Microtek International Inc. is a Taiwan-based manufacturer of digital imaging products and other consumer electronics. Among its current product line are Microtek branded plasma and LCD TVs, LCD flat panel monitors, LCD and DLP projectors, and digital cameras as well as their flagship line of affordable scanners that include flatbeds, film scanners, and document imaging scanners. In 2007, Microtek launched Cineon, a premium line of HDTVs.
Microtek's products are used in a broad range of applications and environments, from small office, home office, corporate, education and government settings to high-end professional publishing, printing and pre-press service providers.
History
The company was founded in 1980 by Dr. Bobo Wang and is based today in Hsinchu, Taiwan (Hsinchu Science Park). Its United States subsidiary, Microtek Lab Inc., is currently headquartered in Fontana, California.
Microtek first entered the industry in 1983, when scanners were little more than expensive tools for hobbyists. In 1984, it introduced the MS-300A, the world’s first desktop halftone scanner. At about the same time, the company realized a need for scanning software for mainstream users and developed EyeStar, the world’s first scanning software application. EyeStar made desktop scanning a functional reality, serving as the de-facto standard for image format for importing graphics before TIFF came to fruition. Continuing its leading-edge approach to the scanning industry, Microtek proceeded to develop the first OCR, or Optical Character Recognition, program for text scanning, once more successfully integrating a core function of scanning with its machines.
Throughout the 25-year history of the digital imaging industry, Microtek has pioneered several first-to-market scanning products. To date, Microtek holds the record for a number of world-firsts in the scanner industry. These product milestones include:
- First affordable black and white scanner equipped w/complete set of desktop publishing tools
- First grayscale image scanner
- First affordable film scanner
- First affordable color scanner
- First 36-bit color flatbed scanner
- First to introduce emulsion-direct scanning technology or E.D.I.T. for glassless film scanning
- First stand-alone scanning appliance
- First bundled crafting kit
- First flatbed scanner to incorporate Fast USB (USB 2.0)
- First flatbed scanner with integrated Digital ICE technology for photo prints
Research, development, and Flat-Panel HDTVs
Microtek has research and development labs located in California and Taiwan dedicated to optics design, mechanical and electronic engineering, software development, product quality, and technological advancement. It has an advanced research laboratory, established in 1996, that serves to fuse and strengthen key technologies, such that the company has gone on to garner some 130 patents since then. In 2005, Microtek leveraged this experience in digital imaging toward televisions and launched its first Microtek branded flat-screen EDTV, the MHP-1. It was shortly followed by an HDTV version, the MHP-1 HD. In 2007, Microtek, in addition to its full line of HDTVs, launched Cineon a premium line of flat-screen HDTVs aimed at custom installers and specialty markets.
Distribution
Today, Microtek has global operations and distribution channels around the world, with international subsidiaries in China, Singapore, and Taiwan. Its distribution network throughout North and South America includes Ingram Micro, Tech Data, Wynit, and D&H. Additionally, Microtek and Cineon products can be found in retail channel outlets including Best Buy, CompUSA, Office Depot, Staples, Micro Center, Fry’s, P. C. Richard & Son, Fred Meyer, and B&H Wholesale. Microtek products also can be purchased through online websites, mail order catalogs, VARs and systems integrators. In Addition Microtek managed to bargain a worldwide bundle deal with software manufacturer LaserSoft Imaging to deliver SilverFast with their scanner line.
In 2009, Microtek announced that it would be halting all commercial and professional sales in North America.
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