Screen European marketing manager Phil Eaves said Ipex was the ideal place to gauge the markets reaction to the piezo on-demand printer.

Eaves said: "We want absolute assurance that this would fit into the market, before any launch. We can also see if there are any modifications that need considering."

The results of the companies joint research study should be in by the end of the April, and, if favourable, a further announcement is expected by October.

The PL-1000 printer has CMYK plus light-magenta and light-cyan, and can boast 12 inkjet heads and 720 nozzles per colour. It is capable of producing a resolution of 720dpi x 720dpi.

"It produces an exceptionally high quality that we believe is very acceptable for the market," said Eaves. "The beauty is that there are no pre-press costs. If you actually look at market prices you find that there is very little difference between 5,000 copies and 10,000. The up-front plate costs are high."

The label printer can take a 50mm to 150mm width web and has a production speed of 5m to 1.5m a minute.