Digital BW, The Print

L* 9.8 (density 1.96) on HPR does look very, very nice and is a big jump
over Epson MK or MIS Eboni. There's not much, if anything, to be gained
beyond an L* of 5 and I would trade the difference between 10 and 5 to get
the matte look of cotton paper (if only it were more scratch
proof...). The
key question of course is longevity. I have no idea on this but don't
expect this to be as good as the K2 Ultrachromes but then it's also
only the
first iteration. We shall have to wait and see. It would be a very good
thing if this ink shows the potential of what's to come.
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That is an excellent dmax on rag.

You also have the advantage if this stuff does work of single
universal black, right? If that is so that is a huge advantage for a
lot of people, and someting that Epson hasn't come up with, except the
"archival" black that didn't have the d max of MK on matte media. It
apparenty had some dye in it.

As for the chemestry of any of these inks it seems like we know very
little about all the secret components, encapsulation, and how this
all works together. I'm sure the deconstructors at MIS, and whoever
their chemists are know a lot more about Ultrachrome composition
than we do. They just aren't talking either. 

Really I don't care what is in the mix as long as it prints well and
holds up. That is where we get bogged down; who do we trust to do the
testing. Doing one's own fade testing is better than nothing but
limited in real accuracy to say the least.

How is the metamerism? I suspect it is there. It is with the 1270
hybred inks.

John