Digital BW, The Print

Still chasing the dream of a large format printer, I'm taking a bit a closer look to the HP Z3100. Its 12 cartridges opens the possibility to accomodate for a host of dedicated B&W ink setups at once without changing any cartridge.

But that would require at least two things:
- a RIP: QTR does not support HP. There are many other RIPs but is there one with a similar B&W curve blending facility as QTR?
- ability to accept 3rd party inks: I recall to have read somewhere that HP uses much smaller pigment particles. Could one load e.g. MIS inks in an HP?

Thanks for any insigths,

Joost