(Nikkei BP Group)
(No.1 High-Tech News Site in Japanese)
|
|
| Alps Electric Unveils High-Resolution Color Printer
|
|
October 16, 1998 (TOKYO) -- Alps Electric Co., Ltd. announced that it
will market the MD-5000 Micro Dry color printer from Oct. 17 at a retail
price of 59,800 yen (US$500).
|
The new product is an original thermoelectric color printer with a high
resolution equivalent to 2400dpi.
The printer comes with a variable dot (VD) feature, which
changes a per-dot size on 16 levels to enhance the printing by gradations.
For this reason, it enables printing at a rate equivalent to 2400dpi
(or 1200dpi in conventional terms), according to Alps Electric.
The company developed "Media Flexible (MF) Ink" to enable the product
to print pictures of a quality equivalent to 2400dpi on general-use
paper other than coated paper designed for image printing.
The MD-5000 uses a tape-ribbon type of ink cartridge like that for the
MD-1000 Series. For the new model, five kinds of ink are provided, including
MF, gloss finish, black for monochrome printing, metallic gold and metallic
silver.
The MF ink has a function that gives a soft foundation to the surfaces
of general-use or recycled paper to create a condition similar to that
of coated paper. The ink is used when fine photo-images are printed
on paper with non-processed surfaces such as general-use paper, recycled
paper and postcards.
The new cartridge can be utilized up to five times on both sides, the
company said.
Black ink for monochrome printing can be used for printing up to 20 times
on both sides. The printing cost of an A4-size page won't exceed 1.3
yen, and a cartridge can print about 500 sheets of paper, the company
said.
Alps Electric also said that metallic gold and metallic silver ink can
be used to realize enhanced glossiness. The color of the existing gold
and silver ink is similar to an oxidized metal color. The new ink is
available for printing as if it is drawn with a powdery substance on
the paper, and objects appear to be reflected on it.
Alps Electric aims to sell 200,000 units of MD-5000 in the initial year.
About half will be for business applications and half for home use,
the company added.
(BizTech News Dept.)
|
|
|
