Development and Application of Inkjet Printing Technology (in)

Wu, the new technology developed by each brand

First, HP's technology

HP's color-level inkjet technology is different from the inkjet printing technology that advertises the dpi resolution of color inkjet printers. HP DeskJet's multi-color inkjet printers are used exclusively by HP. Ink technology, simply put, color grading technology is a technology that allows ink dots ejected by ink jet printers to have multiple color change capabilities. This means that HP's multi-level color inkjet printers do not require Using too much halftone color mixing technology, you can achieve the ability to reproduce the natural color of the photo, so the color is more natural and accurate, especially when printing photos

(I) One of the key to print quality: "Color rank capability"

In fact, the key to influencing the color printing quality of printers is not only to increase the resolution of printing, but also the performance of color scales. Nine printer manufacturers have recently introduced the six-color inkjet printers. , and known as the "photo machine type", six-color printers can show closer to the print effect than the four-color printer, the key is in the "color performance capabilities." The six-color printer has two intermediate colors of light magenta and light blue than the four-color printer. Even if the color is only two variations of the spray and the non-spray, the color change of each dot can be expressed. With 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 = 32, this reduces the drawbacks of halftone simulation, and the print quality naturally increases. The unique color-level inkjet technology Hp's color-level inkjet technology is a technology developed to enhance the color-grading performance of printers. A printer using this technology can have multiple stages per color nozzle. The level of change, and can be mixed with each other in the same ink, the color of each color can be generated by the screen changes, the current HP higher-end models, the use of color-level inkjet technology, known as PhotoREt II , Second-generation photo Li Cai Technology, this technology allows C, M, Y three-color ink can never spray to spray 16 drops of a total of 17 kinds of changes, mutual power can reach 4913 high color levels, which means With HP Photo Printers PhotoREt II II Photo, there are 4,913 color variations on a single ink dot. And without the use of high dpi technology, the computer's processing speed is faster (especially on MMX-enabled computers), and it can best represent the continuous tone of the photo, and the applicability of the paper is also broader. This approach allows color inkjet printers do not need to rely on too much half-tone color mixing, so there will be no deterioration in image quality, and the printing effect is also more realistic than the traditional printer, closer to the photo.

(B) Print quality on plain paper

In order to achieve the requirements of the multi-level ink jet technology, the ink jet head must have the ability to precisely control the ink droplets in order to be able to control the level and mix of colors. As a result, the printer will not "unrestrained" to eject ink, which can effectively save ink. This is very helpful to ordinary people who use the most common photocopying paper for printing, because the precise control of the ink volume, the ink will not easily penetrate into the inner layer of plain paper, nature is not easy to faint open the edges, which is HP Desk Jet spray Ink is the biggest reason why a watch machine works well on ordinary photocopying paper.

(c) sRGB color management standard

This is a color management standard jointly developed by HP and Microsoft, which can effectively improve the color accuracy of the input and output, so that different hardware can also have almost the same color image, making data transmission more convenient, even through the Internet You can share digital images with almost the same color without space and time constraints. Now after the release of WINDOWS 98, sRGB has been built in, performance has not lost the color management of the Mac system, making the application of PC in professional printing is more active.

Second, Epson's technology

(I) Key technologies PPIS Epson Inc. published the technical guidelines for PPIS (Perfect Picture Image System) in 1998. It explained to users the EPSON color inkjet printer technology, and now, from the original In PPIS, EPSON has added new technologies. These key technologies have made color inkjet printing a real step forward in real-time. Until now, color inkjet printers still use the halftone printing method, which is similar to the principle used in general printing, mainly through different inks to produce color changes in the dot structure of the image. For printing, we often use the “several dots” to separate print quality. In fact, this principle can also be applied to color inkjet printers. For users, how to determine the quality of printing, in fact, by virtue of the visual experience of the eyes, when we look at a printed product, we are directly visually determine the quality of the good and bad, but what is the cause of What is the point of view? When we see the printed product, we will search for the previous memory in our minds as a reference. The closer it is to the memory, the more real the representative quality is.

(B) Micro Piezo (Microneedle Piezoelectric Inkjet Technology)

In the current field of inkjet printers, there are two-pole inkjet technology, bubble type and EPSON's self-developed micro-pin piezoelectric inkjet technology. The key to this technology lies in the crystal. The crystal has a characteristic and is conductive. When we energize the crystal, it will expand. EPSON facilitates the stability of the multilayer piezoelectric plate by using the characteristics of the crystal itself. The control voltage is applied to the crystal and the crystal expands to eject the ink, which pulls the ink back when power is stopped. Because the voltage can be precisely controlled, the purity and size of the ink dot itself can be precisely controlled. Through the 50 times electronic magnifier observation, we can see that the ink dots ejected by the EPSON appear circular and are arranged regularly. Compared to heated air, the expansion occurs. Because impurities in the air cannot be filtered, it is often impossible to precisely control them. Furthermore, the action of heating, spraying, and cooling the air for a long period of time will also affect the life of the ink jet print head itself and shorten the life of the print head. (Figure 7)

