Wide-Format Innovations on Display at GRAPH EXPO

GRAPH EXPO's Press/Finishing/PackPrint/Photo Imaging show floor sections feature a host of new wide-format products—including product debuts and MUST SEE 'EMS winners. Now spanning the realm of print, online and mobile, this year's show will display the hottest new technologies in the market and create a 'must attend' event for graphic communications professionals.

GRAPH EXPO wide-format product debuts

This year in Chicago, some exhibitors are using GRAPH EXPO as a launch pad to debut new wide-format products into the market.

Roland DGA (Booth 3451) is debuting the company’s fastest and most powerful digital printer/cutter to date, the new 64-inch SOLJET Pro 4 XR-640. Building on the success of the company’s flagship SOLJET line, the Pro 4 is engineered for production printing with a dual inline and mirrored print head configuration that yields exceptional image quality and high print speeds. The XR-640 fires droplets of seven different sizes for beautifully smooth gradations, high-fidelity photographs and flawless solid colors. Integrated contour cutting produces graphics of virtually any shape. With the Pro 4, Roland has introduced a new generation of eco-solvent ink, Eco-Sol MAX 2, in nine colors: CMYK, light cyan, light magenta, white, metallic silver and light black, all fully optimized for its advanced print head technology. Priced affordably, the SOLJET Pro 4 represents the industry’s best value for production printing of banners, POP, backlit displays, decals, labels, outdoor signage, vehicle graphics, building wraps and photographic reproductions.

Canon USA LF printers

Wide-Format MUST SEE 'EMS Winners

Three winning products from the MUST SEE 'EMS fall into the "Pressroom Wide-Format" category and will be on display at GRAPH EXPO.

Epson America (Booth 636) is showcasing the EPSON SureColor S50670 64" solvent printer. This printer incorporates a dual array of EPSON MicroPiezo TFP print heads to deliver extremely small droplet sizes, and four times the nozzles of Epson’s previous solvent printer for extremely fast print speeds. Under development for over 20 years, this is the first time this revolutionary dual array print head is being used with a solvent ink technology. Featured on the SureColor S50670, EPSON UltraChrome GS2 ink delivers up to five colors with a radical new high density White ink to accommodate a broad range of indoor and outdoor signage applications.

The HP Designjet L26500 Printer from Hewlett-Packard (Booth 1227) is a large-format solution using water-based HP Latex Inks and HP Thermal Inkjet printing technologies. The HP Designjet L26500 Printer can help print service providers expand their offerings with diverse indoor and outdoor applications including soft signage and interior décor.

The 61-inch device prints with speeds up to 246 square feet per hour and a maximum resolution of 1200 dpi. The HP Designjet L26500 Printer is compatible with more than 500 media choices and offers double-sided printing. The Energy Star-certified printer cures the inks inside the printer, resulting in dry prints that are ready to be finished or used immediately without special ventilation or an external heater.

Xanté (Booth 2449) is demonstrating the Excelagraphix 4200 powered by Memjet. It is a 42" wide inkjet printing system that also brings this unrivaled speed, performance and affordability for short-run and variable data color printing to packaging, including folding carton and corrugated cardboard. Xanté's exclusive substrate support gives customers the ability to print indoor signage and design graphics through a simple print path height adjustment on the Excelagraphix 4200.

Other wide-format highlights

EFI (Booth 2000) is showcasing two wide-format products. The EFI VUTEk GS3250LX is a fully loaded, production-level LED UV-curing hybrid printer. Like other qualifying GS Series printers, the VUTEk GS3250LX integrates with EFI Web-to-print and MIS solutions with native JDF connectivity between the Fiery XF RIP and VUTEk system to deliver a powerful, sustainable process improvement opportunity.

The EFI R3225 is a 3.2-meter roll-to-roll, entry-level production UV inkjet printer that offers stunning image quality, low total cost of ownership, and access to a wide range of flexible substrates at production speeds, all at a price of around $160,000. It provides eight-level variable drop grayscale heads for superior quality images, optimized ink usage, and UV-curing inks for access to a wide range of substrates, giving owners the lowest total cost of ownership, greatest profit opportunity, additional addressable markets, and high customer satisfaction.

