Inkjet Printhead Proves Itself At FESPA

At FESPA 2005, the first two commercial machines containing Xaar's new Omnidot 760 printhead, co-developed with Agfa, were demonstrated on the Agfa stand.

At FESPA 2005, the first two commercial machines containing Xaar's new Omnidot 760 printhead, co-developed with Agfa, were demonstrated on the Agfa stand.

That was part of Agfa's strategy to lead the industrial inkjet market, said Xaar.

Both the M-Press digital and screen hybrid press, developed by Agfa and Thieme and the Anapurna 100 flatbed UV system, developed by Agfa and Mutoh, incorporate the Xaar Omnidot 760 printhead, referred to as UPH by Agfa.

The machines have been launched on schedule and were well-received by the FESPA audience, with the printhead's capability to offer maximum productivity and flexibility recognised as central to market requirements, demonstrating the commercial success that inkjet technology can offer, said Xaar.

The Omnidot 760 printhead is based on greyscale technology, and contains 764 nozzles.

Initial variants are the GS3 with a drop size range of 3 - 12 pico litres, and the GS8 covering 8 - 40 pico litres.

According to Xaar, other options may be implemented dependent on specific application requirements.

The printhead is designed for high-resolution, high-quality photographic and graphics applications, with a print resolution of 720 dots per inch (dpi) and an apparent resolution of 1440dpi, added the company.

Ian Dinwoodie, Xaar's chief executive officer, said: "We have a multi-year strategic agreement with Agfa for joint research, development and manufacturing of inkjet technologies and are very pleased with the significant progress made with the development of the new Omnidot platform.

These printheads are the most sophisticated products we have yet developed and represent a major change in the capability of inkjet performance, with significantly improved accuracy and resolution.

Early testing of Omnidot with other potential OEM customers has generated very positive feedback." Agfa's vice-president of imaging solutions, Jan Van Daele, said: "Our agreement with Xaar is helping us to realise our goal of becoming a leader in the industrial inkjet market and has greatly assisted us in focusing on innovations to support the power of print.

Xaar's expertise and knowledge of inkjet technology is invaluable to us and we look forward to continuing a fruitful relationship.".

Back to top