EPSON LAUNCHES NEW 17-INCH SURECOLOR PRINTER
TAkiNg oN CANoN’S
imagePROGRAF PRO-1000 is the latest addition to Epson’s new generation of SureColor photo printers, the P5070. It’s also a desktop model, but can handle paper widths of up to 17 inches for making prints up to A2 in size. It uses a ten-colour ‘Ultrachrome HDX’ pigmented ink set with large, 200-millilitres-capacity cartridges – to promote more economical printing – and newly formulated pigments. Epson says that the new black inks are 1.5x denser than previously and so deliver a wider dynamic range. Improved resin encapsulation technology has been employed to give better gloss uniformity and “optically clearer, sharper images”. Epson claims that its new-generation pigmented ink technology delivers up to twice the print permanence than before.
The P5070 has a ten-channel version of Epson’s ‘PrecisionCore TFP’ print head which includes a new ink-repellant surface coating, along with improved dust and static control to reduce the likelihood of nozzle clogging. Additionally, printless nozzle checks can be performed which saves wasting both ink and paper. Incidentally, there’s 360 nozzles per colour channel – with variable-size ink droplets as small as 3.5 picolitres – to deliver improvements in both the printing speed and the detailing in a print.
There are two colour configurations; one with a Light Light Black ink and another which uses Violet ink. The Light Light Black configuration is designed to give smoother and more neutral tonal transitions when printing in B&W using the Epson Advanced Black And White print mode. When the Violet ink is used, the colour gamut is expanded to give a 99 percent Pantone coverage which Epson claims is currently the best in the industry.
The P5070 can accept paper rolls and has a power-driven roll media spindle which enables the production of panoramas and roll printing up to around 30 metres in length. There’s an internal high-speed, single-pass rotary cutter. A high-capacity cassette for cut papers can hold up to 100 sheets of premium photo paper in sizes up to A2+. Fine-art media up to 1.5 millimetres in thickness (including posterboard) can be accommodated via front paper feed. Automatic switching between the roll and cassette sheet feeds allows both to be loaded at the same time. Four-sided borderless printing is available at all standard paper widths from eight inches to 17 inches.
The Epson SureColor P5070 is available now, priced at $2695. Various packages are available, including one which includes an optional in-line spectrophotometer (for automated colour management) and an extended five-year warranty.
For more information visit the website at www.epson.com.au