Comparison Of HP Ink, Epson Ink and Canon Ink Technology
The ink that has been called the ink of inkjet printers, its quality directly affects the quality of the document output. Especially in the current extremely fierce competition in the inkjet printer market, ink is an essential product when using inkjet printers, and naturally it has become a contestable place for all businesses to display their technical strength.
Users who have purchased inkjet printers know that there are two main types of ink on the market, namely dye inks and pigment inks. Dyes are characterized by being transparent, which changes the color of the transmitted light by selectively absorbing certain spectral components of the incident light. Therefore, dye ink can be used not only to print color photos, but also to print transparent light box pieces. Traditional color photographs, transparent positive films are dyed to color.
At present, HP and Canon's high-end photo printers all use dye ink in whole or in part, while Epson uses its own developed pigment ink. Such as Epson's "Century Iris" pigment ink and the application of the final C63 printer "Constant Color Waterproof DURABrite".
The biggest drawback of this type of ink is that it tends to fade. For example, magenta is a less durable color in Epson dye inks. Some people have done experiments and used it to print color cards on matt paper. They found that if they are exposed to the air and do not see light, the color on the top of the picture will have a lot of legs for a month, and the grayscale will change. Green. The Epson ink imitation of some manufacturers is even more terrible. If it is not covered in time, it will fade after more than a dozen hours. Seriously affect the photo's ornamental and artistic.
Introduce the ink technology of three major manufacturers of ink jet printer below.
HP ink technology
Leading equipment manufacturers in the global office market are leading the ink technology of inkjet printers. Although its inkjet printers sold in the market is not as high as Epson, its advanced consumables still bring infinite wealth to it. In its fourth-generation Futura technology, it includes six colors of ink, so the performance of the color of more than 1.2 million, the volume of ink drops are about 5 picoliters. In the newly launched fourth-generation Furuto PRO technology, two very bright dyeing inks - light magenta and light blue - were added to the fourth-generation Furitu technology's six-ink system. In the fourth quarter, the performance of the Futura Chart technology color gamut can also print out shallower, finer ink droplets and reduce the visible particles on the photo, resulting in better photo print quality and more natural colors. Delicate, looks more comfortable and natural. Its No.58 ink cartridge contains so-called photo special ink, which is a dye black ink, and it can provide a more pure and smooth black effect than mixed ink, enabling the fourth-generation Futura technology to achieve more subtle details. Improve the quality of the image.
Because the dye ink molecule's volume is only 2 nanometers, less than one hundred thousandth of the size of the pigment ink molecule, it can penetrate into the print media more easily and form a uniform, smooth molecular surface, so dye inks are more likely to produce uniform colors. Continual, delicate photo-quality images in shades. In addition, the patented anti-fade agent was also added to the six-color ink system. According to the results of an authoritative image research agency, HP's new Colourfast print photographic paper was used in conjunction with the new six-color ink cartridge technology to produce high-quality images. In the frame can be saved for 73 years. Compared with traditional photo prints, HP inkjet printers print color photos with comparable visual effects, but they can be stored for a longer period of time and are suitable for printing those memorable photos and images. However, replacing other brands of ink or paper will seriously affect the shelf life of the image.
EPSON ink technology
Inkjet printer ink technology has always been Epson attention. The high quality of inkjet printing and the normal use of the printer itself depend on the contribution of ink technology. Epson's general ink-jet printers for home users generally use its unique “gem-grade” fast-drying ink. The ink is characterized by strong color expression, and it is dry when the paper is met, and the photo will never be wiped by the finger. The situation of flowers. In terms of ink color and drop size, Epson has a fairly advanced technology. At present, its smallest ink droplets can reach 2 picoliters. After the actual printing, only a minimum of 4 picoliters per droplet (such as Epson STYLUS PHOTO 950), the mainstream photo printers are About 4 picoliters (such as Epson STYLUS PHOTO 830U/895/915/2100, etc.). In terms of ink color, the Epson STYLUS PHOTO 2100 model has the most color types, it uses 7 independent ink cartridges, but it provides 10 colors of ink, which is the most current ink color. Mid-range photo printers also have more than 6 colors, such as Epson STYLUS PHOTO 830U/895/915. DURABrite, a constant-color waterproof and light-resistant ink used by Epson Stylus C63, is not a dye ink used by ordinary inkjet printers, but is a new pigment ink developed by Epson. Unlike inks used in general ink jet printers, Constant Color Water Resistant and Lightfast can achieve high-resolution and long-lasting images on any paper. The output of Epson Stylus C63 with a constant color waterproof and light-resistant ink is durable, vivid, and collectable. As can be seen from the above, Epson is very professional in ink technology, in addition to people usually think of the type of ink color, ink droplet size, also introduced some additional technologies, such as anti-light, waterproof and other features, ideal for photo printing And long-term preservation needs.
