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Epson America, Inc. has unveiled its latest scanner for the advanced amateur and creative consumer markets. The Epson Perfection V500 Photo color scanner is said to provide professional results with 6400 dpi optical resolution. Also featuring Epson's new ReadyScan LED technology, which delivers fast scans and no warm-up time, the Epson V500 Photo is only $249.99.

With 6400 dpi optical resolution, users can create 17" x 22" or bigger enlargements from film. Additionally, with 48-bit color depth and a 3.4 dynamic range, the Epson V500 Photo produces scans with brilliant, true-to-life colors.

The energy-efficient ReadyScan LED technology completely eliminates warm-up time both when turning on the scanner and when switching back-and-forth between reflective and film scanning, as well as automatically turns off in standby mode, using less power while offering greater productivity. Because the LED is more efficient than cold cathode fluorescent lamps, users get fast scan speeds. The ReadyScan LED also adjusts color of the light source based on the type of original being scanned, using white light for positive film and blue light for negative film, to produce precise and efficient scans. Additionally, the mercury-free LEDs are friendly to the environment.

The Epson V500 Photo includes two powerful, yet easy-to-use complete photo restoration solutions for advanced amateur photographers and creative consumers, including Digital ICE and Epson Easy Photo Fix technology. Digital ICE is an innovative technology that easily removes the appearance of dust and scratches from film, eliminating the need for costly photo retouching services to get the best results. Epson Easy Photo Fix restores faded color photos, slides and negatives back to their original brilliance with one click.

Adding to the productivity of the EpsonV500 Photo scanner is a built-in transparency unit (TPU) with a moving carriage and lamp optimized for scanning multiple 35mm negatives, slides and medium-format film. The scanner can handle up to four mounted slides or two film strips up to 12 total frames, or medium-format film of 2-1/4", 120/220 and 6 x 12 cm. Additional features include an optional Automatic Document Feeder (ADF) that enables users to quickly scan multiple documents.

The Epson V500 Photo also comes with Epson Creativity Suite, which includes Scan to E-Mail, Copy Utility and Scan to PDF; Adobe Photoshop Elements; and ABBYY Fine Reader 6 Sprint Plus OCR (ABBYY Fine Reader®5 Sprint Plus OCR for Mac). The scanner is compatible with Microsoft Windows 2000, Windows Me, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Macintosh OS X 10.2.8 and later, and is also TWAIN compliant.

The Epson V500 Photo can be purchased for an estimated street price of $249.99 from Epson authorized dealers, consumer electronic stores, mail order, distribution, and on the Epson Store Web site (www.epsonstore.com). The optional ADF will be available for an estimated street price of $199.99 on the Epson Store Web site. The Epson V500 Photo comes with a one-year limited warranty. More information about the Epson V500 Photo and other Epson scanners is available at www.epson.com or 1-800-GO-EPSON (1-800-463-7766).