Scanner

Scanner may refer to:

Technology

For invisible radiation

• Scanner (radio), for searching for and receiving radio broadcasts
• An outside broadcasting control vehicle
• A rotating radar antenna
• Neutron scanner, a scanner which utilizes neutrons to penetrate objects for analysis

For (near) light

• Image scanner, which digitizes a two-dimensional image
  • 3D scanner, which digitizes the three-dimensional shape of a real object
• Motion picture film scanner, which scans original film for storage as a digital file
• Barcode reader, which reads the data encoded in a barcode
• Laser scanner, which guides a laser beam along a path, sometimes combined with a measurement
• Stepper, a part of the photolithography process
• A biometric scanner, an electronic device with a sensor to read patterns or images from faces, irises and finger pads to create a biological template or profile
• An automated spotlight

Computer software

• Port scanner, in computer networking
• Virus scanner (Antivirus)
• Vulnerability scanner, a computer program that probes for weaknesses
• Lexical analyzer, a computer program
• WikiScanner, a tool that provides a searchable database of anonymous Wikipedia edits
• Scanner, a disk space analyzing and management tool for Microsoft Windows
• Image scanner, a device to digitize paper documents

Other

• An automotive electronic control unit diagnostic tool

Popular culture

• Scanner (comics), a mutant appearing primarily in X-Men comics.
• Scanner (band), a German speed metal band
• Scanners (band), an alternative band from London
• Scanner, the stage name of British electronic musician Robin Rimbaud
• Scanner (Code Lyoko), a fictional teleportation device
• Scanner (Half-Life), a floating enemy in the Half-Life video game series
• Scanners Live in Vain, a science fiction short story by Cordwainer Smith
• A Scanner Darkly, a science fiction novel by Philip K. Dick
• Scanners, a 1981 science fiction horror film
• In much science fiction, especially older science fiction, the term scanner is used to refer to what is usually now termed a computer monitor.

Other

• A personality type described by self-help author Barbara Sher characterized by having many different interests and/or keep changing interests very often.

Barbara Sher uses the word "scanner" for someone who scans the surface of things, as opposed to "divers" or experts. Other words for scanner includes polymath, renaissance soul, multitalent, generalist and multipotentialite (as in Multipotentiality).

See also

• Scan (disambiguation)