Sony Press Release 21/10/04

SONY DIGITAL PHOTO PRINTER PICKS UP THE PACE

UP-DR150 Sets New Speed and Quality Standard for Event Photos, Digital Kiosks

CHICAGO, Oct. 21, 2004 (PMA Fall Conference Booth # 717) - Sony Electronics today enhanced its line of digital photofinishing products with the introduction of the UP-DR150 digital photo printer, a dye sublimation printer that is now the fastest in its class of professional photo printers.

Designed to deliver quality prints and rapid turnaround in retail, studio, in-field event and kiosk applications, the UP-DR150 also offers high-volume roll printing, durable print heads, and a simple front-access design to minimize maintenance.

“We continue to accelerate the expansion of the digital photofinishing market and its technologies with the introduction of the UP-DR150,” said Jay Dellostretto, vice president for digital photofinishing in Sony Electronics’ Broadcast and Business Solutions Company. “Retailers and photographers can effortlessly deliver the prints their customers want faster and better than ever, making retail digital photofinishing an even more compelling offering.”

PCMagazine have today posted reviews of no less than 4 new HP printers, including the top-of-the-range HP Photosmart 8450 model (pictured).

“The HP Photosmart 8450 Photo Printer ($299.99 direct) from Hewlett-Packard is a close cousin to the HP Photosmart 8150. Like the 8150, it can serve as an all-purpose printer, with good performance and good or better output quality across the board. And both are notable for their 2.5-inch color LCDs and kiosk-style menu features that let you fix flaws in your photos and print without a computer.”

Website: PCMagazine - HP Photosmart 8450 Printer Review

Website: PCMagazine - HP Photosmart 8150 Printer Review

Website: PCMagazine - HP Photosmart 5740 Printer Review

Website: PCMagazine - HP Photosmart 375 Printer Review

BIOS have just reviewed the Lexmark P6520 All-in-One printer/scanner/copier, which is aimed at digital photographers rather than business users.

“Lexmark’s P6250 all-in-one printer has consumer-friendly features and all of the components you need to start a home photo lab. Unfortunately, its print quality is disappointing and it takes forever to print large documents. The unit makes it a snap to start making your own albums and digitising your existing photos, but you’ll be disappointed by its ‘photo quality’ prints. In fact, its output can be bettered by much cheaper alternatives, such as Epson’s Stylus CX3600.”

Website: BIOS - Lexmark P6520 Review

Lexmark Press Release 18/10/04

Lexmark makes it easy to print photos on the go
 
- The P315 Snapshot photo printer is like having your own portable photo lab -
 
LEXINGTON, Ky. - 10/18/2004
 
For the second time in two months, Lexmark International, Inc. (NYSE: LXK) has unveiled a breakthrough in photo printing with today’s introduction of the Lexmark P315 Snapshot photo printer, which offers the latest in photo printing ease-of-use features designed to uncomplicate the process of producing high-quality, 4” x 6” images.

This is a truly portable photo studio that does not connect to a computer. Consumers can print borderless, 35mm-quality images directly from most digital cameras or memory cards in any room of the home or in their office. The Lexmark P315 also allows easy editing for customized prints that can be produced as fast as 38 seconds*.

“The Lexmark P315 offers some of the great ease of use features that we introduced with our Lexmark P6250 Home Photo Center All-in-One and the Lexmark P915 Home Photo Printer in September in a portable, smaller size,” said Najib Bahous, Lexmark vice president and president of its Consumer Printer Division. “It doesn?t make sense that consumers can take their digital cameras anywhere, but they have to wait until they get to their home to enjoy the prints.  We changed that experience with the Lexmark P315 by creating a portable, photo lab that can be used anywhere there?s an outlet.”

Photo-i have posted a very enthusiastic review of the new HP Photosmart 8450 printer.

