Epson Announce Stylus C64/C84 Printers
Digital Photography Now yesterday reported the imminent release of 2 new budget printers from Epson. The Stylus C64 and C84 printers are priced at ?69 and ?99 respectively (exc. VAT) and will be avialble in September.
Normally the release of yet more low-end, budget printers wouldn’t cause much of a stir, but the new Epsons both use DURABrite ink, rather than the more conventional dye-based ink. Epson claims that their new new DURABrite inks “ensure laser sharp blacks and vivid, life-like colours that are waterproof, smudge proof and fade resistant for up to 80 years*. Ian Burley of DP-Now expands on this:
“Espon says its new Durabrite inks borrow much of the knowledge used to formulate their UltraChrome pigment inks developed for professional large format ink-jet photo printers. Like UltraChrome, microscopic Durabrite ink particles are encapsulated in a resin coat that helps prevent coagulation and promotes a smooth printed surface with better light reflecting characteristics. Epson also says it has improved the colour gamut of its Durabrite inks. To date, Epson is the only consumer ink-jet printer manufacturer to use pigmented colour inks as well as black.”
Fade-resistant inks in relatively cheap printers like the C64/C84 can only be a good thing. How long will it be before Epson uses the DURABrite ink across it’s printer range? Maybe the problem of fading, a serious concern with dye-based inkhet printers, will soon be a thing of the past.
According to Ian “Epson wants us to seriously consider adopting its new four colour pigment ink printers, the Stylus C64 and C84, for general purpose photo printing, as well as document printing. Here at dp-now.com we think their argument has some merit, though photo print perfectionists may not yet be persuaded.” Epson are also releasing a Durabrite new glossy paper to go with the new printers.