • PNG images are compressed but lossless.
  • JPG images are compressed and lossy.

PNG images are larger than the corresponding JPG images and, therefore, take more time to read, write, and copy.

The following PC characteristics may contribute to the performance hit of using PNG images versus JPG images:

  • A Slow CPU
    We recommend Intel i7 or i9 processors. They are fast and provide performance that easily makes up for their cost.
  • A CPU with Fewer than 4 Cores
    As of 2020, CPUs with 8+ cores are readily available and very affordable.
  • A Slow Hard Disk Drive or SATA SSD
    M.2 NVMe PCIe SSDs are very fast—up to 4 GBytes/second transfer rates.
  • A Full (or nearly full) Hard Drive or SSD
    Drive space is relatively inexpensive. When little drive space is available, system performance suffers.

You may wish to monitor your CPU performance using Task Manager to compare scanning with JPG versus scanning with PNG images.

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