At Dscoop Asia 2018 in Seoul, HP Inc. has unveiled a range of new technology, including the official introduction of its HP Latex R2000 Printer and its new DesignJet Z Printer series.
Speaking at the news briefing in Seoul, Mike Boyle, vice president and general manager for HP Graphics Business Solutions Business for Asia Pacific Japan, is also on the board of Dscoop APJ, says, “We are excited to be doing this today. HP’s mission is to engineer experiences that amaze and graphics plays an important role in the HP story, creating technology that makes life better.
“We continue to disrupt the market with amazing applications, making life more productive for print service providers and helping to reinvent print service providers’ operations.”
The big news for signage and print companies comes in the form of the HP Latex R2000 printer, described the first hybrid solution for rigid and flexible sign and display printing in one device. HP announced its new rigid technology at the ISA Sign Expo in March, highlighting how customers will now be able to expand their offering into new, high-value applications while also opening fresh creative ideas and concepts for sign and display.
The new printers should arrive in New Zealand by Spring, depending on availability.
HP lists the advanced printer performance specifics of the new printer:
- High-speed quality up to 88sqm/h – continuous loading
- High accuracy belt system and productive workflow with 14 automatic independent chambers
- Reliable flexible printing, leveraging assets from current portfolio, up to 100kg rolls
- Redesigned HP Latex Inks to achieve vibrant colour gamut on rigid while preserving media gloss and feel, and prints with no smell
- Durable and flexible water-based ink for high adhesion and scratch resistance with a new HP Latex Overcoat
- Lower temperatures allowing wide media versatility
- Automatic maintenance, smart vacuum, and easy loading
- Productivity enhanced with HP Smart Services
HP also announced a slew of new printers for print service providers and for Geographical Information Systems (GIS). The company says the new DesignJet Z Printer series targets print, signage, retail, and creatives for high image quality and fast, simple output to deliver photos, graphics and technical applications.
Last year, the market for large photo merchandising grew seven percent and, with nearly 1.3 trillion photos taken in the same year, HP sees opportunities for its customers grow their business with this printer.
HP says the new HP DesignJet Z6 and Z9+ Printer series make the most of their printing performance by tightly integrating the materials, hardware, and software together.
Selected models feature a new vertical trimmer. HP claims two and half times increase in printing and 20 per cent increase in post-production
Mike Boyle says, “The new DesignJet Z Printer series radically enhances the customer experience and reinvents printing possibilities for both professional photo and signage to ignite business growth and adapt to future needs.
“We thoughtfully designed the new printers to deliver impressive photo quality without compromising time resources and output speeds with the new vertical trimmer and innovative colour technologies. HP DesignJet Z Printers create amazing image quality.”
He adds that the HP DesignJet Z Printer series, both available in 24- and 44-inch formats, are built to give print service providers a competitive edge by enabling the fastest printing capabilities available.
The company adds that the DesignJet Z6 Printer series is designed for Geographical Information Systems (GIS) creators and users, print service providers, and retailers who require a simple to use solution for high-quality technical and graphics applications with water/fade resistance. The new print series is designed to handle even the most complex files with powerful processing architectures and the Adobe PDF Print Engine.
HP says the specific technologies and features include:
• HP Pixel Control: Achieve true-to-colour prints and an expanded colour gamut with RGB HP Vivid Photo Inks, featuring chromatic red, chromatic green, and chromatic blue, the i1 embedded spectrophotometer5 and HP Pixel Control. HP Pixel Control is truly digital colour pipeline designed for outstanding, consistent image quality delivered by controlling every print-ready pixel. Combining HP HDNA with HP Pixel Control, users get amazing image quality with just nine inks versus 12 compared to the previous generation HP DesignJet. The new printers also offer HP Professional Pantone Emulation to match Brand identity colours.
• Dual drop technology: Produce prints with clear details and high-contrast colour with dual drop technology powered by HP Nozzle Architecture (HDNA) and high-definition printheads. The HP DesignJet Z9+ features an upgradable configuration for a higher gloss output6.
• Tools to create: Simplify large format printing with a redesigned poster application in the HP Applications Center7, which also includes Adobe Stock, Unsplash, Vecteezy, and Pattern Design, offers customers access to the necessary tools for creating beautiful, original signs, and posters. The HP Applications Centre also embeds augmented reality (AR) technology to ignite the creation of more meaningful and engaging content for print.
• Indoor and Outdoor Durability: Create prints with highly-stable pigment HP Vivid Photo Inks that provide water-resistant, fade-resistant prints8 for long-term indoor display and, when printed on suitable water-resistant media, outdoor display. HP Vivid Photo Inks gives PSPs the assurance that the prints they make for their customers will last as long as possible.
• Security: Take advantage of the industry’s most secure printers with HP Secure Boot, whitelisting, authentication solutions, and HP JetAdvantage Security manager to safeguard printers and data for enterprise and government.
• HP PrintOS: Remotely manage the print production environment
HP is also announcing enhanced HP DesignJet Z6x10 Printers for a better user and output experience. Boasting a new fresh design, the new printers have new labelling indicating the printer colours to simplify ease-of-use. The printers have new printheads and Chromatic Red Ink formulation to deliver sharp detail and precise line quality. Optimized fast and normal print modes for heavyweight coated, polypropylene and canvas to speed-up production and enhance image quality. Lastly, the new printers will have 500 GB HDD with more virtual memory to process complex and graphic intensive prints.
HP offers a wide variety of innovative media including the new:
• HP Recycled Satin Canvas is a 17.4 mil (443 micron), 370 gsm crack-resistant canvas for HP aqueous inks, made from 100 per cent recycled water bottles making it the first of its kind in the HP Wide Format Media Portfolio.
• HP Everyday Blockout Display Film with a unique construction of three layers of polypropylene, polyester, and polypropylene film for an added suppleness and superior lay-flat properties. HP Everyday Blockout Display film is a thicker film compared to 100 percent polyester, costs less, and has a coating for dual ink technology