How to disable lossy compression when scanning on my Officejet Pro 8710?

[scsi-wuzzy]

I've got my Officejet Pro 8710 directly connected (via USB) to my Windows 10 machine. I've also just downloaded and installed the basic drivers from the HP website. I assume then, that I have the most recent drivers (IIRC, the file was dated several years ago as per the website, so I assume the drivers haven't been updated recently in any case).

When scanning, the scanner seems to apply some type of lossy (JPEG-like) compression in order to speed up transmission of data to the PC. Unfortunately, the artifacts from this compression are very apparent in the scans. On Linux, using XSane, there is an option to disable this compression and, when scanned via that method, the artifacts are gone. However, I want to be able to scan without those compression artifacts on my Windows PC as well. How can I achieve this?

I know some third party software claims it can do this on Windows. For example, Vuescan indicates that it allows bypassing the built-in JPEG compression done by the scanner (the same way Linux does). However, I'm assuming there's a way to bypass this using the official HP drivers for the scanner, but how? From what I've read, some HP scanner software has an option called "Optimize for Image Quality," but I cannot find any such option on my scanner.

I've also read elsewhere in discussions that this compression may not be employed for scans under 600 DPI. However, I don't want to scan at under 600 DPI. I want to scan at 600+ DPI without the compression artifacts.

Also, since I'm expecting someone will suggest I just save to a lossless file format -- I already am. The artifacts I'm talking about can be seen prior to even saving an image file. If you acquire an image in any software (NAPS, GIMP, etc.), you can see these artifacts. The artifacts are 100% coming from the scanner itself, and they're gone when compression is disabled in XSane on Linux.

[Jay_G24]

Hi @scsi-wuzzy,

I'd like to help!

The compression feature cannot be turned off.

For scanning at a higher resolution, please ensure that your "Source" is "Flatbed".

For scanning at a higher resolution, please ensure that your "Source" is "Flatbed".   This is important as it will then allow you to select higher resolution at the "More" > Image > resolution.   (example as shown)

Hope this helps! Keep me posted. 

And, Welcome to the HP Support Community. 

Please click “Accept as Solution” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution.

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[scsi-wuzzy]

That is unfortunate. Thanks for that information, though!

For now, I've been able to "solve" the problem by running a SANE server on a Raspberry Pi that is connected to the scanner via USB, enabling me to scan using scanimage in WSL on my Windows box. That allows me to acquire images on Windows with or without the JPEG compression.

I can't help but feel it's a bit of a complicated solution for what should amount to a checkbox in the Windows drivers, though, if I'm being honest. I guess it probably would've been possible to just directly scan over the network using SANE in WSL (and omit the RPi server), but I'm expecting the networking in the printer is probably slower vs. the RPi connected to the printer via USB and delivering data via ethernet. Plus, this solution seems way more comical and over the top.

[Jay_G24]

I am glad you found a workaround.

Unfortunately, I do not think you can scan directly to WSL.

 If you need further assistance feel free to reach out to us.

Have a great day ahead!