“When it comes to print quality, then this printer is in a league of its own. I have seen plenty of printers in my time, but this one produces excellent results time after time. The only losers here are going to be the Colour management vendors. HP have got it spot on with the 8450, you can safely forget about creating a custom profile. If you do want to tweak the settings then this is an easy job via the excellent controls on the print dialogue palette.”

Website: Photo-i - HP Photosmart 8450 Printer Review

Dell Press Release

The Dell Photo Printer 540 is a small, easy to use portable printer that delivers photo-lab quality 4x6 inch photos, and works with digital cameras, a variety of memory cards or with a PC. It’s ideal for the home, office or business user who wants “ready-to-frame” high quality photographs from a fast, compact printer.

The Dell Photo All-In-One Printer 942 delivers outstanding, borderless photo printing in sizes up to 8.5 x 11 inches and includes the convenience of regular print, copy, fax1 and scan capabilities packaged in a sleek, space-saving design.

Both of these new Dell printers deliver affordable color photo printing solutions with professional results. The 540 uses thermal dye transfer technology to produce beautiful photographs in less than 60 seconds. Each print has a glossy finish Clear Life CoatingTM that makes it durable, waterproof, smudge proof and long lasting.2 The 540 printer uses Dell Supplies Management SystemTM software to help make sure you never run out of Photo Print packs.3 The 942 system produces high quality printing at up to 19 pages per minute (ppm) in black and 14 ppm in color (actual print speed will vary with use), and offers low cost options for standard or high capacity cartridges. The 942 uses the Dell Ink Management SystemTM software to monitor print cartridges.

Akam.no have just reviewed the six colour, 4800 x 1200 dpi Canon PIXMA iP6000D printer, which uses FINE (Full-photolithography Inkjet Nozzle Engineering) technology with 2-picolitre Micro-Nozzles and has card slots for all popular brands of memory card.

Website: Akam.no - Canon PIXMA iP6000D Review

PC Magazine have just reviewed the new Epson Stylus Photo R320 photo printer.

“The Epson Stylus Photo R320 ($200 street) fills a gap in the Epson line between the R200 and the R800. Like both of those models, the R320 is a photo printer that can print on printable CDs and DVDs. Its performance is on a par with the R200’s for both business applications and photos, but on output quality it comes close to matching the R800, even beating it for text quality.”

Website: PC Magazine - Epson Stylus Photo R320 Review

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DPNow have an exclusive first look at the Lexmark P6520 All-in-One printer/scanner/copier, which is aimed at digital photographers rather than business users.

“Once again the good news is that, so far, the photo print quality from our sample P6250 has impressed us. We took an image from an Olympus C-60Z and printed it directly from a memory card onto an A4 sheet of Lexmark’s own premium quality glossy photo paper, using borderless printing mode.

The print had to be cropped a fair bit, but you can choose the area to be printed, both zooming and panning, using the printer’s preview screen. Printing time was just over seven minutes from the moment the paper was moved into position by the printer. That’s not fast - the fastest Canons can cover the same page in under two minutes and between four and six minutes is the norm for other printers, but the P6250’s performance is a huge leap forward compared to other Lexmarks I’ve tested. Lexmark claims a 6x4 photo can be printed in under 40 seconds.”

Website: DPNow - Lexmark P6520 Preview

The Norwegian website DigIT.no have published a review of the new Canon BubbleJet i9950 printer.

Website: DigIT.no - Canon BubbleJet i9950 Review

PhotographyBLOG reader Jernej B has sent me an interesting link to a report on the Wilhelm Research website, which looks at the permanance of various 6x4 inch printers that are currently available in terms of print longevity. The pigment-based Epson PictureMate printer comes out on top with a massive 104 years when printed on PictureMate Photo Paper. The HP PhotoSmart 325 and 375 printers are next with 82 years. Bringing up the rear is the is the Sony DPP EX5 with a meagre 4 years.

