Digital BW, The Print

My fluorescent light fade test of the Matte Black-based FS/Piezo-compatible
inkset I mixed is now at 300 hours.  By this time with the old quads, I'd
have a pretty good idea what the initial fade was going to be.  However,
with this new generation of quads, virtually nothing significant at all
happens in 300 hours in my fader -- time for a new fade tester.

In addition to the Epson Matte Black quad, I also had a PiezoTone NW test
strip in the fader.  The midtones of this test strip were also rock solid.
This one had the original PiezoTone black, which, as expected did fade and
warm significantly.  However, this is old news.  I don't have any of the new
PiezoTone black inks to test.

I have doubled the light intensity of my fader for future tests.  It is now
up to 3100 lumens, using a "Lights of America" compact fluorescent light
that is said to have the equivalent output of a 100 watt standard light
bulb.  Perhaps with this new light I'll be able to speed up the process of
evaluating the new inks.

As a practical matter, I'm beginning to think that the fade testing of the
old quads was really just showing us how much dye they had in them.

It would be very interesting to see the longevity rating Wilhelm or RIT
would give to the PiezoTone NW or this Matte Black quad.  If certain 3rd
party color pigs are truly rated at 100 years (excuse my skepticism) then
the quads that can be made from (presumably) pure carbon must be multiple
hundreds of years.  Even the 2200 "B&W" test strip showed some fade in 300
hours in a previous test.

I now have a pure Epson Archival (7500) black FS/Piezo-compatible inkset
running in my 1160.  It makes quite a neutral inkset, with, of course, a
weak black.  However, with coating, the 7500 black is just over 2.0 density
(first day -- it'll drop slightly).

I have also received the first of the UltraChrome clone inks -- matte black,
photo black, and light black.  I'll let you know how these perform when I
have an opportunity to check them out.

Paul
http://www.PaulRoark.como