Fax Machine

Fax machine is used for sending and receiving hard copies of the documents. It works by converting the scanned document into electronic data and transmitting it over telephone lines. Fax machines have been around for more than 100 years and are being used by many businesses and individuals to transmit documents. However, due to the revolution of internet and email, it is at the verge of becoming obsolete.

The fax machine was invented by a Scottish clockmaker Alexander Bain in 1843. He constructed the machine, initially known as “chemical telegraph”, by combining his expertise in electro-chemistry & mechanics with the telegraph technology. In 1860, Giovanni Caselli developed an improved fax machine based on Bain’s ideas. Caselli’s machine, named pantelegraph, created the first fax link between Paris and Lyon.

In 1903, Arthur Korn invented the first photoelectric scanning fax machine which linked Berlin, London and Paris through fax network. Later in 1947, Alexander Muirhead developed the first very successful fax machine which worked by using rotating drum scanner. The technology has evolved over the years and the rotating drum scanner has been replaced by photo sensor in modern machines.

There are four groups of fax machines and each group conforms to certain standards specified by ITU-T. Group 1 and Group 2 are analog machines that transmit data over analog telephone lines. These devices were manufactured before 1980 and were relatively slower in operation.

Most of the fax machines that we see nowadays are Group 3 machines. These are digital fax machines that transmit data over analog telephone lines. It takes less than a minute to send a page and has higher resolution than Group 1& 2 machines.

Group 4 refers to digital fax machines that transmit data at 64Kbps over digital ISDN lines.http://www.cse.iitk.ac.in/research/mtech1997/9711106/node13.html

1. Brother International
2. Panasonic
3. Hewlett-Packard
4. Olympus
5. Canon
6. Sharp Electronics
7. Xerox