Website: Wilhelm Research - Display Permanence Ratings for 4x6 Inch Printers

Website: Wilhelm Research - Test Methods

Epson USA Press Release 11/10/04

Epson Pairs Most Advanced Pro Printer with Exclusive ColorBurst RIP to Launch Complete Printing Solution for Demanding Creative Professionals

LONG BEACH, Calif.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Oct. 11, 2004— Epson Stylus(R) Pro 4000 Professional Edition Features a Custom-designed PostScript Language Level 3 RIP by ColorBurst(R) that’s both PANTONE(R) Licensed and SWOP(R) Approved  

Epson America Inc. is expanding the capabilities of its most advanced professional-level photographic printer to deliver the highest level of performance and value. The Epson Stylus Pro 4000 Professional Edition combines the award-winning Stylus Pro 4000 printer with a custom-designed RIP from ColorBurst and Epson’s fastest Ethernet card for the premier printing solution for digital proofing, fine art and digital photography.

Featuring Epson UltraChrome(TM) Ink, the Epson Stylus Pro 4000 Professional Edition produces extremely brilliant, color-accurate, stable prints with repeatable results that are consistent from printer to printer. The unique PostScript Language Level 3 Compatible RIP developed by ColorBurst exclusively for this Epson printer is the first one that includes a full Pantone color library, so there is no need to convert Pantone spot colors to process equivalents, and is SWOP certified. Because this version produces contract-quality prints for final approval in-house, it saves designers money, enables them to set expectations for clients and facilitates the prepress workflow.

Pantone, Inc. Press Release 11/10/04

PANTONE ColorVANTAGE Inks Expand Support for EPSON Wide-Format Printers; Wide-Gamut Pigmented Inks Now Support EPSON 2200, 4000, 7600 and 9600 Ultrachrome Printers

CHICAGO - SINESS WIRE) - Oct. 11, 2004 - Pantone, Inc., the global authority on color and provider of professional color standards for the design industries for over 40 years, today announced the availability of PANTONE(R) ColorVANTAGE(TM) pigment-based inks for EPSON(R) Ultrachrome(TM) printers. Newly supported printers include the EPSON Stylus(R) Pro line of wide-format professional printers including the 9600, 7600 and 4000 models as well as the EPSON Stylus Photo 2200 large-format photographic printer. PANTONE ColorVANTAGE inks are already available for the EPSON Stylus Photo 1270 and 1280 and the EPSON Stylus Pro line including the 5000, 5500, 7000, 7500, 9000 and 9500.

PANTONE ColorVANTAGE is a family of premium pigmented inkjet inks and specially developed printer profiles to ensure optimal color performance. The inks are designed for applications that require the most accurate color reproduction and the widest possible range of color such as color photography, fine art reproduction and prepress proofing. A wide variety of profiles for fine art, proofing and photographic papers including Arches(R) Infinity(TM), Seiko Epson Corporation, Hawk Mountain Papers, Kodak, Mitsubishi, Moab Paper Company(TM), Premier Art(TM) and Red River Paper are available free-of-charge for registered users at www.pantone.com. New media and profiles are added regularly.

PCMagazine have recently reviewed the budget Epson Stylus C66 4 colour printer, which was first announced in the UK back in June.

“If you care about output quality more than anything else and you’re on a tight budget for purchase price, the Epson Stylus C66 ($70 street) may well be your printer of choice. It offers among the best overall output quality of any ink jet, period.”

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1668297,00.asp?p=2

Vincent Oliver over at Photo-i has now completed his interactive review of the new Canon PIXMA iP8500 printer.

“When I first saw the ip8500 in July my immediate reaction was wow! This was going to be the printer that set the standard for the next generation of inkjet printers. The sample prints we were shown were a mixture of red motorbike shots and red autumn leaves. The prints jumped off the page, I had never seen such deep reds from any inkjet printer before. Little did I know at the time that this over saturated red would also cause problems. Putting aside the colour issue, the actual print quality is nothing short of outstanding. Micro detail is well rendered, in fact better than my eyes can actually see. The banding that was once a problem with so many inkjet printers can now be safely forgotten about.”

