Digital BW, The Print

The new HPs do that now.

How it works
HP Designjet printers and HP Indigo presses use closed-loop color
calibration as the principle of
measuring and monitoring color. A color sensor measures reflected energy
from primary color tiles
that are illuminated with a narrow-band light source (a LED in the case of
HP Designjet printers, an inline
densitometer in the case of HP Indigo presses).

Best regards,
John Moody

-----Original Message-----
From: DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com
[mailto:DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com]On Behalf Of
BKPhoto@...
Sent: Monday, October 24, 2005 2:09 PM
To: DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [Digital BW] Re: Create ICC Soft Proofing question . . .

I've been following the linearization threads, on and off, and it's been
very
informative. Not to muddy the waters further, but in hopes of knowing what
people's thoughts are on this, I'd raise a question about the implementation
of
linearization for inkjet printing.

Since linearization is supposed to return a machine to a known state, in
part
defined by other factors like ink limits, wouldn't it make more sense for
this to be an onboard function of the printer? I'm not an engineer, but it
would
seem that designing and implementing an automatic/semiautomatic routine
through the print driver or onboard software would be relatively simple. On
the
digital capture side of things, it does seem that manufacturers are just
beginning
to "get" what serious photographers want it; not more pixels, but better
pixels and improved workflow (from onboard camera controls through Raw
processing
and image file organization).

Barring some unknown and difficult engineering issue, why doesn't Epson
provide a linearization function in the print utilities? If the machine
could
simply be returned to it's know state it would simplify the entire process
of
authoring accurate print profiles and help assure that data is flowing
through
the system properly. It would also improve the accuracy of the print
profiles
they supply.

Any engineers or ubergeeks want to address this? I'd be interested in your
opinions.



Bill Kennedy
Associate Professor of Photography
St. Edward's University
Austin, Texas





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