Preview
of the Colorspan DisplayMaker Mach 12
What
most impresses us about this printer is its capability to
do linearize the color density of the ink lay-down. Usually
you have to buy several thousand dollars worth of software
and spectrophotometer to handle this.
But
the
on-board colormetric photo diode image sensor allows you
to
combine after-market color management software to c reate
ICC
color profiles.
Color
management uncertainty is the problem that all first-time
users have. Yet here is a printer which has two colormetric
image sensors built into the printer.
For example,
we get more users of Roland
who state they are unable to accomplish the colors they need
(especially cyan and reds). Yet here is a printer (the Mach
12) which is so much faster than the Roland and whose inks
have an outstanding color gamut to begin with. Plus, the Mach
12 allows you to install and practice color management to
be sure you get the cyan, blue, reds, pinks and everything
else that your clients need.
It
is noteworthy that when any piezo printer claims high speeds
they turn out to be relatively slow. Thus we are pleased to
have the thermal printhead technology of the ColorSpan DisplayMaker
Mach 12 arrive at the FLAAR facilities at Bowling Green State
University. Thermal printheads of ColorSpan, HP,
and Encad
tend to be faster than piezo heads of Epson,
Mutoh or Roland.
Over
the past year we have watched at tradeshows across the USA
and Europe as the printer technology of the ColorSpan Mach
12 has matured. Now that the printer has hit its stride we
felt it was time to bring one in-house so we could examine
it in person. Three years ago the early production models
had severe banding at high speeds. The new production models
have overcome that defect to the point that at photo quality
modes (the slower speeds) we have not had any banding whatsoever.
And the
colors from the eight color mode really pop. We look forward
to adding the new colors which arrived this month. That makes
the Mach 12 the only full 12-color printer in the world.
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| ColorSpan
Mach X12 at SGIA |
Quad-black
inset plus for ColorSpan DisplayMaker Mach 12
This printer offers speed that other printers can
only dream about. The Mach 12 can be run at dual 6-ink mode
to produce both quality and speed simultaneously. Besides,
the Mach 12 can be delivered now. It is an actual functioning
model long ago out of beta stage. Besides, the output from
the Mach 12 does not require lamination (which is required
on nano-porous media used by other printers such as Kodak
5260).
The
color management capabilities of the Mach 12 are unique
The photos
here are from the printer at tradeshows; just as soon as this
model is moved from our old building (College of Technology)
to our evaluation new facility across campus we will replace
these pictures with in-situ shots.
What we
especially look forward to on the Mach 12 is being able to
use a quad-black inkset simultaneously with seven additional
colors (total of 11 inks). We can also choose 12 colors but
we wanted to use quad black as part of the set; that configuration
is 4 + 7 = 11. We have twelve full colors in the DisplayMaker
XII on the other side of our FLAAR lab at the university.
Today (2007), the water-based printers are no longer manufactured by ColorSpan. MacDermid concentrates on producing user-friendly UV-curable inkjet printers such as the 5440uv and 9840uv printers. If you wish information directly, e-mail UV_flatbeds@ColorSpan.com.
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All reports by Dr. Nicholas Hellmuth |
Most recently updated July 31, 2007. Previously u pdated August 16, 2002; updated Nov. 12, 2002, updated Jan 6, 2002.
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