Pantone certifies Epson flagship

Epson’s roll-to-roll signage printer, the SureColor SC-S80600, has just received Pantone certification, joining Epson’s SureColor Prographics range with coverage exceeding 98 per cent.
 
Craig Heckenberg, general manager for the business division at Epson Australia says, “This is a very significant development for the durable signage market. Outdoor material can finally be produced digitally with true and accurate colour. With the SureColor Signage range prints can be produced with brighter imaging and a wider colour gamut than previously possible with either solvent or competing ink technologies. We are extremely proud of this achievement and it is great to see the Pantone label on another one of our printers.”
 
The SC-S80600 offers high colour reproduction on a range of substrates including vinyl, canvas, film and paper. It forms pPart of a range of three models that also includes the SC-S40600 and the high speed SC-S60600. Epson says these machines produce prints using less ink and less power; at faster production speeds; and with significantly faster drying times, turning jobs around in the same day at reduced cost and higher quality.
 
All models in the SureColor Solvent range feature the latest PrecisionCore print heads and use UltraChrome GS3 eco-solvent ink. They support resolutions up to 1440x1440dpi, driven with Epson Precision Dot Technology. The self-cleaning heads do not require regular replacement.
 
Precision assembled using robots and laser welding, the SC-S80600 and its sister models feature a strengthened construction for increased stability and parallelism. An upgraded media feed system with advanced auto tension control operates in conjunction with new print modes and microweave patterns to enable output with reduced banding at faster speeds, according to Epson, which adds that high linear accuracy enables support for tiling applications while a precision auto-take-up enables efficient roll-to-roll production with off-line processing.
 
The SC-S80600 supports rolls up to 45kg, loaded by a single operator with auto skew correction. An auto media set-up enables faster and more accurate configuration with spot jobs completed up to 45 per cent faster, according to the company. A new Epson control dashboard application enables easier control while providing access to downloadable media settings, user guides and operator tutorials.
 
A print head guard provides protection against head crashes while collecting any dust and fluff that media may be carry. An air circulation system reduces static build-up while removing airborne dust and ink droplets. A fabric wiper automatically engages as required to ensure that print heads and the head guard stay clean and operating at maximum performance. Epson says these technologies combine to enable better print quality, reduced wastage, and a 50 per cent reduction in maintenance and cleaning.
 
Epson claims that the SC-S80600 less power than its predecessors and considerably less than competing signage printers. The company adds that the SC-S80600 also uses up to 15 per cent less ink than previous models; 25 per cent less than competing solvent models; and 50 per cent less than competing ink technologies, and it has cheaper ink than its predecessor.