Digital BW, The Print

AZinn@... wrote:

>>...

>>In the Piezography manual it says: "Although images print with
>>clarity at 240dpi, there will be a remarkable increase in detail if
>>you can obtain your images at 720 dpi and higher."  ...

C. David Tobie wrote:

>...
>The dpi in the Cone Driver is significantly higher than that of the
>Epson drivers ... allowing files of high resolution to produce even
>finer results. ...

My resolution tests sure do not show an advantage to the Piezo driver with
respect to the detail that can be printed.  See the scan of test prints that
had high resolution line pairs.  The image file name is "Piezo-Epson
Resolution Test.jpg."

Go to the Files section of this forum at

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint/files/

Then follow the path to Message Related Files > 10_2001 uploads.

The bottom line is that in this test the Epson driver seems to have a bit of
an advantage in rendering sharp fine detail.  I tried this same test with
50% gray bars instead of 100% black, and it produced the same results.

I think the Piezo image quality advantage is limited to smoothness on older
quad printers.  Of course, there can be other factors at well.  The Piezo
driver seems more susceptible to microbanding, but the Epson driver needs
workflows and image adjustment curves that may be sensitive to differences
in printers and platforms.

I have the Piezo driver but prefer to use the Epson driver for most prints.
I don't see any significant image quality differences even on the 3000 in my
16x20 display prints.  The Tmax 100 grain is the limiting factor, not the
Epson driver dots (with a proper partitioning workflow).

Don't get me wrong, I think the Piezo driver has some real advantages for
some things (paper profiles, for example) and some people (beginners who
need plug & play).  But I've always had a problem with some of the
"over-the-top" representations and implications that have been made for that
system.

Paul
http://www.PaulRoark.com