What will happen if I scan the mirror and can the scanner break?

Often people of curiosity do strange things for the sake of. Now that the Internet is ubiquitous and search engines are well developed, conducting unusual experiments is not necessary at all. In addition, many of them can lead to damage to the object of study.

One of the questions that keep sleep curious at night is "What happens if you scan a mirror." To exclude home experiments, we will consider this issue in detail in the article.

How does the scanner work?

To understand what will happen if you scan a mirror, first you need to understand the principle of operation of the scanner itself.

This device is used now in almost all offices and in many homes for transferring images from a flat surface to a digital one.

In general, the main components of the scanner are mirrors and a lens. A stream of light incident on the scanned image transfers it to the monitor. From a technical point of view, it looks like this:

Reflection of light from the image.
Transmission to the optics of the scanner an impulse that contains the received information about the image (color, shape).
Decryption of the received information by drivers.
Display image on the screen.

REFERENCE! Drivers on the computer are pre-installed. Without them, the normal operation of the scanner is impossible, as well as many other technical additions to the PC. They are purchased with devices or downloaded from the Internet (in most cases, for free).

What happens if you scan a mirror?

There are many assumptions about this. The most common include:

The scanner lamp will be visible.
In fact, the internal structure of the device (in particular, the carriage) will be photographed, but due to the large exposure to the human eye, a bright spot will be visible.
The device may break.
And also a fantastic option. Since the mirror is a conductor to the other world, when it is scanned, people and creatures living in another world will be photographed.

However, all of these options are incorrect. The answer is really simple. It can be easily obtained by conducting your own experiment. It will require a small flat mirror without a frame (such that the device cover closes without problems) and the scanner itself.

IMPORTANT! Not all printers tolerate this experiment painlessly, so go to the end of the article before you run to check what you read.

If we consider the principle of work in more detail based on the image, we get a similar algorithm, only in it you can see more mechanics of work:

The lower part of the scanner body will be reflected in the enclosed mirror.
This reflection is subsequently highlighted, after which it is captured by a moving mirror.
From it, the image is transmitted to a fixed mirror.
It already, in turn, sends information to the CCD matrix, which already transfers it to the PC.

As a result, when scanning in place of the mirror, only a black spot is obtained. If it was previously dirty, then the pollution will be reflected in the resulting image in the form of bright spots.

The fact is that while the scanner is in operation, a carriage with a lamp that sends a stream of light onto the images moves along the working area, and the reflected rays are captured by special devices. A larger amount of reflected light creates a larger current, so the pixel will have a higher value, which means better illumination. From this condition, it is confirmed why the output is a black sheet.

At first glance it sounds illogical, but to realize this, it is necessary to understand how the received information about colors is converted in the program.

Any color in digital format is specified as the amount of red, blue and green. Each color absorbs light to varying degrees - the scanner also works on this principle, that is, the degree of absorption at each point is transmitted during scanning. Thus, we can conclude that in this case, the work is not with RGB (a model in which colors are obtained by applying light), but in CMY - colors are synthesized in it by subtracting the information obtained by scanning.

The mirror reflects the light in full, therefore, as a result, red, blue and green will be subtracted in 100% volume, and this is black in the digital display.

Many scanners are now equipped with additional focal elements for clearer capture of images from paper. In the case of a mirror, on the contrary, they will only aggravate the situation. It will not allow them to perform normal focusing, because of which the image will turn out blurry (in this case, it means pollution and scratches).

What harm will be caused to the scanner / printer

When information spread around the Internet that there was no harm to the device when scanning the mirror, people everywhere began to conduct this experiment at home to make sure the results were reliable.

And thanks to numerous experience, this information has been confirmed. Scanning a mirror surface does no harm to either the scanner or the printer, unless in the case of the latter you spend a lot of ink on the printout of the result.

Can the technique break down?

With careful use, the equipment will not fail. For all numerous experiments, there were no cases when the scanner broke down precisely because a mirror was scanned in it. However, with improper use, this can be done easily.

A mirror is a heavy object compared to paper usually scanned through a scanner, so you cannot, for example, throw it sharply onto a work surface. It can easily be scratched or even broken. Sharp chips on the mirror can easily lead to scratches, which is why it is always indicated that scanning of such an element should be carried out extremely carefully.
It is also important to follow the usual operating rules that apply to any scanner.

It is necessary to avoid touching the working glass as much as possible so as not to accidentally stain it.
When the device is not in use, leave its cover open - in this case, dust will fall on the glass, which will subsequently degrade the image quality.
Close the scanner lid. This applies more to transparent objects, as in this case the light can pass through without reflection on the optical device.
Hold the lid when closing it to avoid accidentally breaking the working glass or malfunctioning lid mounts.
The scanner should be located where direct sunlight will not fall on it.
It is not recommended to put heavy objects on them in their free time.
Moisture must be avoided.

How can it break

There is an opinion that when scanning a mirror surface, the device will simply burn out due to a strong flash. However, such a statement has never been confirmed in practice. Damage to the device can occur under normal conditions. The most common malfunctions of scanners include:

Damage to the inverter backlight. In this case, a running strip is not observed during operation, and the result of any scan is a dark sheet.
Damage to the backlight. In this case, everything looks the same as in the case of an inverter malfunction. The lamp fails due to the fact that it has a limited life. It can also happen if a breakdown occurs in the power supply.
Scan head malfunction

Often an incorrect image is obtained in such banal cases as:

Blurred glass. In this case, what is happening can be guessed intuitively: light passes through spots and stains worse, because of which the image at the output can be halved in quality. Therefore, it is important to periodically wipe the glass with a soft, lint-free cloth.
Incorrectly installed or not at all the same drivers. The latter are selected for a specific model. Even if your old scanner was of the same company, there is no guarantee that past drivers will be able to ensure normal operation of the new one.

Which printers are better off not scanning the mirror

As mentioned above, neither the printer nor the scanner fail because of the fact that they scan the mirror. However, the breakdown often occurs due to improper operation, and all the fault ultimately goes to the mirror.

For example, they often try to scan mirrors with frames. Naturally, the device cover does not close tightly. Especially resourceful at the same time press on the lid that the scan was successful, as a result, the broken glass of the scanner is received.

REFERENCE! Scanning with the cover open is not recommended, however, the device is not harmed in this case, but with a strong flash your eyesight may be affected. Therefore, if you still need to scan something with the device’s cover open, just look away.

Thus, if you have a three-dimensional mirror and you are firmly convinced that you need to scan it, make sure that the working area of your device is not in the cover part, otherwise you will not get a normal result. Such models are not widespread, but nevertheless they occur.

The type of printer does not matter when scanning a mirror. It can be either inkjet, laser, or even matrix ... However, there is no particular need to print the result - it is better to familiarize yourself with it on a computer screen, as it was mentioned above that it will take a lot of ink, and the benefits of the printed black rectangle are not so too much.