The HP Latex 3000 is a significant departure from exisiting HP latex machines and those offered by other vendors, according to the manufacturer.
"One of the things people in this market have said previously is that they love the look and feel of latex but production is not fast enough for them," said Jane Rixon, HP’s UK and Ireland large format production products channel business manager.
The Latex 3000’s 77sqm/hr and 120sqm/hr speeds, for indoor and outdoor applications respectively, have solved this issue, added Rixon.
According to HP, this boosted productivity is down to improved curing technology allowing substrates to move through the machine faster.
The new printer also boasts improved cost-effectiveness, scratch resistance, ink capacity and roll handling capabilities.
"As well as having the six colours, our third generation latex inks also have an ink optimiser, a transparent almost seventh ink that is laid down before the other inks to make these adhere to the surface even better," said Rixon.
She added: "You’re able to use heavier rolls on the Latex 3000 than you could on the previous 850. You’ve also got larger capacity, five-litre cartridges."
The current line-up of HP latex printers includes the L26500 and L28500, and the LX600, 820 and 850.
HP said it had no plans to update these models to make them compatible with its new third generation latex ink. The models will however become part of a newly rebranded ‘HP Latex’ family, equivalent to HP’s Designjet and Scitex series.
"Other manufacturers are bringing out latex technology but there are a number of differences between the formulation of those inks and in HP’s machines.
"So we want to make it very clear what we mean when we talk about latex, which is completely water-based technology. There are no hazardous components in that ink," explained Rixon.
The HP Latex 3000 will be commercially available in August and will be priced at £230,000.
