Digital BW, The Print

Helene,

glad to see you ran the test, so we can compare notes. Some of mine to follow 
yours:


> 1.  Using the OPM black-only profile, I still get banding in the 100% patch.  
> My thinking is that if it's ink starvation, a faulty black cartridge, or a 
> bad black head, I would be seeing banding throughout your 26-step patch.  
Do 
> you agree?

Yes, that seems logical.... The mystery, of course, is that I don't see that 
behaviour on _my_ 2200. So it remains worth exploring further....


 
> 1.  You see a herringbone pattern in the Epson driver; I do not.

That may well be differences in head alignment (since presumably you are 
using the exact same Epson driver settings). I should re-visit that procedure 
on my printer, perhaps.




> 
> 2.  My Epson driver has a nice long tonal scale, unlike yours which dips into 
> dark from 50-100.  Like yours, the dots are most apparent in the midtones.


Hmm.... that makes no sense: we should be getting identical density results for 
identical driver settings. Do you mind double-checking that your page setup  
and other print settings in PS were the exact same as mine?
As for the dots themselves, we are in agreement.


> 
> 3.  The OPM driver is more compressed.  From 0 to 44, I see white striations 
> in the top part of the scale.  I see these with my eye but cannot see them 
> under a loupe.

We see the same there. The highlight dots are too scattered up close to see 
the striations under a loupe. The "top" part of the scale, presumably means the 
continuous gray ramp that appears above the individual patches as they are 
laid out horizontally. 

I don't know if these breaks or "striations" are a result of the particular profile, 
though. I didn't spend time exploring that further. I just made sure the patches 
came in at the proper densities. Tiny moves in the profile may make a big 
difference here, don't  know....




 OPM's midtone dots 
> are less apparent than Epson's.

We agree on that too.  Hence my conclusion that in a real bw print situation, 
it's the mid tone dot that matters most for partitioned gray inks.


Interesting comparisons.... thanks for reporting back.


Antonis