QTR-Quadtone RIP

--- In QuadtoneRIP@yahoogroups.com, "John Vitollo" <jvlist@c...> wrote:
> I've read that the new 4800 has a better dither pattern than the 4000. I'm not sure if the 
> dither is driver controlled or hardware/firmware controlled with the 4800 and larger 
printers. 
> Will QTR use Epson's dither or QTR dither? I'm pretty sure that the desktop printers' dither 
> pattern is controlled by the driver/QTR...but not sure about the big printers.

Hi John,

There are really two parts to what you see on the paper.  Dithering is the decision of
where to put all the dots on the page.  This always happens in the driver in your
main computer not in the printer.  So for this QTR and Epson are completely different.
The second stage is typically called "weaving" or "interleaving".  This is deciding which
physical jet in the head will print each dot.  On the Pro printers like the 4800 this is
done in the printer so the Epson driver and QTR will use the same code.  On the desktops
this function is in the driver so QTR and Epson driver are different.   I'm really not
sure what is being reported as "better dither".  I think another possibility is that the "better" 
they are seeing is just the effects of the light-light-black ink rather than the dots.

Roy