Van Son Holland (Booth 2054) is demonstrating its line of premium inks, available in either cartridge or bulk packaging, for wide-format inkjet printers. Its water-based pigment and dye-based inks are specially designed for 10,000-piezo printhead devices, such as Mimaki, Epson, Mutoh, and Roland. The product line includes dye sublimination, solvent, and eco-solvent, as well as regular and Power Chrome Pigment-based formulations.

Mutoh (Booth 3644) is showcasing the new ValueJet 1638 – 64-inch Eco-solvent printer at this year’s GRAPH EXPO. The ValueJet 1638 is the fastest printer in its class, printing up to a blazing 1,000 sqft/hr. Including a standard one year warranty, take-up system, automatic sheet-off function and easy maintenance access, its perfect for printing vehicle wraps, POP signage, indoor and outdoor displays, banners, posters and more. Optional one liter ink bags are available for high productive environments.

Fujifilm (Booth 414) is highlighting two products in its booth at GRAPH EXPO. The Inca Onset S40i flatbed UV inkjet printer, which supersedes the Inca Onset S40, includes intelligent features to increase productivity and reliability. It meets the high-volume, fast-turnaround production needs of specialist display print companies, using 168 new-generation, user-replaceable printheads (28 per color) on a full width print array delivering a 28 picolitre drop size.

The Acuity LED 1600 wide-format inkjet UV-LED printer from Fujifilm fully incorporates the cutting-edge technologies of the Fujifilm group, including a uniquely designed LED lamp unit, high-precision / high-speed inkjet printheads, and high-sensitivity UV LED curable ink. Keys to the Acuity LED 1600 performance are class-leading productivity with print speeds up to 215 sq ft per hour, and an eight-color ink set providing a wide color gamut and smooth tonal gradations for production of high resolution quality images. The Acuity LED 1600 alsoallows printing white or clear ink in a single pass for even greater productivity.

Durst Image Technology US (Booth 858) is presenting the new Rho P10 250, which defines a new quality standard for industrial production level machines. At the heart of the P10 250 printer, are the new Quadro Array 10 printheads. This creates the stunning "fine art" print quality at 1000 dpi resolution, producing finer tone, sharper text and smooth gradations. The P10 250 also features light colors for the best in quarter tones and can print these with no loss in production speeds. The P10 250 provides customers with the opportunity to not only enter new markets, but also supply a quality of print previously unattainable.

The :Jeti 3020 Titan from Agfa Graphics (Booth 627) is a field-upgradeable, UV-curable wide-format inkjet printing system designed to handle heavy workloads. It is a high speed, grand-format UV-curable flatbed system with ten levels of upgradeability to maximize ROI. Its base configuration of 16 heads expands to 48 heads, providing a wide spectrum of speed, image quality and color capabilities. AGfa's :Anapurna M2540 FB is an entry-level, flatbed UV inkjet printing system, specifically designed for printing on rigid substrates. It uses six colors (CMYKLcLm) and white in and features four production speeds. Its maximum speed is 484 sqft/hr at 720 x 360 dpi resolution. High-quality Photo Mode prints at 86 ft2/hr with resolution of 720 x 1440 dpi.

Mimaki’s (Booth 3439) new JV400LX Series of wide-format latex printers bring you boundless printing freedom through lower drying temperatures, a greener working environment and reduced operating costs. Mimaki’s new water-based latex ink technology is a radical departure from other latex offerings currently on the market. Lower drying tempuratures provide more substrate versatility while reduced voc’s require no special ventilation and provide for a cleaner working environment. The JV400LX Series comes in a 53” and 63” printing width and is ideal for indoor and outdoor signage.

The new JV400SUV Series sets new industry standards by combining the flexibility of solvent printing with the durability of UV cured inks, resulting in smooth, glossy prints, which simulate the appearance of being coated yet retaining the color brightness expected from a solvent printer. These characteristics, coupled with a high resistance to scratching and weathering are designed to satisfy even the most demanding customers. The JV400SUV Series comes in 53” and 63” printing widths and utilizes two newly developed piezo print heads with four rows of 320 nozzles per head for top quality, high speed, variable dot printing.