For the time being, the Hennessey Venom GT is the fastest production car in the world with a top speed of 270 MPH. It is an impressive, and jaw‐dropping, engineering feat. Apart from the simple practicality of owning such a vehicle (it sells for $1.2 million and has a long waiting list), where can you ever drive such a vehicle at that top speed? You will no doubt require a professional driver and a long straight‐away. Sure, you will receive admiring glances from onlookers as you drive it through town at 35 MPH, but it’s a bit of a waste of the 1451 hp and 1287 lb.‐ft. of torque.

Like automobile manufacturers, whole slide scanner vendors are quick to quote top scan speeds as if these speeds somehow represent throughput under normal operation. In reality, a typical slide scanner with a top scan speed of say, 60 slides per hour, is more likely somewhere around 20‐25 slides per hour once you take into account the other factors affecting throughput.

Let’s take a moment to look at the three main inhibitors to total scanner throughput, and then we’ll see what can be done to improve total throughput – download ‘Why Total Scanner Throughput Beats Scan Speed Every Time.‘