The HutchColor HCTMay, 02 2003 - 15:43
The HutchColor HCT is a new target for use in creating ICC scanner profiles. Designed for extremely demanding users, it has around twice as many patches as IT8.7/1 & 2 (‘IT8’) targets, a better sampling of dark colors and almost three times as many gray scale steps. These features, combined with the fact that each HCT is individually-measured, help it characterize a scanner’s performance more accurately, especially in high density values.
Benefits
The HCT offers most improvement in transparency scanning where high accuracy is needed in deeply saturated colors and dark shadow areas. Users report more accurate shadow detail, more precise rendition of dark and saturated colors and improved post-scan correction of underexposed originals. Some users even report better shadow detail (but not better color accuracy) from deeply-saturated Kodachrome® transparencies.
Limitations
The HCT is not for everyone. The amount of improvement noticed on normally-exposed originals can be small compared to some IT8 profiles. The degree of improvement may also be affected by scanner setup, viewing conditions, subject matter and user-expectations.
The HCT can be used with any scanner, however flatbed scanners with a high optical flare factor and/or uneven lighting across the target area may show less improvement than drum scanners. That being said, the HCT has shown improved results on all flat bed scanners tested so far, and can deliver excellent results on higher-end flat bed scanners.
Any scanner - drum or flat bed - that has limited shadow sensitivity (e.g. 3.3 D-max) may show less improvement than one with high-density sensitivity (e.g. 4.0 D-max.)
Related links: full specifications
