Digital BW, The Print

Kevin wrote-
"To give some context, I am a working photog that would like to 
produce some archival, fine art b&w prints."

I also would like to make archival b/w prints.  I own a 2000p so I 
am deciding between the piezo and mis inks.  My question is 
regarding the fading and archival qualities of these inks.  Any 
input and personal experiences would be appreciated.  Is there 
really a significant difference between piezo and mis inks in the 
archival/fading issues?  Or is this more just hype?  Thanks,
Saulius

"Many manufacturers state that there inks will last "X" amount of 
years. But what they don't tell you is that the longevity rating is 
based solely on estimates in small doses of fluorescent lighting and 
allow a fade rate of 30%. This will explain why competing inks said 
to last "100 years" turn brown and fade within months. PiezoTones 
were developed to produce less than discernible fade (5%).

On the inkjetmall site Look closely on our 1000 hour Xenon tests 
which are 250% longer than industry norm. Xenon includes the full 
spectrum of light. They give a realistic view of what happens to an 
ink in sunlight, fluorescent and tungsten, and our tests vary the 
humidity from 20-90%. Real world conditions and real world data. See 
for yourself, how our inks stack up against competing brands. Look 
closely at how three companies produce a very similar ink (Warm 
Neutral). Only PiezoTone inks have non-discernible light-fastness

Our opinion is that the 30% fade rate allowed by RIT and Wilhelm is 
too generous to our industry. While it makes for impressive ratings, 
it does not meet users expectations. Users constantly see that inks 
rated at 50 years and even 100 years are changing within months. 
What they are seeing is perceptible amounts of fade and color 
shifting. While Xenon tests do not attempt to indicate a number of 
years that one can expect, they do indicate a level of performance 
that one can expect. They are especially effective at looking at 
products in comparison. PiezoTones are designed to perform without 
perceptible fade and color shifting in equivalent tests which give 
greater than 100 year longevity ratings to inks which have 
perceptible amounts of fade. As tempting as it is, we refrain from 
interpolating our less than perceptible fade into years. We're happy 
with less than perceptible fade. We'll let the other brands state 
their years and let you draw the comparisons."