Canon ink technology
Canon has also adopted some corresponding technologies in terms of ink color and ink droplet size in ink technology, but overall it is not as professional as Epson and HP. Its ink color is up to six colors, and its minimum ink droplet has also reached 1 picoliter, such as iP5000, i900, S830D and so on. In terms of droplet size control, it has its own "ultra-fine ink drop technology." It achieves high print quality and high-speed printing speeds through multi-nozzle and multi-motor systems. In an ordinary inkjet printer, if the distance between the nozzle hole and the heater is long, the speed at which the ink droplet passes through will be relatively slow, and the ejected ink cannot be guaranteed in size and shape. In the ultra-fine micro-drop technology, by shortening the distance between the nozzle and the heater, combined with high-precision nozzles, the droplets emitted only 4 picoliters, and can guarantee that every tiny droplet has perfect Round. At the same time, using a combination of low-density inks can achieve a lower limit of 1 picoliter than human eyes can recognize. For example, the concentration of Photo ink used in the IP5000 is only 1/6 that of normal ink, and the actual ink droplets are printed. It is equivalent to 0.067 picoliters of ink droplets. Another example is the i950's print nozzles with up to 3072 nozzles, which can eject 74 million droplets per second. The independent four-drive motor system makes this printer not only ultra-fine print quality, but also has high-speed photo printing. Features.
Printing Paper Coating and Ink Matching
We need to know that different inks are used on different printers and other things are added to change its viscosity, surface tension, and possibly the coefficient of thermal expansion or the boiling point, so that different printers can be sprayed smoothly. These additives should also be safe for the ink head. Solvents and additives used on different printers make different printers have different paper choices. For example, we all know that Epson ink-jet printers are more selective about ink, but if it replaces his ink, it can be used just like an HP printer.
We must first understand the reflective printing paper. The main purpose of the printing paper coating is to absorb the ink faster and prevent the ink from spreading laterally. Ordinary offset paper has good ink absorption capability, but it does not prevent the lateral spread of the ink, so the clarity of the image is not high and the color saturation is very low. At the same time, some readers must be aware that the surface of common plaster or whitewashed wallcoverings is also very ink-absorbent, and that the ink dots spread less. Therefore, we also need to print something similar to the gypsum powder coating, the quality of the print will be better. Coated paper is this type of thing. Its surface is made of some white fine powder mixed with some binder. There are many small holes in the middle to absorb ink. After the ink drops, it spreads in the depth and horizontal direction. Compared with offset paper, its horizontal diffusion is smaller, so the clarity and color saturation are better. In addition, its porosity is relatively large, no matter what kind of ink can be absorbed. However, after the ink's moisture evaporates, these pores become an unobstructed channel for air to enter, so the photos printed on coated paper fade faster. Pictures printed with HP printers will fade more than 30% after one year. Coatings on coated papers are not yet strong, and they can be thrown off when lightly stroked, and they cannot be protected by lamination. However, another disadvantage of the paper is that the diffuse reflection formed by the rough surface structure makes the maximum density of the photograph not reach a high degree, and the coating is opaque, and the level of darkness is not good.
High gloss photo paper and ink matching
In addition, in addition to coated paper and glossy photo paper, especially traditional printers such as Hewlett-Packard, it is recommended to use glossy photo paper to print photos. If we drop a little water on it, the surface coating will become sticky. But it is also transparent. It is very much like an animal glue. However, the current coating is probably made of high-molecular organic compounds. It will not use the cow bone glue or pig skin glue used on the film. When a drop of ink dripped onto the top, we noticed that the coating swelled significantly after absorbing water. Obviously this "glue" absorbs moisture and dye molecules into its own microstructure and softens and swells itself. A good coating does not absorb ink faster, but it absorbs ink more slowly, and the surface tension of the coating is also relatively large, so that the ink droplets do not infiltrate into the surroundings like water droplets on the lotus leaf when they are not sucked into the "glue". Then slowly inhale the "glue" and wait for the water to evaporate. The "glue" body shrinks and wraps the dye tightly. For example, the thicker the ink absorption ability of the coated thick printing paper, the smaller the diffusion ability. Can use a larger amount of ink to print, the picture is clear and sharp, dark parts of the density, crystal clear, very realistic. Since the coating is completely transparent, the ink can form a large concentration, and the incident light is reflected after entering the bottom layer, and after two times of filtration, the color saturation is very high. In addition, since the ink dots spread little, they can be perfectly colored by a pure additive method. Therefore, the saturation of high-brightness red, green, and blue is very high.
Colloidal coating also has soft and hard points, the hard coating is slower to absorb ink, and the type of ink is also more picky. The solvent of the ink is slightly inappropriate and cannot be absorbed. But its ink droplets spread little and the ink layer is thick enough to print the best photos. It does not absorb well the original inks of Epson Original Ink, Canon Original Ink and some HP printers.
The soft coating absorbs ink quickly, and almost any ink can absorb it. But different papers have a great change in the color of the same ink. The dot spread of such paper is usually relatively large, the softer paper, the better the ink adaptability, the more the paper spreads. The sharpness and color saturation of the picture are also worse. However, the paper with a soft coating layer usually has a certain degree of waterproofness. It is possible that it absorbs ink mainly by its micropores instead of the glue, so its "glue" can be insoluble in water, so there will be certain The waterproofness. Its surface tension can be specially modulated so that it can only be infiltrated with a specific ink, and the ordinary ink is just like it falls on the lotus leaf, and cannot enter the pores to bring out the ink.
Comprehensive comparison of the inks of various manufacturers and the analysis of printing papers shows that HP and Epson's ink-jet printing technologies are very professional in terms of ink technology, and can be said to be equivalent in terms of true print quality, but overall Epson inkjet printing technology is more suitable for high-light printing paper, which is exactly why Epson's inkjet printers occupy a leading position in the jet printing market, and is more suitable for use with soft gelatin coated paper. HP's jet products are more suitable for cost
