Colour Emulator Helps Move To Fast Digital Print

IBM has launched an AFP colour emulation feature for its Infoprint 4100 production printer. It is expected to be generally available from June 23.

IBM has launched an AFP colour emulation feature for its Infoprint 4100 production printer.

It is expected to be generally available from June 23.

The component is said to be designed to help clients preparing to migrate to high-speed colour printing start their preparations today.

It is also designed to allow print shops to send colour output to the web and a printer and to provide the flexibility for them to print in either high-quality monochrome or on a separate colour device, depending on job requirements.

The colour emulation feature can enable clients to design applications using GIF, TIFF, JPEG, or FS45 colour objects and print them on the Infoprint 4100 without first having to convert them to the IPDS format.

Using IBM's 256-level grayscale technology, this can help increase application versatility and reduce conversion cost, since one set of applications and resource libraries can be used for printing on colour and monochrome systems, said IBM.

In addition, the colour emulation feature supports printing of FS11 check images commonly used in the financial services industry.

Karen Fukuma, vice president, production solutions at IBM Printing Systems, said: "This is the latest example of how we're delivering on a solid roadmap to provide a cost-effective, full-colour, high-speed system for the printing of variable data.

Clients have told us they want the flexibility to print in colour or monochrome, without sacrificing quality or sustaining high process costs." Available on select models, IBM said the Infoprint Power controller represents the evolution of its Advanced Function Common Control Unit and facilitates the creation of this new colour emulation feature.

The workload for grayscaled colour object support on the Infoprint 4100 is handled by multiple Power5 processors, providing scalable processing capability.

The 64-bit, multi-processing controller also enables the latest IBM Infoprint 4100 models to run up to IBM's highest-rated speed at a claimed an 18 per cent increase from the prior generation.

Faster throughput allows customers to consolidate production printers to reduce the total cost of print operations, increase printer utilisation and improve overall throughput.

Introduced last September, the latest Infoprint 4100 high-speed, high-volume models are claimed to be amongst the most powerful and efficient in the industry, delivering quality at high speeds, whilst helping clients to lower their overall cost of printing.

They are designed to be suitable for variable data printing in financial services, telecommunications, governmental and commercial printing.

The Infoprint 4100 is also said to include technological advancements in the printhead, developer and fusing mechanisms, plus an integrated optical density feedback system for sharp, clear images and text, job after job.

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