Optical scanner
Hardware input device that allows a user to take an image or text and convert it into a digital file, allowing the computer to read or display the scanned object. A scanner is commonly connected to a computer USB, Firewire, Parallel or SCSI port.
In the picture to the right, is an example of a flatbed photo scanner, the Epson V300.
Other scanners include: sheetfed scanner, which is a scanner that scans paper fed into it, handheld scanner, which is a scanner that is held and drag over a page to scan it, and a card scanner, which is a small scanner capable of scanning business cards.
Also see: Input device, Picture, Scanner definitions