Digital BW, The Print

Antonis,

Thanks for the update.  Can I assume from your comments that the 
"QuadBlack Toneable" inkset Lyson is currently selling for the 
2100/2200 is only for use with the Epson driver and that they do not 
yet have a final inkset that will be marketed with IJC/OPM?  The 
neutrals + CMY for toning make sense if the tones can be controlled 
well enough to yield uniform tonality across the gray scale.  
Alternatively, a couple of pre-mixed quad inksets might be easier to 
handle and blend.

Carl

On Monday, July 5, 2004, at 02:20  PM, Antonis wrote:

> Carl,
>
> I have been using some of the same Lyson inks in a 7000 for some time.
> I tried blending the neutral and the warm (but not the cool)
> on various Lyson papers, including the Darkroom Gloss.
> That paper is absolutely stunning in its ability to hold a good
> black. Its surface is also by far the closest to a real darkroom
> air-dried fiber paper I have ever seen in digital bw.
>
> Metamerism remains an issue, but with a careful blend you can get a 
> decent
> print that shifts within an acceptable range. I have shown the results
> to many people to get a sense of their response. Some rejected it 
> outright, some
> had no problem with it under daylight. You can blend for a given light 
> source
> to get decent results, but you can't have one blend for all lights.
>
> I looked at the spectral distribution and there was a significant 
> spike at the red end
> and another bump at the blue/purple end with a dip in the yellow/green 
> area.
> This accounts for these effects, but this inkset offers no way to 
> smooth out
> the bumps when you only blend warm and neutral.
>
> It may be that the solution (currently considered) is to use CMY inks 
> from the
> Lysonic set and the grays from the neutral quads to achieve a better 
> color.
> To this end Lyson will also be selling their own version of IJC/OPM 
> with
> related profiles. See the Bowhaus release today:
> http://www.bowhaus.com/inkjetcontrol/
>
> The Darkroom Gloss paper is such an amazing paper that I think it's 
> worth
> ironing out these problems. And, frankly, those who like black-only 
> prints
> may have a field day with this paper. It won't take Ultrachromes, so 
> it will
> have to be one of the Lyson blacks. But the black can get to be so
> heavy that  I had to dial back the dmax when I was profiling it with 
> IJC.
> It would exceed 3.0...   and I had to cut it down to 2.4 - 2.7. I 
> don't know
> anything else in the market that will do that.
> The 4000 with the much finer dither may be just the ticket for this.
>
> Keep in mind that prints made on that paper are not water-resistant,
> but on the plus side, the paper coating is of the swellable polymer 
> kind
> that protects the dyes better. I have no longevity data on this yet. 
> Lyson
> dyes have had a solid reputation for stability and were the ones used
> in the original Iris bw prints (aka giclee). Don't know how they fare 
> next
> to the current champs (PT, UC, UT).
>
>
> Antonis