Scan

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Scan may refer to:

• Scan, the act of examining sequentially, part by part
• Image scanning, in data processing, the act of optically analyzing a two or three dimensional image and digitally encode it (digitize it) for storage in a computer file
• Scan, the resulting computer file from image scanning (commonly used in the anime and manga art communities)
• Scan, to examine successively every character or bit in a digital computer file as part of a data retrieval function, also in data processing
• Scan, in data parallel programming languages such as APL and J for prefix/suffix reduction operations. One variant is known as a prefix sum.
• Scan, to subject a document to the process of OCR including optical recognition of printed text or printed sheet music
• Scan, in radar, one complete rotation of the interrogating antenna
• Scan, in sonar, to search 360° or a specific search sector by the use of a phased array of transducers
• Scan, to sweep or rotate a beam about a point or about an axis
• Scan, to analyze writing and verse regarding rhythmic and especially metrical structure.
• Scan, a common name for medical ultrasonography, the medical procedure for examining internal structures, especially when applied to developing foetuses in the womb.
• Scan, as it applies to other types of medical imaging, particularly computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging.
• SCAN, an acronym for Strategic Creative Analysis
• Scan, a Swedish meat company, see http://www.scan.se
• Scan (Prison Break episode), an episode of the television series Prison Break
• SCAN, a psychiatric diagnostic tool developed by WHO.
• SCAN Health Plan, a Californian HMO.
• Shared Check Authorization Network, a database of bad check writers and collection agency for bad checks

Scanning may refer to:

• Scanning, in television, facsimile, and picture transmission, the process of sequentially encoding the luminosity and optionally the color of a picture or scene, line by line into an electronic signal. It also refers to remotely reconstructing the picture or scene on a display device.
• Scanning, in telecommunications, the process of rapidly tuning a radio receiver through a predetermined range of frequencies to select an active radio broadcast. Scanning may be performed manually or automatically.

• Counter-scanning, in physical micro and nanotopography measuring instruments like scanning tunneling microscope, atomic force microscope, etc., a way to eliminate image distortions caused by slow drift of the instrument probe relative to a measured sample surface.

• Scanning, in radar and radio direction-finding, the slewing of an antenna or radiation pattern for the purpose of probing in a different direction. In radar, scanning may be mechanical, using a rotary microwave joint to feed the antenna, or electronic, using a phased array of radiators, the radiated pattern (beam) of which depends on the relative phases of the signals fed to the individual radiators. In civilian air traffic control radar, scanning usually implies continuous rotation of the antenna or beam about a vertical axis. In military radars, scanning may occur about other than a vertical axis, and may not encompass a full 360°.
• Scanning, in teaching reading, the technique for quickly finding specific information in a text while ignoring its broader meaning.
• Scanning, in the semiconductor electronics testing industry, to test the logic used in an integrated circuit in a non-functional method by using a special test mode. This mode generally changes the configuration of the device being tested to look more similar to a large shift register. Logical blocks are then tested by loading and unloading this register. (See for instance JTAG Boundary Scan.)
• Scanning, a term for the medical technique for body imaging.
• Scanning, the term for the lowest-level work of a software compiler, putting together the individual characters of the text of a computer program to form lexemes.
• Scanning, a behaviour in which prey animals look around for possible predators.

See also

• scanner

References

• Definitions related to telecommunications are from Federal Standard 1037C in support of MIL-STD-188

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