Digital BW, The Print

Mitch, the 1280 can print beautiful toned black and white prints from
oem epson dye inks that I love. I couldn't ask for a more pleasing tone.
There is NO green or magenta in it. 

What's dead on neutral anyway? If you make 25 prints, that vary by only
1 point of color in a color adjustment layer, and lay them all out side
by side, Everyone will have a favorite tone. But there would NEVER EVER
be universal agreement as to which of those 25 prints had the best, most
pleasing color. 

The fact is, that with the inkset that came with my 1280, I'm getting
black and white prints that are Exactly the tone I want them to be. I am
100 percent satisfied with them. They couldn't be better. What else can
I say?  The next ink cartridge that I get may not be as good. These
cartridges were made in China, the first cartridges that I have ever
seen epson's name on that were made there. So it isn't the same ink as
the Japanese ink. This may be why they are so nice. Imagine me saying
that I'm pleased with a product made in China. That is certainly a first
for me! I can see only a tiny bit of metamerism between daylight and
tungsten. Beautiful in Daylight, perhaps 4 points brown in Tungsten
light. I can live with that, no problem. I cannot live with the
green/magenta metamerism though.


> 1. What you're describing simply ain't metamerism: it's a fact of the physics of light that all prints will look different in different light as the light itself -- tungsten, neon, daylight, etc -- imparts colors to the print it illuminates. Thus, a perfectly neutral print will appear to be different in tone under different types of light. Metamerism is the pheneomenon that a particular tone within a neutral print will look different from the rest of the tones in the print: a "color cross-over" in plain English.

That's not the definition I've seen for metamerism. In any case there
are no color crossovers in my current inkset, that came with the 1280
printer.  Yesterday I installed a pair of new cartridges, and they too,
were made in China. Identical to the ones that came with the printer. 
 
> 2. Also, I have made extensive tests and do not beleive that the 1280, even with the best profile, can print "dead on neutral", as you state. 

And I'm using no profile. It's as dead on as I've ever seen and the
exact color that I want.

There is always a color cast in some of the tones (but, again, that is
not metamerism).

Whatever.

I call it metamerism if they are different in one light from another.

Jerry