Digital BW, The Print

Hello All,

My new 4800 arrived today (bought from TheNerds.net, $1730 plus $72 
shipping, no tax to California).  I set it up, updated the software, did a 
head alignment, and was printing.  I have only the PK ink... MK is not 
included in package.  So far I've only tried the "Premium Luster 250" paper 
that was in the box (they supply it for the head alignments).  I assigned 
the "Pro4800 PLPP250" profile in Photoshop and told the printer to do no 
color management.

After testing some color (gorgeous, right out of the box) and B&W using the 
Advanced B&W mode (also gorgeous, though both B&W and color seem to show a 
bit of gloss differential), I decided to try black only.  I expected the 
"text-only quality" settings that others have mentioned... 720 dpi, etc.

Surprise!  When you go to the "Color" dropdown and select Black (the other 
possibilites are Color and Advanced B&W Photo), then go to "Advanced", all 
the photo-quality options are right there!  Under "Print Quality", 
specifically, you can choose from Fine (720), Super Fine (1440), and Super 
Photo (2880).

I've only tried 2880 so far.  Makes a VERY SMOOTH BO print... practically 
dotless, very good black density, and no banding at all.  (Of course, my 
standards of comparison are a 1270 and a 2000P!)  I checked with a powerful 
loupe and saw no colors.  (The same loupe easily revealed color dots in the 
Advanced B&W version of the same print.)  A touch of Print Shield cured the 
slight gloss differential.  That's the good news.  Bad news?  The ink tone 
is quite warm with a slight greenish cast, especially around 80% density on 
a step wedge.  (At least, on Premium Luster paper it is.) Not the prettiest 
thing I've seen.  But maybe with a PK-N equivalent on board, or Eboni on 
matte paper... ?

I can only assume Epson has just recently enabled the photo-quality options 
for BO in the newer driver versions... I'm using v5.52, released on June 30. 
Or did I misunderstand the comments of others on the list? Perhaps the BO 
quality limitations in the driver only happen with MK ink?

John Broski