Digital minilab manufacturers are now posturing to convey the most compelling value proposition, and inkjet models are expected to replace silver halide models as the dominant retail printing units.
In PIR’s earlier PMA convention issue, we wrote about three “dry” inkjet minilabs from Fujifilm North America, Hewlett-Packard (HP) and Noritsu that were demonstrated at their respective booths during the show. For the first time, Fujifilm (fujifilmusa.com) did not have a “wet” silver halide minilab in its booth, although Noritsu (noritsu.com) did display the QSS 3702HD, capable of printing almost 2,400 4R prints/hour, which is still selling well, even in the U.S.
Shanghai Doli (doli.com.cn) is only selling silver halide LED minilabs, with its range running from the DL-3620 Pro lab with a maximum print size of 24×36 inches to the DL-2410 digital minilab, with a resolution of 520 dpi, a maximum print size of 18×24 inches and a maximum speed of 550 4R prints/hr., to the specialized DL-0610 digital minilab for prints from 3.5×5 to 4×6.5 inches and a maximum speed of 450 prints/hr.
Prismlab (prismlab.com) also demonstrated the latest version of its revolutionary duplex (double-sided) silver halide minilab (the original version was shown at PMA last year). The company’s TDS-1838 simplex (single-sided printing) minilab, which took home a 2010 DIMA Shoot-Out Award, uses the identical print engine employed by the duplex PSD-12 and PSD-18 models. Prismlab’s double-faced minilabs use a special double-sided emulsion silver halide photographic paper, which is developed in standard color chemistry, to print images on both sides of a page. The PSD-12 has a maximum print size of 10×12 inches, while the PSD-18 model makes prints up to 12×18 inches. Both can also print onto regular single-sided silver halide paper and have incorporated improvements in software and hardware to meet the requirements of customers outside of China.
As part of the joint development agreement established a few years ago, Noritsu (noritsu.com) manufactures new minilabs sold under both the Noritsu and Fujifilm brands, and these companies have announced their respective versions of a high-capacity inkjet machine with integrated duplexing capability—the D1005 and Frontier DL450, respectively. Both print at speeds close to 1,000 4R prints/hour, a rate approaching that of all but the highest speed silver halide machines. This boost in output speed, and the ability to use 12-inch-wide paper, further erodes the notion that inkjet minilabs are only suited for locations that handle orders with fewer prints.
These minilabs can produce a very wide range of photo prints sizes, including personalized photo product pages for photo books, calendars, panoramic prints and greeting cards. The models use a combination of roll and sheet paper: the former for duplex prints, while the latter can be stacked in two separate 6-inch cassettes to provide higher production speeds for single-sided prints.
A slight drawback in the design of the D1005 and the DL450 is that the duplexing feature is manual—in other words, the page having been exposed on one side must be mechanically turned over for feeding into the DML to expose the second side. The footprint of these two models is about 8 square feet, with the standard four-order sorter on the front, although the optional 12-order sorter is mounted on one side. And, by the way, the list price for both units is roughly $50,000.
Dispelling another industry perception, Noritsu’s Ron Kubara showed us many 8×10-inch prints made from images he took of the Winter Olympics with his 3MP cameraphone using AccuSmart image-processing software on the D1005 that were truly outstanding.
For applications requiring very high resolutions, such as fingerprint analysis, Noritsu also has the Super Shimon software, which doubles the print resolution up to 1,000 dpi or provides a boost in resolution to 720 dpi without any change in printing speed.
HP’s (hp.com) contribution to the changing retail printing landscape is the Photosmart ML1000D simplex/duplex inkjet minilab that handles 12-inch-wide paper and is capable of speeds up to 1,500 4R simplex prints/hour. In addition to having the highest single-sided 4R capacity of any inkjet minilab, the ML1000D is highly differentiated from any other DML introduced at PMA by its automatic duplex feature. This unit can print over 330 duplex 8×12-inch pages/hour for use in photo books and other products, and the duplex function will make both 8×12 and 12×12 pages.
Another very practical feature of this inkjet minilab is its onboard backup ink cartridges; when an ink cartridge is spent, there is a spare loaded cartridge ready to continue for uninterrupted service. The ML1000D has five paper trays, four of which can be used for duplex paper, and it comes standard with a 16-bin sorter. It occupies about 16 square feet of space and has a list price in the mid-$60,000 range.
Kodak’s (kodak.com) APEX hardware is unchanged, but the new v4.0 software includes photo ID prints and canvas print product capabilities. Through a simple behind the counter process, retailers can easily create high-margin passport and ID photo services, with passport photo specifications from over 40 countries, as well as offering a wide variety of ID photo formats. And, with its new canvas print products feature, retailers can now provide premium canvas media products so that consumers can more easily create stunning enlargements.
Not for every retailer, the Lexta 32 wide-format laser photo lab system from Imetto (imetto.en.alibaba.com) made its first North American appearance. Exposing onto silver halide paper in widths from 6–30 inches, it has a printing speed of 375 square feet (equivalent to 2,200 4R prints) per hour in the standard version and 525 square feet (equivalent to 3,100 4R prints) per hour in the HS version. Its list price is $127,000.
