The two companies have developed the new sheetfed electrophotographic press, which uses LED imaging and liquid toner technology, in an attempt to combine the strengths of both digital and offset printing.

The press, which prints at 1,200dpi, aims to offer high quality-printing that is comparable to offset via the offset transfer of ultrafine particle liquid toner from a photosensitive drum to the substrate.

Miyakoshi and Ryobi said that the new press is geared towards printing both small-lot printing applications such as catalogues, posters and packages and also high-quality, large-size variable printing.

It is based on the same technology as the MD-Press 1260, a continuous feed web press with an imaging width of 487mm and a print speed of 60m/minute, which Miyakoshi demonstrated at Drupa 2008.

The press is seemingly the result of Miyakoshi-funded research into high-speed electrophotographic printing using high-viscocity liquid toner, carried out by the Research Laboratories of Australia (RLA).

It remains to be seen whether this patented technology also drives the 1,200dpi toner-based Quantum web press, announced by Xeikon last month.

Miyakoshi and Ryobi have joined a raft of manufacturers that will launch B2 digital presses at Drupa, although at 8,000sph print speed theirs is more than twice as fast as any of those announced already.

By comparison, HP's B2 Indigo 10000 is capable of 3,450sph, Komori's unnamed B2 inkjet press 3,300sph, MGI's Alphajet 3,000sph, Fujifilm's Inkjet Jet Press 720 2,700sph, and Screen's Truepress Jet SX 1,620sph. Delphax has yet to reveal the print speed of its Elan press, which uses Memjet inkjet technology.