Like these, it is based on piezo drop-on-demand (DOD) technology, but DuPont claims to have built a stable and consistent imaging system, something it believes is lacking from current DOD printers, which are scaled up desktop printers.
The market was looking for less expensive hardware, said DuPont print media manager Brent Martin. The obvious thing to do was to take an existing device, put our RIP in front of it and give it a Cromalin badge. But there were issues with this approach.
The company went back to the drawing board and spent 18 months developing a product that removed inconsistency.
Rather than using capstan advance found in wide-format ink-jet printers, it uses an external drum design as used by Digital Cromalin, which, it claims, is the only way to ensure accurate dot placement. It also fitted temperature control to the (DuPont-developed and manufactured) print head to control ink viscosity, which it claims sorts out banding problems.
The firm also worked with resolution and droplet size to ensure consistent droplets ending up with a resolution of 485dpi. To produce smooth results and good grey balance it uses a seven-colour system, which adds light cyan, light magenta and light black to the CMYK set.
Colour management is excellent, but its no use if the engine lacks consistency, said Martin.
The firms AQ GE remains as its top-end product for the ultimate in consistency, and still remains its recommendation for sites producing multiple proofs for very precise retouching.
It has already taken orders for the b2, with installations set for January.
Story by Barney Cox