(C) Size and Structure of Ink Dots In the previous article, we clearly revealed that one of the most important key factors in print quality is that in ink dots, the smaller the ink dots and the finer the arrangement, the clearer the images that can be rendered: Of course, the print resolution can be improved and the color level performance can be more realistic. The dot is similar to the dot on the printing. The bigger the dot, the lower the resolution of the printing, and the worse the hue that can be presented. In terms of the color ink jet printer, the EPSON launches Stylus. The Color 740 and Stylus photo750 ink dots are only 6pl; while the Stylus Color 900 is a record-breaking reduction of ink dots to 3pl, which is a very important improvement in the quality of the print. For users, simple black-and-white text printing is often not affected by the size of ink dots. If you want to print colorful graphics, you can find fine details such as hair, leaves, etc., and subtle ink dots play a decisive role. The C, M, Y, K four colors with any image processing software will be set from 0-255 each time, and then print out the map, the small print ink dot level performance is absolutely better than the big dots. Therefore, the size and arrangement of ink dots will determine the resolution of the print, and also determine the performance of the color level.

(d) AcuPhoto Halftoning (True Color Conversion Technology)

With good inkjet technology and ultra-fine ink dots, there must be professional color conversion technology. In the previous article, we mentioned that light source systems and printing systems use different principles. Therefore, the definition of the same color is different. For example, when the R, G, and B colors are mixed in equal proportions. When it is produced, it is white light; but when the proportions of C, M, and Y are mixed, they are black. Therefore, how to completely convert the colors of the two complementary systems will affect the color accuracy of the final print. EPSON is Color inkjet printers use original color conversion technology. The core of this technology is a set of three-dimensional rapid calculation tables, which records the corresponding values ​​of each color in RGB and CMY systems. This correspondence table is based on The standard definition of color science and production, through the calculation of EPSON's three-dimensional rapid calculation table and error diffusion program, you can accurately calculate the corresponding relationship of each color, so that when you see the printed product, you will find a true life. color.

(5) Intelligent Modulation

The application of inkjet printers has expanded from home to office. In office applications, the speed of printing is very important. In response to the needs of the office, EPSON recently launched commercial printers EPSON StylusColor740 and Stylus. In the Color900, Smart Modulating ink dot technology was added. It can distinguish between the data the user wants to print. For text or color blocks, it automatically consists of larger ink dots: for images and detailed The image is automatically composed of small ink dots. Through the smart ink dot control technology, we can automatically adjust the ink dot size in each column, and automatically set the optimal ink dot size for general resolution and high resolution. Will greatly increase the speed of printing and meet the needs of the commercial sector

(6) Print resolution

Basically, the lower the print resolution, the faster the print, for example, 360dpi print speed will be faster than 720dpi, but in thinking about the print resolution, we must first consider this resolution Whether it can be accepted or not, in terms of text, 360dpi resolution is still acceptable, but for high-quality image files, you may need at least 720dpi to meet the quality requirements. Fast-drying inks In general, ink jet printers print on the time the ink dries up. The longer the ink dries up, the more often it is necessary to force the print head to slow down the print speed so as to avoid damaging the original column when the print head moves at high speed. In printed products, most printers do not have a quick-drying ink structure, so the printhead movement speed is slowed, which reduces the printing speed.

Third, Canon's technology

(a) Multi Level Printing Technology

Canon's color inkjet printers use multiple color control technology that can produce 1-9 color changes for each dot, so Canon's six-color printer can produce 9x9x9x9x9x9 = 531441 color changes.

(B) Plain Paper Optimized Printing (Plain Paper Optimized Printing)

When using a printer, the fear is that the work encounters water, because most of the ink is made of dyes, and Canon is no exception, but it sprays ink on the paper before it ejects ink droplets. After the ink is sprayed on it, the ink is packaged in it and condensed and fixed on the paper.

Fourth, Lexmark's technology

(1) Voice operation interface The Lexmark printer is a talking printer. The ColorFine 3 driver has multiple languages. Users can install language versions according to their own requirements.

(b) EXCIMER laser light cutting technology in the past hindered the production technology, the fineness of the ink jet hole is subject to certain restrictions, on the other hand, in the traditional production process, the ink pipe and the ink jet hole are two different production processes, respectively Then combine together. When the catheter, the pressurization chamber and the ink hole become finer, it becomes extremely difficult to accurately combine the two components. Lexmark first introduced the EXCIMER laser light cutting technology into the production of inkjet heads, completely breaking through the limitations described above. EXCIMER laser cutting technology is not a new cutting technology that was developed in 1979 to etch semiconductor microelectronic circuits.

EXCIMER laser light cutting technology is widely used. In recent years, popular (myopia/farsightedness/astigmatism) corrective ophthalmic microsurgery is using EXCIMER laser light cutting technology. EXCIMER laser light cutting technology is the use of argon (ARGON) and fluorine (FLUMRINE) two kinds of gas mixing, resulting in UV light beam, this pulse of light energy release a narrow, unified "frozen" beam, this beam is very subtle and accurate. The computer controls the EXCIMER laser to cut off a hair. The characteristic of this kind of light beam is that the energy it releases is enough to cut the connected molecules, but it will not release heat energy. The damaged edges are very straight and smooth.