Its latest machine, the Dual XPose! 160, set a speed record of 44 8pp plates per hour and 20 16pp plates per hour.

My sales people told me they had lost sales because the machines were not fast enough, now they need another excuse, said Lscher technical director Peter Berner. Technically we are not at the limit of imaging speed the current limit is data transfer and we are developing a new interface that will allow us to speed up.

It hit that figure, which beats visible and other thermal machines designed for commercial print, at the launch of the latest versions of its XPose! VLF machines the 160 and 180, which took place in Switzerland on Monday (30 June). Regular Fuji Brillia LH-PIE plates and chemistry were used.

At 44 8pp plates per hour at 2,400dpi, it can produce 10 plates per hour more than the next fastest thermal machines, Screens Ultima and Creos Trendsetter 800 TS.

Its blistering 8pp performance is achieved, like the Ultimas, by simultaneously exposing two plates.

The figure of 20 16pp plates also beats the Creo and Screen machines performance of nearly 17 plates per hour.