Digital BW, The Print

[Apologies for the double posting: I sent this query to the list a few days
ago but have not had any reponses except one other person observing the same
behavior on a 7000.  Since I haven't solved it myself either and have had no
luck finding relevant information in the archives, I'm reposting in case Roy
or someone else who might have an answer missed it the first time
around... -Benjamin]

Small question for QTR curve design experts...

I'm starting to get some very good results now out of QTR (on a 1280
with UT2 inks), but am a bit stuck on one issue: the density difference
between 100% black and 99% black is much too large, so that, if an image
contains a large area of 100% and an adjacent area of 99%, the edge
between them is clearly visible and the 99% region looks dark gray
rather than nearly black.

The problem occurs both with the provided 1280 UT2 curve (the carbon
curve for HPR paper, FWIW) and with a modified version of the same curve
that I linearized myself using the eye-one procedure described in the
documentation.  In a different experiment, I was able to get the black
values closer together by cranking up the GRAY_SHADOW parameter, but
just doing this, of course, makes the whole print very dark.  

What's the right approach to this issue?

Many thanks,

    - Benjamin Pierce
      http://www.cis.upenn.edu/~bcpierce/photos