First new imagePRESS series in nine years shares the spotlight with the groundbreaking Colorado UVgel release as the technology giant reasserts its relevance across printing markets.
Two different products, both with significant enhancements and technology developments, illustrate the breadth of Canon’s engagement with printing. One such announcement would be a major event for most companies but the launch this week of the long awaited 100 page-per-minute imagePRESS C10000VP production printer had to share the limelight with the arrival of the Océ Colorado 1640, the world’s first 64” roll-to-roll printer built on the company’s new UVgel technology.
Although operating in two different sectors the Colorado 1640 is arguably the more ‘game changing’ product with its introduction of new ‘ink’ that instantly gels on contact with the media. Delivered via Canon developed, self-aware’ piezoelectric printheads and instantly cured by cool LED-based UV, the UVgel technology is claimed to cut costs by up to 40%. With highest POP quality prints at 40m2 per hour and a potential 160m2 per hour for standard, the innovative designed roll-to-roll Colorado 1640 will level the playing field between large and small print shops.
According to Gavin Gomez, director Canon business services, the Colorado is part of an overall Canon “technology lift” that has the company on the front foot.
“The Colorado will enable small to medium printers to compete across a wide range of products. Productivity is key. This is a disruptive ‘latex killer’ technology that will change the game. It increases Canon’s leadership in wideformat technology,” he said at the launch yesterday at Canon HQ in North Ryde, Sydney.
Well-known industry identity, Garry Muratore, tasked with explaining the significance of the new technology, compared it to such watershed inventions as the Heidelberg GTO in the 1960s that saw the end of letterpress, the arrival of Hell scanners in the 1970s, the Linotype in the 1980s and digital printing in the 1990s. “The Colorado is truly going to change the game for wide format. There is no compromise between the wide colour gamut of solvent and the user-friendliness of latex. UVgel is unique in covering all these requirements,” said Muratore.
The Colorado 1649 will be officially released at PacPrint with first installations here in the second half of the year.
New series for imagePRESS
Earlier n the week Canon also released its new digital colour series, imagePRESS C10000VP/C8000VP. It’s been a long time coming but its arrival puts Canon back in the production print game.
The combination of new CV (constant vibrancy) toner and an advanced intermediate transfer Bbelt (ITB) is claimed to enhance the already well-recognised Canon print quality. It’s a robust printer able to handle a wide variety of media with a monthly duty cycle of up to 1.8 million prints. The 100 images-per-minute (ipm) for the imagePRESS C10000VP (80 ipm for the imagePRESS C8000VP) are both well within industry standards.
With all the bells and whistles you’d expect from the leading industry patent lodging company (Canon’s been in the top five patent holders in the world for the past 28 years) the imagePRESS C10000VP gives Canon a fighting chance to regain market share in the highly competitive production print sector.
Available for ready delivery, there are already a number of trophy sites up and running in Australia.
According to Anjana Maikap, product marketing manager there are plenty of prospective customers in the pipeline. “We will be inviting prospective customers for face to face demonstrations in our Mac Park Sydney Showroom and will have the machine on display at PacPrint in Melbourne,” she said.