Press Release
December 31, 1999
Mentalix Offers Online Fingerprint Scan API Toolkit(TM)
Upgrades
Latest Version Of FBI-Certified Scanning Product Features
Extensive Scanning Controls
PLANO, Texas -- Mentalix, Inc. announced plans to release
version 2.0 of its Fingerprint
Scan API Toolkit. Designed to enable the creation
of FBI-certified
10-print card and latent print scanning solutions
by systems integrators, the latest version of the
Fingerprint Scan API Toolkit includes significant,
key add-on functions that are not available in other
products. For example, in addition to the existing
IAFIS-compliant basic scanning functionality, the
Toolkit now offers progress reporting and scan abort
capabilities, as well as overscan support that provides
fast, high quality scans without requiring precise
positioning of the fingerprint card on the scan bed.
The new release is expected to ship early in the first
quarter of 2000. Mentalix will automatically distribute
online "drop in" upgrades to all current Fingerprint
Scan API Toolkit customers with maintenance contracts
-- which include the leading U.S. and international
fingerprint OEMs.
Because the new release maintains full backward compatibility,
Toolkit customers can continue to use their version
1.0 compatible applications with version 2.0 certified
library modules. Developed in response to customer
feedback, added features include periodic progress
update functions to enable easy addition of interactive
progress reporting and scan abort functionality, which
allows a scan to be terminated before completion.
The new overscan support feature greatly simplifies
and improves the scanning process by enabling the
easy creation of end user applications that eliminate
the need for precise positioning of the fingerprint
card on the scan bed. API calls are utilized to allow
the application to determine the fingerprint card's
actual location and enable an in-process adjustment
before performing the necessary image-specific fingerprint
corrections. The net result is that it is easy to
build scan-friendly applications that accommodate
normal variations in the card placement and scan process.
This is accomplished while still maintaining a single
scan operation with very minimal performance overhead.
The new functionality not only saves time for the
end user, but also results in more consistent card
scans. The API is flexible in that it gives full control
of the card position analysis to the application,
so custom or proprietary integrator card positioning
routines are easily used in conjunction with the API.
Future certified runtime libraries will include all
of the new features. Additionally, version 2.0 integrates
with Mentalix's upcoming Fingerprint
Utility API Toolkit(TM), which will offer
complementary fingerprint scanning functionality such
as cropping, validation and scanner hardware quality
maintenance.
With its 'C' API, the Fingerprint Scan API Toolkit
allows integrators to provide a scanning interface
for users of Windows® 95/98/NT and UNIX® systems as
well as multi-platform environments. Features include
a fingerprint definition template for support of non-U.S.
fingerprint cards or for custom applications, as well
as "drop in" software updates for taking advantage
of new features and advances in hardware technology.
Mentalix offers several scanner/platform-specific
library modules, each certified by the FBI as being
compliant with the Appendix F Image Quality Specifications
for its Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification
System (IAFIS). Certified runtime library modules
are available for 500 ppi 10-print card scans and
1000 ppi latent print scans. Mentalix (info@mentalix.com)
also currently offers the Pixel!SCAN
API Toolkit(TM), an add-on product that may
be used with the Fingerprint Scan API Toolkit to handle
both fingerprint scanning and more general-purpose
scanning needs.
###
Incorporated in 1987, Mentalix was founded
to develop easy-to-use products for the purposes of
scanning, editing, and printing photographic images
from high-performance workstations. In recent years,
Mentalix has applied its software development and
imaging expertise to the creation of industry-recognized,
FBI-certified fingerprint acquisition solutions. Corporate-wide,
Mentalix continues to provide fast, elegant solutions
for scientific, technical, GIS, manufacturing, fingerprint
analysis, medical, educational, and government industries.
Mentalix targets custom, systems integration and off-the-shelf
solutions for Windows and a variety of UNIX systems.
The company maintains its headquarters north of Dallas
in Plano, Texas.
Mentalix, Fingerprint Scan API Toolkit,
Fingerprint Utility API Toolkit, and Pixel!SCAN
API Toolkit are trademarks or registered trademarks
of Mentalix, Inc. UNIX is a registered trademark.
Windows and Windows NT are trademarks or registered
trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the U.S. and/or other
countries. All other trademarks acknowledged.
Press contact:
Alissa F. Turner
Mentalix, Inc.
(972) 423-9377 Ext. 24
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