New Epson Wide Format Printers

[Ron Marshall]

New printers announced, with automatic switching between blacks, finally!

http://www.print21online.com/supporters/epson/

[eric black]

Black ink switching at last- thats about 5 years overdue!

[Bruce Watson]

Still no gloss optimizer. Well, the proof of these printers will be in their prints. Perhaps Epson has been so clever that they don't need a GO. Maybe.

[neil poulsen]

They had it in the 4000. Took them a while to get the extra channel in subsequent printers.

Jeepers, I wonder if they used the extra profits from ink sales to fund the additional channel.

They may think they have no choice, with other print manufacturers coming on strong. I'll bet they pondered a bit before adding this feature. :D

[uniB]

That HDR word gets everywhere doesn't it!

Right, what can I sell to get one of those.....

[Asher Kelman]

New printers announced, with automatic switching between blacks, finally!

http://www.print21online.com/supporters/epson/
Ron,

Great catch! Now did you see any prices or signs of it being introduced in the USA too "this spring"? Do you follow print21online? I did not know that website. The Yahoo print group is good too. I'll check to see if there's any mention there.

Now what about long term archival quality. They say it's also for fine art and museums, however, I didn't understand the following:

"This generation of UltraChrome HDR ink delivers reduced graininess in skin tone areas, smoother tonal gradation from shadows to highlights, excellent short term colour stability and outstanding long term lightfastness, highly accurate colour control with neutral black and white, and high gloss levels on water resistant prints."

So how does stability differ from lightfastness? One is short term and the other long term!!!

Asher

[Ron Marshall]

Ron,

Great catch! Now did you see any prices or signs of it being introduced in the USA too "this spring"? Do you follow print21online? I did not know that website. The Yahoo print group is good too. I'll check to see if there's any mention there.

Now what about long term archival quality. They say it's also for fine art and museums, however, I didn't understand the following:

"This generation of UltraChrome HDR ink delivers reduced graininess in skin tone areas, smoother tonal gradation from shadows to highlights, excellent short term colour stability and outstanding long term lightfastness, highly accurate colour control with neutral black and white, and high gloss levels on water resistant prints."

So how does stability differ from lightfastness? One is short term and the other long term!!!

Asher

I don't know the answers. The permanence of Epson Ink has shown to be quite good, but there may have been small improvements in that also in smoothness due to the new heads. We shall see! Since they have not been announced in North America yet it may be a while before they arrive here.

[Michael Gordon]

Still no gloss optimizer. Well, the proof of these printers will be in their prints. Perhaps Epson has been so clever that they don't need a GO. Maybe.

It's been my experience that glop isn't needed with this new generation of F-type fiber papers and K3 inks. The prints are damn good straight off the printer.

[Brian Ellis]

Black ink switching at last- thats about 5 years overdue!

Are you talking about auto switching between matte and photo (gloss) black? My 3800 has that, it's been on the market for a couple years.

[Mike Boden]

Are you talking about auto switching between matte and photo (gloss) black? My 3800 has that, it's been on the market for a couple years.

True, but that's not the case with the 78xx & 98xx series printers. This feature is something that people have been waiting a long time for in these larger printers.

[Brian Ellis]

Those 350/700ml ink ($) cartridges sound expensive for light users (amateurs). It might pressure some of us to no longer consider a 24inch model, staying with 17 inch machines. If not used up it represents more ink wastage, while for heavy users it reduces your ink cost. Great idea for some of us, but less affordable for others due to ink cost.

Well, Epson has caught up to the Z3100, and added a few new things, but what's next from HP? . . . .

Customer service maybe? :-)

[Deliberate1]

I'd be more than a bit ticked if I pulled trigger on a 7880 or 9880 which have not, if memory serves, been out for much more than a year. I have been running a 7800 for about three years and find it to be a very capable printer. Not sure who the 350ml and 700 ml cartridges are aimed at - except very high volume users. I get a very large number of 24" square prints out of the 220ml carts. They go for around $60. So the 700ml's will touch $200, and then times ten. That is no cheap date. I had a 2200 and 2400 and was smitten by the Epson Fine Art and Velvet - two lovely matte papers. Gave that all up when I got the 7800 to avoid the $70 ink dump with the switch out. Ultimately concuded that most folks can not tell what kind of paper you used once it is under glass.

[timparkin]

Ron,
...
So how does stability differ from lightfastness? One is short term and the other long term!!!

Asher

Stabiliy is the ink changing even when no light is applied (self stability), Lightfastedness is the inks reaction to light..

Tim

[neil poulsen]

On the automated switching from matte black to gloss black, a question is how much ink is lost. The 4000 has no ink loss in switching back and forth, because each of the two blacks have their own complete channel.

For me, that's the goal. Reading the promo information, it's not clear that the 7900 has this feature.

It appears to be a nice printer, though. How much is it? I didn't find it listed at the Epson website.