Digital BW, The Print

Jerry Olson wrote:

> Been using the [MIS VM] system for about a year now,
>and it absolutely equals Piezo quality in all respects.

George Kunze wrote:

>There is something I am confused about here. How can these look as good as
>the Piezo software driven prints if the Piezo is driving at 2100 plus dpi
and
>the Epson driver is 1440?

I'm not sure what the Piezo 2100 claim means.  It does not mean resolution
in terms of line pairs/mm -- that is, it is not a sharpness difference.
I've posted such resolution test results in the Files section of this forum
and the Epson driver, if anything, is sharper than the Piezo driver.  They
both start to run out of steam after about 7 lp/mm.  That translates into
360 dpi at the print size.  Both drivers appear to utilize some information
beyond that figure, but files larger that that are not, in my view, worth
the hassle.

I think the 2100 refers to the dot pattern or dither that is used.  In this
respect, the Piezo driver appears to make smaller dots on, for example, the
3000, than does the Epson driver.  The smaller dots can give a smoother
appearance.

On the 1160 also some can see the smoother highlights that Piezo gives
relative to the MIS VM system, at least when the cold toner is being
applied.

However, on hextone printers the MIS VM system uses a full 6 tone inkset,
whereas the Piezo system still uses only 4 inks.  The 6 inks in the MIS VM
system make the hextone versions of it so smooth that, regardless of whether
Piezo makes smaller dots, the MIS VM system is so smooth it doesn't matter.
(Jerry uses a 1280.)

Let me also note that a few posts may leave the impression that the MIS VM
inkset uses dyes -- it does not. MIS makes some dye-based inksets, but the
MIS VM inkset is pigmented.

Some refer to the colorant around the carbon particle as a "dye."  I'm not
sure I agree with this definition, but to the extent this colorant is a dye,
then all desktop pigmented inksets use some "dyes."  The carbon particles
are too brown and not dark enough to make a good black (so I'm told).

Again, I've posted some comparisons of MIS and Piezo inks in the Files
section of this forum.  See the "Dots" images.  What they show, in my view,
is that Piezo ink contains a substantial greenish component that is probably
a soluble dye, but I'm guessing.  These images are basically close-ups of
dots of ink on Kleenex.  The Piezo ink clearly has a fringe of color to it
that the MIS ink does not.  See for yourselves and make you own conclusions
as to which inkset likely contains the most dyes.

Paul
http://www.PaulRoark.com