Digital BW, The Print

With the Wasatch Softrip curves and UT1 I have seen similar
possibilities for gloss printing. I didn't go further though as I
have made a seventh inkline on my 9000 filled with Photo Black.
The bronzing was quite low. There is a boost of grey on top of
the black curve.

Another thought: are the media of the Eboni and the Photo range
so incompatible that the mix on the paper isn't as fluid as one
would expect ? Less bleeding as a result ? Otherwise I wonder
whether the load of ink needed with more Eboni replacement by the
second greys (total or partly) isn't reducing the shadow detail.
UT2 has a higher density grey which helps. On the other hand just
adding varnish/medium with another inkline to the Eboni Black may
be as good as using the second grey. That's the Epson R800
solution I guess. For glossy colour printing it would be possible
to replace the grey on the 7600 with varnish/medium, drive it it
with QTR and accept the higher metamerism.

There's a rumour that the next wide format Epson will be more
along the lines of the R800 than that of the 4000. Given what
Paul discovered it could be a good decision. But for B&W, BO or
Quad, I still see advantages in the 4000 ink setup. If both black
heads can be used simultaneously, otherwise it will be too
limited. If both are usable at the same time a good "quad" range
should be possible with the right black inks and a grey that fits
better. It will still be possible to print colour with reduced
metamerism and gloss + matte is there too. Using both "blacks"
with 360 nozzles in total for BO should be another nice feature.

A slightly different black/grey inkset and drivers like QTR are
needed of course.

Could it be that Epson postponed delivery of the 4000 to add the
same features ? ;-)

Ernst