Submitted By: Jim Hamilton on November 10, 2009
At the JANPS newspaper production show in Tokyo later this month a web offset press manufacturer called TKS (Tokyo Kikai Seisakusho) will be unveiling a production color inkjet newspaper system called JetLeader. It is a roll-fed device that prints at speeds of 150 meters per minute (492 feet per minute) and has a maximum print width of 541 millimeters (21.3 inches) on a maximum roll width of 546 millimeters (21.5 inches). It uses piezo drop-on-demand inkjet heads and aqueous pigment inks. TKS says it can print on groundwood newsprint at weights of 60 gsm or higher. The configuration that will be shown at JANPS will be process color on one side of the web and monochrome on the other (4/1) and will include a sheeter and accumulator. TKS says that a 4/4 configuration will be available upon launch at the end of this month. Pricing has not been released. In addition to the standalone JetLeader newspaper system, TKS will also demonstrate a hybrid offset/inkjet offering at JANPS. Read more »
Tags: Color, Inkjet, JANPS, Japan, JetLeader, JetStream, Kodak, Newspaper, Oce, TKS, Tokyo, Tokyo Kikai Seisakusho, Versamark
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Submitted By: Jim Hamilton on October 19, 2009
InfoTrends Tokyo-based senior analyst Masato Atoda has forwarded me some of his impressions of the Japanese graphic arts trade show JGAS (Tokyo, October 6-10). A couple of items stand out in regard to high-speed color inkjet developments:
- Miyakoshi showed a new continuous-feed color inkjet printer called the MJP20F that runs at 200 meter-per-minute (approximately 650 feet per minute) at 600 by 600 dot-per-inch resolution. In a duplex 4/4 configuration with a 541 millimeter (about 21.3 inches) maximum print width the price is about 300 million yen (approximately $3.3 million). It is available now worldwide.
- FujiFilm showed the sheet-fed, B2-format JetPress 720 that it had demonstrated at drupa 2008. It did not hand out print samples, but it does appear that print quality has improved since drupa. FujiFilm reported that the JetPress 720 will ship in the spring of 2010.
- Screen showed the TruePress Jet SX that it demonstrated at drupa 2008. The device now has duplex print capability, which Screen says will be a standard feature. Screen did not distribute print samples, but it appears that the quality has improved since drupa. Screen said that beta testing will begin this year and first customer shipments will begin in the spring or summer of 2010.
This week InfoTrends will be publishing an analysis for its consulting service clients that will include more on the production digital color developments from JGAS.
