Canon at PRINT 13 this week showed a concept of a B3 format inkjet device code-named Niagara. The device has an anticipated production speed of 3,800 duplex B3 sheets per hour and up to 8,500 duplex letter-sized sheets per hour, with a monthly volume of up to 10 million letter sheets per month.
The device, which was not on hand at the show, was demonstrated through a virtual experience to show goers. A presentation by Canon claimed that the press will be available to beta testers starting next year.
“Offset run lengths are rapidly decreasing while job frequencies are increasing. To achieve the flexibility, speed and control over operational costs required to compete effectively, professional printers need solutions capable of meeting a wider array of applications,” said Sam Yoshida, vice president and general manager, Marketing, Business Imaging Solutions Group, Canon U.S.A. “Over the last few years, Canon has achieved several breakthroughs in scaling inkjet technology to enable new levels of productivity, quality, reliability and cost effectiveness in its offerings, leading to the development of the Niagara digital press.”
The Niagara press has a four-colour ink system, but there are plans to expand it to up to six ink stations.
Also on the Canon booth was the Oce ColorWave 900, making its North American debut. It is a high-speed wide format production printer with print speeds of up to 12 inches per second and productivity of more than 800 B2 or 500 B1 sheets per hour. Delivering 3.4 billion, 1.2 picolitre drops of aqueous ink per second, the machine is able to produce resolutions of 1,600 x 1,600 dpi.
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