Xerox, which until today swore the iGen4 did not exist, was keen to take the wraps off its mystery press, which it described as "the most productive and highest-quality cut sheet digital press in the printing industry".

The new iGen has been designed to deliver productivity gains of up to 35% over its predecessor, the iGen3, in an effort to bring more litho work into the digital domain.

Xerox said: "We expect the iGen4 to deliver 25-35% more productivity by automating operator tasks, reducing the need to interrupt the press and decreasing overall operating costs.

"As a result, the iGen4 improves the breakeven point between digital and traditional offset printing – making it faster and more economical to run more print jobs on digital."

The iGen4 is capable of producing offset and photo-quality images and consistent colour at its operational speed of 110ppm.

Xerox also unveiled a concept press, the Xerox ConceptColour 220, which delivers double the output of the iGen3 by integrating two of the presses in-line.

The press prints 220ppm and features front and back full-colour matching, allowing a monthly print volume of 7m full-colour pages.