The press obtained the highest rating in an independent study completed by the SpencerLab Digital Color Laboratory. The press demonstrated the best all-round performance across the majority of attributes evaluated.
The results of the study showed that the press had the best-in-class realism for sky, water, and foliage; and high realism for skin tones. It also had best-in-class sharpness and high smoothness, and the best monochrome/neutral gray output. The study evaluated glossy and matte prints produced at various manufacturers facilities.
According to David Spencer, CEO of SpencerLab, We were extremely impressed by the improvements demonstrated by the SX with HD Dry Ink, bringing its photographic print quality right up to Best-in-Class. In this test of four digital presses, all able to make very high-quality photographic prints, the press showed its true colours – its excellent capabilities.
The NEXPRESS SX Digital Production Colour Platform with Print Genius offers exceptional quality and productivity, and has been designed to meet the needs of commercial printers, photo product printers, direct mail houses, in-plant printers, and data centres. Features include speeds up to 131 ppm, a longer sheet size 660 mm (26?), smaller ink particle size with the new HD Dry Ink, new Light Black HD Solution and a new matte printing effect option.
HD Dry Ink with smaller ink particles reduces grain and provides smoother continuous tones for photo-quality output. In addition, the Light Black HD Dry Ink Solution, which is now available for the Fifth Imaging Unit, uses proprietary algorithms to substitute the light black for specific colours, resulting in smoother skin tones while maintaining superb detail for high-end photo applications. The matte effect is completed inline, and produces a matte look for printed pages or photos. Printers can switch to and from the matte finish option in less than 15 minutes, giving them the ultimate flexibility in finishes.
Our customers refuse to compromise – they expect the absolute highest image quality, they expect outstanding productivity, they expect scalability, and they expect ease of use, said Vince Ferraro, Vice President, Worldwide Marketing, Digital Printing Solutions, Kodak. Whether they bought the press last week or five years ago, they can take advantage of the latest features and protect their initial investment because existing and future customers are able to upgrade their NEXPRESS Presses to get new functionality instead of buying a new machine. Our customers appreciate the image quality of the press, so having an independent confirmation of our industry-leading image quality is the icing on the cake.
The SX Platform prints on more than 700 standard offset substrates, including coated, uncoated, FSC, plastics, magnets, linens, static clings, micro-perforated substrates and more.
The Fifth Imaging Unit enables watermarking, protection coating, glossing, MICR printing, gamut expansion, red fluorescing ink for security and workflow applications and inline dimensional printing, which is unique in the industry. In addition, high-quality glossing through the companys Perfect Touch Gloss technology is possible using Clear Dry Ink in conjunction with the near-line NEXPRESS Glossing Unit.