The PMA 2000 report

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Epson announces new photo printers, lightfast papers and inks! - (21:31 EST)
Epson America Inc. announced three new photo printers at the PMA Show in Las Vegas, as well as lightfast inks and papers for use with them. The output we saw from the printers looked very nice; particularly impressive though was Epson's chart showing the results of a simulated 10 years of fading on their new inks and papers, as compared with silver halide prints, and photo paper from HP and Canon:

Click for a bigger picture!

Bear in mind with the above picture that, being taken in less than ideal conditions, and with a non color-calibrated camera/PC, it is by no means precise - but it does give an idea of what can be expected over a long period... The lightfast Epson ink and glossy paper can only be used on the new Epson printers announced today, we were told, whilst the matte paper can be used in any Epson inkjet. Pricing for the paper is as follows:

Size                 Premium Glossy               Matte Paper
                     Photo Paper                 Heavyweight

Letter               $16.99 for 20 sheets        $14.49 for 50 sheets
11.7" x 16.5" (A3)   $44.99 for 20 sheets        $36.99 for 50 sheets
11" x 17" (B)        $43.99 for 20 sheets        N/A
13" x 19" (Super B)  $56.99 for 20 sheets        $45.99 for 50 sheets
4" Roll              $19.95 (50 per roll)        N/A

Epson estimates that with both the new inks and paper, an 8" x 10" print will cost about $1.25 and take two minutes to print, whilst an 11" x 14" print will cost about $2.89 and take about four minutes to print. The new printers announced include a basic model, the Stylus Photo 870, a model with a built-in PCMCIA reader, the Stylus Photo 875DC, and a wide-format model, the Stylus Photo 1270.

The new printers all feature what Epson bills as "the world's first continuous edge-to-edge 4`` x 6'' snapshot printing system", which allows the printer to use paper from a roll, and print right the way to the edges, saving on paper waste. Ink that is sprayed off the edges of the paper is caught by two carefully positioned receptacles on either side of the paper. The printers also feature bi-directional printing, offering an increase in print speeds of some 40% over the Stylus Photo 750 and 1200, some 60% faster than the nearest competitor's printer according to Epson. The press release notes that a typical 4" x 6" print can be completed in approximately 48 seconds and an 8" x 10" in 110 seconds... Six ink colors are used with a droplet size of only 4 picoliters, allowing up to 69 levels of tone, which Epson notes is more than twice that of any other inkjet.


Click for a bigger picture!

The Epson Stylus Photo 870 is Mac and Windows compatible, with a maximum print size of 8.5" x 44" (print area 8.26" x 43.76"), and USB / parallel / optional network connectivity. It comes with a paper roll holder, a sample roll of Premium Glossy Photo Paper, Epson Software Film Factory and Adobe Photo Deluxe.


Click for a bigger picture!

The Epson Stylus Photo 875DC adds a built-in PCMCIA reader which, with appropriate adapters, is compatible with CompactFlash Type I and II, CompactFlash USB, SmartMedia and Sony Memory Stick. The printer is USB-only, and compatible with both Mac and Windows. When a card is inserted, users can view, edit and print images or use pass-through file transferring to save the images directly to their computers. A CompactFlash Type-II adapter, paper roll holder, roll paper sample, Epson Photo Quicker and Adobe Photo Deluxe software are bundled.


Click for a bigger picture!

Finally, the Epson Stylus Photo 1270 adds a wider 13-inch paper carriage, Adobe Photoshop 5.0LE, discounts offering full Photoshop at an upgrade price of $299 and Monaco EZColor 1.5 color management software for $149, and the roll paper holder and sample paper are removed from the bundle. (The roll paper holder is available for the printer for $39).

No availability is quoted for the three printers, however pricing of $299 (Stylus Photo 870), $399 (Stylus Photo 875DC), and $499 (Stylus Photo 1270) is announced in the release. A separate release announces price cuts on the Stylus Color 900 and 900G ($349 and $379 respectively, with $50 mail-in rebates available).

2000 DIMA Digital Printer Shoot-Out winners announced! - (17:32 EST)
The Digital Printer Shoot-Out winners have been announced at the PMA 2000 Show in Las Vegas. According to the press material, "winners were chosen from 92 prints from 40 companies displayed during the DIMA annual conference in Las Vegas, NV. Entries ... were produced from files created by The Color Place Inc., Dallas, TX. Participants were asked to provide specification information pertaining to the equipment used (printer, RIP and color management); the consumables used (output media and ink/toner/dye); and the production timing. The entries were voted upon by DIMA voting members at the DIMA Annual Conference, based on criteria that included quality, production and price."

