Digital BW, The Print

> From: Clayton Jones <cj@...>

> 
> * QTR-2K experiments - am now experimenting with MK/LK + LC/LM for
> toning and have proof of concept (will put more comments about this in
> another thread).  I think this is going to work, but lots more to be
> done.  

I am sorry but people have been doing this ever since QTR supported the
21/2200.  The Epson MK ink has not changed with the new ink set and the
amendments to LK, LC and LM are not material on matte paper.

>Early results are consistant with earlier 2K experiments with
> MIS mixed inks, in that luminance and dmax are a tiny bit less than BO
> but significantly better than K3 and other full ink sets

Interesting comment.  What measurements are you recording?

The Epson MK ink has not changed and so you are suggesting that the driver
has altered dMax.  It is worth noting that I do not measure material
differences in dMax between the 4800 and the 2100 curves I have done which
is unsurprising when you think about the K ink being the same.

>(however K3
> has surprised me with its excellent luminance on some papers,
> particularly VFA; Please also note that I did NOT say that K3 has poor
> dmax, just that 2K is a bit better).  Smoothness also fits right
> between the two: much smoother than BO but retains a tiny bit of the
> "edge" that looks so nice.  Looking at the same image on 2K and K3
> prints side by side (EEM), the 2K version has better dmax, better
> luminance (the K3 print looks dull in comparison), and a nicer sense
> of "presence".  Another advantage of this 2k approach is that it
> contains no yellow.

People seem obsessed with yellow.  Interesting that Paul's fade tests have
thus far shown no b* axis shift which one would expect if yellow really were
weak.  Having just gone through the time consuming process of delicately
crafting QTR curves for 4 matte papers on the 4800, I can say that one has
to be really ENORMOUSLY keen to avoid yellow to make the process (vs using
Adv B&W) worthwhile.  I am not suggesting avoiding yellow is not a
worthwhile goal when striving for the very best (I did spend the time),
merely that in order to do so one incurs an enormous amount of extra work.
I would suggest that for many many people this extra work is not worth it.
Getting a QTR curve "right" (rather than simply "ok") takes a lot of work.


>   All of this has been with MK, I'm looking
> forward to getting some Eboni in here.  I think this is going to be a
> winner.

Has been for many for quite some time.