I could make this a really long post with tons of in-depth information on how scanners work. Thankfully, that is not necessary. If you plan to use your scanner for more complicated projects than just scanning slabbed cards, then you do need to do some additional research. Although if you have the need for a high-end scanner, you probably already have one. For our purposes, there is just one thing you need to know:
There are two main types of “scanning elements”: CIS and CCD. You need a scanner with a CCD element.
The reason you see so many horrible blurry scans of graded cards is that most commercially available scanners have a CIS element. If your scanner has a CIS element, you will always have blurry scans of graded cards.
CIS Element:
CIS stands for Contact Image Sensor. The full name actually does a pretty good job of explaining why a scanner with a CIS element does a poor job of scanning graded cards. CIS elements scan the surface that is directly against the glass. Scanners with CIS elements do a great job of scanning raw cards because they are laying directly on the glass. When you place a graded card on a CIS scanner, the scanner is scanning the front of the plastic slab, leaving the image of the card behind very blurry.
CCD Element:
CCD (which stands for Charged Coupled Device) technology was originally intended to be used for scanning film slides. Scanners with CCD elements can focus on the image in a slide (or a card in a slab) rather than just the first layer of plastic (in the case of a slabbed card) or paper (in the case of a film slide).
In order to make sure you’re buying the right scanner, you have look through the specs and make sure your target scanner clearly states that it has a CCD element. Like I said earlier, if you get a scanner with a CIS element, you will have blurry scans. There aren’t any adjustments you can make to improve the quality of scans.
All of the scans you see on this website were taken with my Epson Perfection v33 scanner. It’s a refurbished unit that I got on eBay for $40. If you currently have a scanner with a CIS element and you own graded cards, buying yourself a scanner with a CCD element may be the best present you can give yourself for the price. As you can see from my example, you can get one for the price of a PSA 2.5 T206 common.