Durst to Exhibit at Print World Toronto

Durst will be exhibiting at Toronto's Print World 2010 as part of its growing presence in Canada, the result of a dramatic wave of new Rho printer purchases at commercial imagers across the country—including the first North American install of a new Durst Rhotex 320 "industrial" inkjet printer for the soft signage markets, and the workhorse Rho 1000 Continuous Inkjet Production System.

Attendees of Print World 2010—November 20-22 in the Direct Energy Centre at Toronto's Exhibition Place—will find complete information on Durst's latest digital UV inkjet printers, sample images to examine and Durst executives to question in Booth #437.

Earlier this year, Version Image Plus in Montreal became the first commercial imager in North America to install Durst's flagship flatbed UV inkjet printer, the Rho 1000. More recently, another Montreal-based print provider, PNH Innovations, took receipt of the first Rhotex 320 on the continent. They are only the latest in a growing list of Canadian companies choosing Durst over production digital printing platforms from other manufacturers.

"From VIP and PNH Innovations in Montreal, to Holland & Crosby in Toronto and SCL Imaging in Scarborough, to Airos Studio near Vancouver, British Columbia, to a number of others, print providers of every stripe are expanding their businesses with Durst," said Christopher Howard, senior vice president for North American Sales & Marketing. "We're at Print World to meet with and support our Canadian customers, and to provide show attendees with information and answers about our award-winning printers—in particular our newest, most innovative platforms: the Rhotex 320, Rho 500R and Rho 900."

Rhotex 320

Developed to address the growing popularity of lighter-weight, easier-to-install, higher-margin, reusable and "green" media options, the 10.5-foot-wide Rhotex 320 utilizes environmentally benign water-based dye inks and on-board hot-air dryers on an advanced printing platform with Quadro Array 30D AQ print heads (designed specifically for Rhotex 320 water-based inks) to deliver POP-quality output at up to 775 sqft/hr.

The six-color printer—CMYK + Lc, Lm, Lk (gray), spot colors—features an inline ink dryer positioned ahead of the take-up roll to prevent smudging and sticking. An automated Capping Station covers all print heads automatically when the sled is in "park" position to eliminate evaporation of the printer's water-based inks. Also, an Integrated Ink Absorbing System keeps inks from penetrating through the media.

Along with Durst's workflow software, advanced feed/take-up systems and other high-tech capabilities, the Rhotex 320 can run unattended 24 hours a day. It features all the capabilities—efficient workflow software, Quadro Array 30D AQ print head technology, linear magnetic drive system, sophisticated media feed/take-up systems—found on the all latest Durst Rho printers.

Rho 500R

The Rho 500R prints six-color, 600-dpi images on five-meter vinyl, mesh and other superwide roll media at speeds up to 4,300 sqft/hr. It also is able to print three independent images from three separate job queues on three different 1.6-meter rolls all at the same time to achieve high efficiency and handle a broader range of applications. The printer operates unattended, uses less ink than comparable superwide platforms, and minimizes operational costs due to its high productivity, advanced workflow and remarkable versatility.

High-performance carriage and linear motor drive systems, precision Push Media transport mechanisms, a proven front-to-back registration system, on-board laser media tracking sensors, Durst's intelligent dither technology, a range of user-settable parameters, and a variety of other innovative technologies combine to make the Rho 500R one of the most effective, economical large-format imagers ever developed.

Rho 900

The Rho 900 is equipped with Durst's Quadro 30D Array print head technology to deliver high speed, improved efficiency and exceptional image quality. Its media handling incorporates an auto-feed table with belts, sheet feed gate with guides for parallel board printing and automated two-point pin registration system to ensure accurate front-to-back registration.

The Rho 900's process color additions—orange & green or orange & violet—are printed in the same mode as its CMYK process colors. No special file preparation is necessary. These extra colors can be printed, even with white ink or light colors, with no loss in output speed to enable much smoother color gradients and more even solids at production-level output speeds.

Top speed of the six-color Rho 900 is up to 72 4x8-foot boards (more than 2,300 sqft) per hour, while the speed for POP-quality printing is a productive 34 4x8-foot boards (nearly 1,100 sqft) per hour. The user can incorporate the process color additions with no loss of print speed. The Rho 900 also can print white, varnish and light colors along with the process colors to expand the possibilities of print jobs and applications.