The winners are:

Photo Print

Wide Format (50" wide or more)
LightJet 5900 Wide Format Photo Printer
Cymbolic Sciences
Bellingham, WA

Wide Format (50" wide or more)
Kodak Digital III Photo Paper
Eastman Kodak Co.
Rochester, NY

Wide Format (11" to 49" wide)
LightJet 5500 Wide Format Photo Printer
Cymbolic Sciences
Bellingham, WA

Wide Format (11" to 49" wide)
Kodak Digital III Photo Paper
Eastman Kodak Co.
Rochester, NY

Small Format (8 1/2" x 11" or less)
Fuji Pictrography 3000
Fuji Photo Film U.S.A. Inc.
Elmsford, NY

Small Format (8 1/2" x 11" or less)
Graphx RasterPlus Windows Edition
Graphx Inc.
Woburn, MA

Inkjet

Wide Format (50" wide or more)
ColorSpan DisplayMaker Series XII/72
ColorSpan Corporation
Eden Prairie, MN

Wide Format (50" wide or more)
ColorSpan RIPStation 400
ColorSpan ColorMark Color Management
ColorSpan ColorMark Satin Photobase Paper
ColorSpan EnduraChrome Ink
ColorSpan Corporation
Eden Prairie, MN

Wide Format (36" to 49" wide)
ColorSpan DisplayMaker Series XII/52
ColorSpan Corporation
Eden Prairie, MN

Wide Format (36" to 49" wide)
ColorSpan RIPStation 400
ColorSpan ColorMark Color Management
ColorSpan ColorMark Glossy Photobase Paper
ColorSpan EnduraChrome Ink
ColorSpan Corporation
Eden Prairie, MN

Medium Format (11" to 35" wide)
ColorSpan Giclee PrintMakerFA
ColorSpan Corporation
Eden Prairie, MN

Medium Format (11" to 35" wide)
ColorSpan ColorMark Pro 4000
ColorSpan ColorMark Color Management
ColorSPan ColorMark Glossy Photobase Paper
ColorSpan EnduraChrome Ink
ColorSpan Corporation
Eden Prairie, MN

Small Format (11" x 17")
Epson Stylus Photo 1270
Epson America Inc.
Long Beach, CA

Small Format (11" x 17")
Epson AcuPhoto Halftoning System
Epson Premium Glossy Lightfast Photo Paper
Epson Photographic 6-color inks
Epson America Inc.
Long Beach, CA

Small Format (8.5" x 11")
Epson Stylus Photo 870
Epson America Inc.
Long Beach, CA

Small Format (8.5" x 11")
Epson AcuPhoto Halftoning System
Epson Premium Glossy Lightfast Photo Paper
Epson Photographic 6-color inks
Epson America Inc.
Long Beach, CA

Small Format (8.5" x 11")
Tetenal Spectrajet Duo Print Paper
Tetenal Vertriebsgesellschaft MBH
Germany

Electrostatic

Wide Format
3M SP2000
3M Commercial Graphics
St. Paul, MN

Wide Format
3M Cactus Graphic Print RIP
3M Cactus Color Calibration
3M Display Paper 150 8615
3M ScotchPrint Toners
3M Commercial Graphics
St. Paul, MN

Dye Sublimation

Small Format
Sony UP-D70AP
Sony Electronics Inc.
Park Ridge, NJ

Small Format
Sony Dye Sub Paper and Dyes
Sony Electronics Inc.
Park Ridge, NJ

2000 DIMA Innovative Digital Product awards announced! - (17:06 EST)
The Innovative Product Awards have been announced at the PMA 2000 Show in Las Vegas. According to the press material, "An Innovative Digital Product of PMA 2000 is determined by the judges to utilize new technologies and/or applications in such a way as to make the product either unique or the first of its kind. The products are of high quality, and show themselves to be an influence on the future of digital imaging."

The winners are:

Canon PowerShot S20
Canon U.S.A. Inc., Lake Success, N.Y.

Fujifilm S1 Pro
Fuji Photo Film U.S.A. Inc., Elmsford, N.Y.

Kodak Preview Camera
Eastman Kodak Company, Rochester, N.Y.

Orbiculight
Astron Systems

Smartlens
SmARTlens Corp., Palm Harbor, FL

Sony Cybershot Digicam
Sony Electronics Inc., Park Ridge, NJ