Digital BW, The Print

I was curious how prints produced on the 2200 ($595 at MIS) with ImagePrint
($495) (total $1090) compared to those produced on the C82 (now $90 at MIS)
with the "no-workflow" (light UT cyan in all 3 color spots) "quad" inkset I
mixed last week.

Here I'm just looking at the smoothness of test strips by scanning equal
density (5% & 50%) patches of the prints (at 1600 dpi) and measuring the
smoothness with the Photoshop Histogram tool.  I use the tools Standard
Deviation reading as the objective measure of smoothness.

In March, I posted the results of a similar comparison among various
printers.  In that comparison the 2200/IP5/Neutral 5% patch measured 5.54 v.
the 1280/MIS VM/Neutral of 2.56.  (Lower is smoother/better.)  The MIS VM
was also smoother at 50%, but not as dramatically so.

To eliminate as many variables as possible, I scan the test strips together.
So, today's comparison numbers should not be compared to the above numbers.

Today, the 2200/IP5/Neutral 5% patch read 6.79.  The C82/LC (warm) read
7.47.  (The IP5 prints a little lighter than the C82/LC, so I read areas on
the C82 test strip that had the same median density.)

So, the IP5, which runs the 2200 Light black into the highlights but then
neutralizes them with the light magenta and light cyan, is slightly smoother
than the C82, which has UT LC in all spots.  The UT LC is somewhat lighter
than the 2200 Light K, but much darker than the UC LC and LM.  So, the light
UC inks pull the average density of the dots down.  (An equally warm IP5
print that only used the UC LK would, presumably, be rougher than the C82.)

(You can see a 1600 dpi scan of the 2200 5% at
http://studio-nelson.com/inkjet/bw22003.htm)

At the 50% spot, the IP5 measured 8.34.  The C82 measured 8.04, slightly
better than the 2200/IP5 combination.

Overall, I think the 2 IP5 and C82 test strips are quite comparable.  The
partitioned quad is still the smoothness champ, but at normal viewing
distances and when real photos are used instead of test strips, most people
will not notice the highlight dots both systems have.  Critical views on
this list, however, might.


Paul
http://www.PaulRoark.com