IDEAlliance Releases Results of Wide/Grand-Format Inkjet System Study

The IDEAlliance – the industry association identifying best practices for efficient end-to-end digital media workflows – has released its “IDEAlliance Inkjet RoundUp” report.

Billed as “an independent third party technical evaluation of leading commercial roll to roll and flatbed, wide and grand format inkjet printing systems for the display graphics, signage, and P-O-P industries,” the report provides evaluations on 24 systems configurations submitted by 11 different suppliers.

In a release, the association states: “This report does not make recommendations on individual proprietary systems, but provides independent, un-biased, sound technical data on system performance and capabilities. IDEAlliance recommends the report be used to evaluate systems’ relevance to specific business requirements and priorities.”

Systems were evaluated in 10 separate categories, including: color gamut, color management, uniformity, repeatability, registration, ink consumption, print speed, rub resistance, weathering, and system price. Systems were submitted by: Agfa Graphics, Canon/Océ Display Graphics Systems, CGS, Durst US, EFI, Epson America, Fujifilm, Hewlett Packard, Mimaki USA, Mutoh America, and Seiko Instruments USA.

“The study indicates there are some exciting products on the market with good color, good speed and good image qualities such as permanence and weatherability,” says Dr. Abhay Sharma, Ryerson University, and the study’s director. “The ability of color-management systems to control color and achieve target values is exceptional, with many dedicated RIP systems providing workflows to achieve accurate color and also verify that color to a print standard or in-house specification.”

Testing was conducted under the direction of Lyndee Sing and Dr. Xiaoying Rong of California Polytechnic State University (CalPoly).The first 200 copies of the results report are bound with actual test sheets submitted for evaluation.

The report is available for purchase via the association’s website. Price: $89 ($69 for IDEAlliance members).

IDEALLIANCE
www.idealliance.org