[lowpopper]

Sorry guys but this is nonsense.

A peripheral device authenticating cards? Aside from the storing of the image for
future comparisons, the only usable data that can be reliably extracted from
a scan are measurements for total size and centering. Even that can easily be
thrown off by a print defect or a slightly irregular cut.

As far as alteration detection, the only way to use imaging technology to
identify altered cards would be to have a massive database of card
"before images" to compare to. Even if compiling a database with millions
of entries was feasible, it could never be 100% accurate due to the amount
of cards that come off the same print runs and have virtually identical physical
qualities. There would be too many "perfect matches" to identify the true
original.

I know not everyone has a tech background so I understand the optimism
when a discussion like this starts. At best, implementing technology can ASSIST
us with card grading. It could never be done with perfect accuracy. There will
always be errors: human and mechanical. The best we can do is use before and
after pictures on currently graded or serial numbered cards. Anything beyond
that would not improve upon the accuracy of a human physically measuring and
inspecting a card.

Has anybody calculated the current accuracy rate of the current grading process?
I hear a myriad of complaints regarding the grades that were assessed wrong, but
how many are done correctly? I would imagine it is something very north of 99%,
no? Millions upon millions of graded cards out there and a few thousand are turning
up bad? As far as ratios go, that sounds irrefutably reliable for a paid service. Yes,
one could make the argument that the sample size is smaller because the focus
seems to be on the higher value pieces, but that should not render the lesser value
slabbed cards to be irrelevant here. There may never be a way produce a process that
is void of error, collusion, or dubious behaviors. However, the current grading process
as a whole IS accurate based on the numbers we are aware of.