Website: Photo-i - Canon PIXMA iP8500 Review

PCMagazine have posted their review of the new HP Deskjet 6540 color inkjet printer.

“Where the 6540 truly distinguishes itself is in the level of quality you get at this speed. Text is just short of very good, with all but two of the fonts we test easily readable at 6 points, and several readable at 4 points. Graphics quality is very good, with some minor banding and minor dithering in the form of mild graininess. Photos are just short of excellent, with colors that are a touch too saturated in some output.”

Website: PCMagazine - HP Deskjet 6540 Review

Michael Reichmann over at Luminous Landscape has provided some more detailed information about the new A3 printer that Epson has just released in Japan, the PX-G5000, which will probably be released worldwide as the successor to the Stylus Photo 2100/2200.

“So, the impression I get is that this is the printer for those who want to optimize
their color prints and work faster. For black and white work, you might want to hang on
to the 4000 until we see the actual results from the new printer.  I can see people in
Canada having both printers in the house for specific jobs, but in Japan where space is a
scarcity this is going to be a tough decision to make.”

Website: Luminous Landscape - Epson PX-G5000 Printer Details

PCWorld have just reviewed the stylish Polaroid PP46d Thermal Photo Printer.

“I tested a shipping PP46d by printing images taken with a 5-megapixel camera and stored on a CompactFlash card. The print quality was great, prompting one of my colleagues to remark that the prints looked like “real pictures.” The unit also reproduced colors accurately, with skin tones, landscapes, and even a white wedding gown looking crisp and clean.”

Website: PCWorld - Polaroid PP46d Thermal Photo Printer Review

HP UK Press Release 06/10/04

HP sets new levels of excellence with new imaging and printing introductions

BRACKNELL, UK, 6 October, 2004.  HP today announced the launch and upgrade of more than 15 new imaging and printing systems, solutions, and accessories as part of its ongoing Smart Office initiative designed to help SMEs get more reliable business results from their technology investments.  In addition, many of the imaging and printing products released, such as workgroup printers and print servers, are also ideal for enterprise environments.

New and enhanced products range from colour laser and inkjet printers, and monochrome laser printers (see separate release), to networking and mobile printing accessories, all of which help address the imaging and printing needs of businesses of all sizes.  The new lineup offers customers HP?s fastest colour and mono laser print speeds to-date; the industry?s first gigabit print server; added advanced security features for transferring data across a network; and, easy-to-use connectivity options including mobile wireless printing that enable simple walk-up printing when on the go.

“No company understands and meets the needs of small and mid-size businesses better than HP, and we?re committed to continued leadership in this important and growing market,” said Peter Urey, IPG Category Manager, HP UK. “Customers know that when they choose HP, they get a relationship, not just a transaction. By developing products and services for the unique needs of small and mid-size customers, HP delivers a superior ownership experience, so customers spend less time worrying about technology and more time focused on their business.”

HP UK Press Release 06/10/04

Continued investment in mono technology means that customers get smaller, faster and more efficient machines

BRACKNELL, UK, 6 October, 2004.  HP today introduced its largest-ever refresh of monochrome printers its new range of mono printers. These new products continue to increase in speeds and shrink in size whilst lowering the total cost of ownership of printers. 

The increase in performance of the new range, which is suitable for the home, SME and enterprise markets, is the result of significant investment from HP into mono printing from both a hardware and supplies perspective and sets new benchmarks for mono printing products.

Included in today’s launch are six new monochrome printing platforms that consist of 27 new individual products.  From a broader industry perspective, the refresh of the monochrome product line also means that 50% of the entire printing industry?s monochrome inventory is being replaced with new products from HP. 

“There has been talk in the industry around the fact that mono printing is a declining market with reductions in colour price points resulting in customers moving away from mono. This is simply not the case, and the latest market figures back this up,” said Laura Seymour, Personal Laser Category Manager, HP UK.  “We are continuing to invest in new mono technologies and are driving the market forward so that people can discover new uses for their mono devices like printing at home - this is still an exciting market to be in.”