Additionally the vendor’s recently launched iPF6400S, iPF8400S and iPF765 MFP M40 printers all received the BLI Winter 2014 Pick Award in the wide-format category.

The Buyer’s Laboratory carries out independent testing and analysis on around 15,000 digital imaging products globally per year at its UK and US labs.

Awards are given twice a year, in June and December, in three categories including Pick of the Year awarded to the “best of the best” products, Line of the Year and Outstanding Achievement, which recognises OEMs that “have demonstrated unique and laudable advances in imaging devices".

Products in the Wide-format Line of the Year award are assessed on breadth of product line, reliability, image quality, ease of use, colour management, productivity and connectivity over a two-month period.

Wide-format analyst at BLI Joe Tischner said: "The comprehensiveness of Canon's offerings, satisfying the production/proofing print markets with the eight-colour models and the high-end graphics markets with the 12-colour models, across all the common size ranges, together with the outstanding lab performance of all the models tested, have justly earned Canon the 2014 Line of the Year award for its wide-format graphic arts printers.

“Canon's imagePrograf models go a long way in satisfying the needs of customers by providing numerous capabilities and outstanding overall quality," he added.

The iPF6400S printer was named an Outstanding 24in eight-colour wide-format graphic arts printer, while the iPF8400S printer won the award for Outstanding 44in eight-colour wide-format graphic arts printer.  

Both models were praised by BLI for their “flawless reliability” and “very good colour output without graininess, mottling or banding”.  Meanwhile, the iPF765 MFP M40 printer was named the Outstanding Colour Wide-Format Technical MFP.