Dainippon Screen will make a pitch for the high quality market with a new digital web inkjet press coming to New Zealand and Australia in January next year.
Distributed in New Zealand by Fujifilm, Screen will aim the new press at Kiwi printers in the high volume digital web market with the Truepress Jet 520HD. The company says its 1200 x 1200dpi resolution printheads with variable droplets will deliver a new level of high quality print for inkjet.
Peter Scott, managing director of Screen Australia, says, “Naturally we have known internally about the development of the 520HD for some time and have seen samples of the print quality achievable. I can only say that they are several levels higher than current high volume inkjet production; quite superb in fact.
“I am delighted that the focus is on quality over sheer speed, although at up to 120m per minute, the 520HD is no slouch. Maximum 1200 x 1200dpi quality is achieved at 50 metres per minute.”
Released as a wide-gamut CMYK device, the machine will have modular stations built into it that can accept additional printheads in the future.
Scott says, “Each printhead is controlled independently so that, if you are only printing with one colour, all of the other printheads remain capped. However, there is no time delay when switching from a single-colour to multi-colour job.”
The press offers new inks in the form of high density formulations to achieve wide-gamut colour definition at high speeds. Also new, the paper transport and drying system can stock 40gsm to 250gsm. Scott says, “The substrate flexibility will be more than welcome in the market as this has long been a limiting factor in high volume inkjet. Many offset stocks can be printed including heavier 250gsm board.”
While this new printer belongs to the company’s Truepress Jet 520 family, which has seen more than 700 manufactured since its launch in 2006, the Truepress 520HD is a completely different machine.
The 520HD’s workflow, based on Screen Equios software, includes In-RIP Smart Imposition, an ICC Profile Editor and Spot Colour Editor. An Adobe core will enable variable data processing at the full engine speed.
The machine will also offer an optional inspection unit for security and so-called mission critical print, a redesign of Screen’s JetInspection which checks the whole page and compares the printed result to the RIP data.
Two European direct mail printers have already ordered machines; the first will go to Nic.Oud in Holland in November and the second to Switzerland’s Baumer. Maurice Gelissen, chief financial officer of Nic.Oud, says, “Until now, inkjet quality has just not been at the level we wanted for the direct mail products we produce for our leading brand customers. We have spent a lot of time evaluating a lot of presses and conducting blind tests.
“The Screen Truepress Jet 520HD gives us the power to produce a variety of other materials such as cards, paper wraps, books and magazines. It gives us an opportunity to offer creative print services to our customers to make their communications more dynamic and effective.”
