Digital BW, The Print

Antonis,

Judging the look and feel is tricky :-)  It is a close call.  I do 
think some tweaking is needed in the denser areas to get ImagePrint 
fully to equal Piezo.  The shadows look a touch "heavy". They are 
streets ahead of the Epson driver, but not quite as smooth as the 
Piezo driver. I always use the dedicated "gray" profiles. 

I'm not a fan of scanned images for comparison: analysing a print on 
screen is not a good substitute for looking at a print yourself.  I 
will however, try and get some idea of the density of the competing 
black inks over the weekend, and post this.  I'll also bung the 
images I used accross to you a bit later.  I've just sent a set of 
test prints to someone else: I'll ask them if they are willing to 
offer a "second opinion" to the group.

Cheers

Quentin

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@y..., "Antonis Ricos" 
<antonisphoto@y...> wrote:
> Quentin,
> 
> thanks so much for this review. This comparison across drivers and 
inksets is 
> on many people's mind, and I believe this is very helpful to us.
> 
> First, I'd be glad to upload the two images. If you prefer, you can 
scan relevant 
> areas of the prints for direct comparisons. The idea would be to 
scan a small 
> area that would fit at 100% on a 15" monitor or thereabouts. If 
it's too much 
> trouble, a small jpg of the file would do too.
> 
> Second, if you have a densitometer, can you tell us the maximum 
density on 
> PhotoRag for either inkset/driver? My initial tests with the 2200 
and Epson 
> driver showed the PhotoRag to be less dense than EAM using the 
matte 
> black, and that surprised me.
> 
> Finally, as you know, the extra punch of the Piezotones is due to 
fugitive dyes 
> contained in the black and is good only for prints carefully kept 
in dark 
> storage.  In that sense, the jury is out as to which system works 
best. Giving up 
> some dmax for greater stability seems to be the inevitable 
conclusion. Not just 
> between Piezotones and Ultrachromes but other inks like MIS-FS.
> 
> I'd be curious, though, to hear your overall, non technical take on 
the "look" of 
> the Ultra bw - besides dmax and such: Does it have the luxurious 
look and 
> feel of the piezo prints (or quad black prints in general)? 
> 
> Thanks again!
> 
> Antonis