New Photo Printer is Epson's First to Incorporate PRINT Image Matching Technology Along with Convenient Photo Printing with or without a Computer

LONG BEACH, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 17, 2001-- Epson America Inc., a leader in high-quality, award-winning imaging products, today announced the EPSON Stylus(R) Photo 785EPX ink jet printer.

Developed for digital camera owners, this new printer delivers convenient photo printing with and without a computer, compatibility with popular digital camera memory cards and Epson's patented BorderFree(TM) photo printing.

The EPSON Stylus Photo 785EPX is Epson's first printer to include PRINT Image Matching(TM), a breakthrough technology that ensures digital cameras and printers work perfectly together to produce the best possible prints.

The EPSON Stylus Photo 785EPX features up to 2880 x 720 dpi and Epson's Advanced Micro Piezo(TM) ink jet technology, a six-color photo ink system creating incredible detail, beautiful skin tones, sharper contrast and an ultra-wide color range designed ideally for photography. This printer also offers four-picoliter droplets, delivering the best in virtually continuous tone quality for prints that appear indistinguishable from traditional photos.

"The EPSON Stylus Photo 785EPX is a digital photographer's dream come true with its amazing quality and so many convenient features," said Lisa Graham, product manager, photo imaging, Epson. "Our customers will be able to share more prints, more often with unbelievable results. This printer has the same incredible photo quality that our current line of photo printers have, as well as specific features that will make digital photography even more exciting and easy."

About the EPSON Stylus Photo 785EPX

Specially designed for digital photographers, the EPSON Stylus Photo 785EPX offers the most flexible and easy-to-use solution for printing photographs at an affordable price. The EPSON Stylus Photo 785EPX includes a built-in PC card slot that makes the printer compatible with virtually any digital camera by using the appropriate memory card adapter.

Compatible digital camera memory types include CompactFlash(TM) Type I and II, IBM Microdrive(TM), Memory Stick(R), Secure Digital and SmartMedia(TM). The printer comes standard with a CompactFlash Type I adapter that can be exchanged through Epson for either a Memory Stick or SmartMedia adapter.

The built-in PC card slot makes it possible for digital camera owners to print photos without a computer. It also acts as a card reader when connected to a Windows or Macintosh computer system to copy and save images to the computer hard drive for organizing, editing and archiving images.

View, Select and Print Photos without a Computer

The EPSON Stylus Photo 785EPX is the ultimate digital photography tool with a control panel that allows customers to make selections such as paper type, paper size and number of copies without having to use a computer. The printer's innovative control panel provides the flexibility to choose from five paper types and sizes, six page layouts, various frames for sticker printing and a choice of quality settings. Images can also be easily enhanced without a computer by utilizing settings such as brightness and sharpness, as well as monochrome and sepia tones.

For viewing photos, the EPSON Stylus Photo 785EPX's optional 1.6" color Preview Monitor attaches to the printer enabling customers to review and select images for printing. With an estimated street price of $99, this high-quality monitor includes a screen saver function, a brightness adjustment knob and a tilt mechanism for easy viewing of images.

PRINT Image Matching

The EPSON Stylus Photo 785EPX is the first printer to feature PRINT Image Matching technology, which ensures that the printer works perfectly with PRINT Image Matching enabled digital cameras to produce the best quality prints possible. Essentially, this new technology provides a built-in assurance for the customer that the image they capture will come out of the printer looking the best it can without any complicated procedures. A new level of simplicity has emerged in producing stunning, frame-ready photos.

How PRINT Image Matching Works

With this technology, digital camera manufacturers can set critical image specific parameters for printing, such as gamma level, color space, contrast, sharpness, brightness, saturation, shadow point, highlight point and color balance, to ensure optimum results for each digital camera model.

The camera saves the ideal print commands in each image data file. PRINT Image Matching-compatible printers then use this information when printing the image to ensure that they most accurately reproduce the image captured by the camera. PRINT Image Matching digital cameras will be available in the spring/summer of 2001 from a variety of digital camera manufacturers.

Exclusive Paper Handling Technology

With Epson's patented BorderFree photo printing technology, customers can easily print borderless photos in a variety of frame-ready, popular photographic sizes such as 4" x 6", 5" x 7" and 8" x 10" without unsightly perforations or the inconvenience of trimming the margins. This borderless photo printing feature is one of Epson's exclusive paper handling capabilities optimized and developed for photographers.

The EPSON Stylus Photo 785EPX also comes with Epson's unique roll paper holder accessory for printing multiple 4" x 6" snapshots on 4" rolls conveniently and quickly. This feature produces marginless snapshots and panoramas with reduced paper consumption. Larger images or banner signs can be produced on the printer with a maximum printable area of 8.5" x 44".

The printer also has a variety of paper options, including photo papers that offer improved lightfastness(a). The printer also uses Epson's fast and convenient quick-drying inks for prints that are immediately dry to the touch with most paper options.

Printer Speeds and Connectivity

The EPSON Stylus Photo 785EPX has fast photo print speeds with a 4" x 6" photo printing in under a minute and an 8" x 10" in less than two minutes(b). The printer is also capable of handling everyday printing tasks, such as a black text memo at 8ppm(b).

With its built-in USB port, the EPSON Stylus Photo 785EPX can be set up quickly and is both Windows and Macintosh compatible.

Included Software

The EPSON Stylus Photo 785EPX comes with two software programs to help customers manage, enhance and print images: EPSON Software Film Factory, a photo management tool for organizing, beautifying and printing photos, and ArcSoft PhotoImpression, a project-based image editing application.

Pricing, Availability, Warranty and Support

The EPSON Stylus Photo 785EPX will be available in June for an estimated street price of $249 and can be purchased through Epson authorized dealers, mail order, resellers, computer superstores, photo specialty stores and on the Epson retail Web site (www.epsonstore.com).

The printer carries a one-year Epson Exchange Warranty, enabling customers to receive a replacement printer if a problem cannot be corrected by telephone technical support. It is also supported by the EPSON Connection(SM), a customer support and technical assistance line. For more information on Epson and its products, call 1-800-GO-EPSON (1-800/463-7766) or visit the Epson Web site at www.epson.com.

About Epson

Epson offers an extensive array of award-winning image capture and image output products for the consumer, business and graphic arts markets. The company is also a leading supplier of value-added point-of-sale (POS) solutions for the retail market.

Founded in 1975, Epson America Inc. is the U.S. affiliate of Japan-based Seiko Epson Corporation, a global manufacturer and supplier of high-quality technology products that meet customer demands for increased functionality, compactness, systems integration and energy efficiency. Epson America Inc. is headquartered in Long Beach, Calif.

Note: Epson, EPSON Stylus and MicroPiezo are registered trademarks of Seiko Epson Corp. Third party brand or product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.

(a) Lightfastness rating of more than 20 years on EPSON Matte Paper-Heavyweight based on accelerated testing of prints displayed indoors, under glass. Actual print stability will vary according to image, display conditions, light intensity, humidity and atmospheric conditions. Epson does not guarantee longevity of prints. For maximum print life, display all prints under glass or laminations or properly store them.

(b) Does not apply to stand-alone printing speeds, only computer-assisted printing.